One of the things that I have learnt (the hard way) over the last few months is that it is very difficult to make changes and changes do not happen overnight!! It takes hours and hours of practice for the players to reach the level they do!!
One of the simplest examples is my movement to the back corners of the court from the centre of the court. My coach has been telling me to shorten my grip while moving to handle the tight balls in the forehand and the backhand corner. I try and do that during the practice - but the moment I get down to playing games, all that seems to vanish!!
Another example is watching the ball till the end. Now while receiving the serves - especially in the backhand corner - if the serve is dipping and falling near me, the moment it goes below my knees, I lose sight of the ball and end up hitting the return either short on the front court or in the tin. During practice, I have reminded myself tens of times about bending the knees properly to ensure that I do get below the ball and watch the ball till last moment and the wrist is cocked properly to send the return high, close to the side wall and in the direction that i want!! All that seems to be getting lost the moment I get into playing games.
However, a lot of things are going well too!! I am moving a lot better and can retrieve a lot more balls of the front court than I could do earlier!! I have become a lot better also at running across the court and controlling the rallies. I now try moving the players across the court and up and down the court - with mixed degrees of success.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Things getting better - gradually!!
It has been a time of slow but steady progress. My practice session now primarily consists of a jog for about 2 kms. at a slow and variable pace. The idea is to get myself warmed up for the squash session afterwards and not be dead tired by the end of the jogging session. It is followed by skipping for about 3-4 minutes. I manage to skip 500 times - two sessions of 250 with a minute of rest in between. This is followed by a 10 min. rest and then the session at the squash court.
In the court, I do ghosting to get the movement in sync and primarily work on my recovery - where I am very weak. I typically do 5 complete court ghosts in 1 min. take a break for hitting the rails on the back hand side ( I try and hit 25 consecutive rails on the backhand side of varying lengths and pace), do a second session of complete court ghosting and then hit rails on the forehand side.
There definitely has been an improvement in my performance due to improvement in the overall stamina and footwork and this is definitely reflected in the games I play with some of the better players. People have commented upon the improvement that they see in my ability in being able to chase the balls down.
The other key area that has contributed to the overall improvement in my game is the willingness to take the ball off the back wall. What this means is that I have now started allowing certain balls to pass me and hit them when they rebound off the back wall. It certainly gives me more time to get into a better position and takes a bit of pace off the rally.
The core improvement areas that I need to work upon include my return of low serves on the backhand side and making a faster recovery after hitting the shot!! Am working on the same - footwork, footwork and footwork!!
In the court, I do ghosting to get the movement in sync and primarily work on my recovery - where I am very weak. I typically do 5 complete court ghosts in 1 min. take a break for hitting the rails on the back hand side ( I try and hit 25 consecutive rails on the backhand side of varying lengths and pace), do a second session of complete court ghosting and then hit rails on the forehand side.
There definitely has been an improvement in my performance due to improvement in the overall stamina and footwork and this is definitely reflected in the games I play with some of the better players. People have commented upon the improvement that they see in my ability in being able to chase the balls down.
The other key area that has contributed to the overall improvement in my game is the willingness to take the ball off the back wall. What this means is that I have now started allowing certain balls to pass me and hit them when they rebound off the back wall. It certainly gives me more time to get into a better position and takes a bit of pace off the rally.
The core improvement areas that I need to work upon include my return of low serves on the backhand side and making a faster recovery after hitting the shot!! Am working on the same - footwork, footwork and footwork!!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
What not to do when playing a game!!
Two days back, I played 5 games with a new guy and discovered new things about myself and my game!! Now this new guy waa a lot younger guy and though I figured out that technically I am a much better player than he is, he could run longer and could retrieve many more balls - both at the front and back of the court. His weak areas were predictable - back court backhand corner and not so accurate shots - especially on the long, mid-power shots in the backhand back court. So I thought I will have it easy till we started playing.
This guy was running for most of the balls and he could reach most of the drops in front court by virtue of having a faster pair of legs. He was also managing to somehow return the balls from the back court, primarily by hitting boasts. Now a couple of these boasts hit the nick and got me really irritated - here I was controlling the entire rally - making that guy run all over the court, scampering to retrieve the ball - and then from a losing position he hits a boast that takes the nick and gives him the point!! And this happened 2-3 times in the first 2 games!! So here I was doing everything right - but not being able to close the points!! Worse I was losing them to someone - who I felt was a worse player than I am!!
So this was getting me really irritated - and that is when I started making mistakes!! Instead of hitting more long, high balls to the backhand backcourt, that obviously was his weakness, I started slamming the ball harder and lower on the front wall trying to kill it - as if forcibly!! This resulted in the ball falling in mid court and provided easy fodder for him. Soon this became a pattern and the match started slipping out of my hands!! This now became a self-perpetuating cycle - me making mistakes, getting irritated, losing the point, making further mistakes, getting more irritated...... and the scoreline reflected this!! I lost the 5 games with the scoreline 9-6, 9-5, 8-10, 1-9, 3-9!!! It took a lot of restraint not to smash my racket at the end of the fourth and the fifth game!!
My takeaways from this experience:
1. Keep your cool during the game - more so when you are losing!! Losing your cool can only make things worse for you!!
2. In the game, if you are getting worked up, try and slow things down - hit slower and deeper shots.
3. Brute force will not work - most of the time. Brute force only makes the ball come back harder!!
4. Play to exploit opponents weaknesses - obvious isn't it? Not so obvious when you are fuming and fretting!!
5. Do not get irritated if things do not go to plan - refer point 2!!
This guy was running for most of the balls and he could reach most of the drops in front court by virtue of having a faster pair of legs. He was also managing to somehow return the balls from the back court, primarily by hitting boasts. Now a couple of these boasts hit the nick and got me really irritated - here I was controlling the entire rally - making that guy run all over the court, scampering to retrieve the ball - and then from a losing position he hits a boast that takes the nick and gives him the point!! And this happened 2-3 times in the first 2 games!! So here I was doing everything right - but not being able to close the points!! Worse I was losing them to someone - who I felt was a worse player than I am!!
So this was getting me really irritated - and that is when I started making mistakes!! Instead of hitting more long, high balls to the backhand backcourt, that obviously was his weakness, I started slamming the ball harder and lower on the front wall trying to kill it - as if forcibly!! This resulted in the ball falling in mid court and provided easy fodder for him. Soon this became a pattern and the match started slipping out of my hands!! This now became a self-perpetuating cycle - me making mistakes, getting irritated, losing the point, making further mistakes, getting more irritated...... and the scoreline reflected this!! I lost the 5 games with the scoreline 9-6, 9-5, 8-10, 1-9, 3-9!!! It took a lot of restraint not to smash my racket at the end of the fourth and the fifth game!!
My takeaways from this experience:
1. Keep your cool during the game - more so when you are losing!! Losing your cool can only make things worse for you!!
2. In the game, if you are getting worked up, try and slow things down - hit slower and deeper shots.
3. Brute force will not work - most of the time. Brute force only makes the ball come back harder!!
4. Play to exploit opponents weaknesses - obvious isn't it? Not so obvious when you are fuming and fretting!!
5. Do not get irritated if things do not go to plan - refer point 2!!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Erratic training schedules
Last month was characterized by erratic training schedules that were primarily aimless and did not improve my skills to the extent they could have. These schedules were primarily spent in working lazily on my footwork with ghosting on the court along with jogging off the court.
Thanks to my consistent jogging schedule off the court, I have realized that I am able to last much longer on the court without feeling as if my lungs are going to burst!! What it is not adding to is my movement and balance on the court!! Hold on...before you all start pulling out the knives and start saying that this contradicts what I had written in my earlier post - I am a lot better than what I was earlier!!
But now I am playing players who are a lot better and faster than I am and playing with them made me realize that my balance and anticipation need a lot of improvement - apart from a lot of other things!!
Some good things now - I have played some of the players that I have been playing with would have normally thrashed me blue!! Now, that is last week, when I played them, I was able o stretch them and make them sweat!!Infact, I made all of them huff and puff - an no I did not win - not those lat gasp victories!! This is not a hollywood movie - this is life!! Those guys play much more regularly than I do, they have been playing longer and are technically much better than I am. For me, to change their attitudes when it came to playing me was a big victory. over the past 2-3 weeks, while now playing me, they do not have the condescending attitude. They now know that I can last the length and give them a run for their money!! Heck - I took all the games to at least 7 to 8 points on all the games that I played with them!!
My next post tomorrow is going to about where I last the points when I played these players much better than me!!
Thanks to my consistent jogging schedule off the court, I have realized that I am able to last much longer on the court without feeling as if my lungs are going to burst!! What it is not adding to is my movement and balance on the court!! Hold on...before you all start pulling out the knives and start saying that this contradicts what I had written in my earlier post - I am a lot better than what I was earlier!!
But now I am playing players who are a lot better and faster than I am and playing with them made me realize that my balance and anticipation need a lot of improvement - apart from a lot of other things!!
Some good things now - I have played some of the players that I have been playing with would have normally thrashed me blue!! Now, that is last week, when I played them, I was able o stretch them and make them sweat!!Infact, I made all of them huff and puff - an no I did not win - not those lat gasp victories!! This is not a hollywood movie - this is life!! Those guys play much more regularly than I do, they have been playing longer and are technically much better than I am. For me, to change their attitudes when it came to playing me was a big victory. over the past 2-3 weeks, while now playing me, they do not have the condescending attitude. They now know that I can last the length and give them a run for their money!! Heck - I took all the games to at least 7 to 8 points on all the games that I played with them!!
My next post tomorrow is going to about where I last the points when I played these players much better than me!!
Friday, July 23, 2010
More of the same!!
4-days a week - my schedule for the squash training:
1. Jogging - running at moderate pace for 2 Kms
2. Lunges - 15 X 3 sets - alternating between left and right leg - supersets 15 Left and the 15 right - then rest for 30-45 seconds. Repeat for 2 more sets.
3. Skipping - 150 X 3 sets - on alternate days
Am waiting patiently for this physical fitness schedule to show rewards in the squash court. After this workout, I take a break for 15 min. to cool down a bit and then head towards the squash court for playing with my coach. The squash session lasts for about 30-35 min. and includes various types of drills and ghosting after playing. Typically, we end the coaching schedule with sprints on the court - I target 20 in 1 min.
1. Jogging - running at moderate pace for 2 Kms
2. Lunges - 15 X 3 sets - alternating between left and right leg - supersets 15 Left and the 15 right - then rest for 30-45 seconds. Repeat for 2 more sets.
3. Skipping - 150 X 3 sets - on alternate days
Am waiting patiently for this physical fitness schedule to show rewards in the squash court. After this workout, I take a break for 15 min. to cool down a bit and then head towards the squash court for playing with my coach. The squash session lasts for about 30-35 min. and includes various types of drills and ghosting after playing. Typically, we end the coaching schedule with sprints on the court - I target 20 in 1 min.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Invaluable words of advice to a beginner (me) from an experienced coach
My squash coach is in his fifties - but his fitness puts a 38-year old guy like me to shame!! Normally, our coaching follows a particular regimen and right now he is trying to make sure that I get moving properly around the court. We do various drills to improve my movement from the front of the court to the back and then back to the front again - all the while trying to hit the shots that he mentions.
Once in a while, we play - what he calls "rallies". In "rallies", there are no points but everything else is like a normal game. So, today morning as we were playing "rallies", I was trying to slam the life out of the ball - it has been an old malaise - trying to slam the ball too hard. After a few rallies, that had left me completely breathless, coach gave me a piece of advice that was distilled from his years of experience in playing and coaching squash to novices like me.
He said " This game is not about hitting the ball hard and running harder. So, do not try to smash every ball. Imagine that this court has three parts - front, middle and back court. Now, think where you want to THROW the ball (notice - not hit the ball!!) - front court, middle court or back court. This will decide how high you will hit the ball on the front wall and with how much power."
I found this to be a very different perspective and a correct one at that. That squash is about positional play was something that I had not been thinking at all during my training and playing sessions with other players. Now this is something I have to cultivate - "Send the forehand passing shot to the back court - so hit the ball high and not so hard" - will need to put this into practice over the next few days and see the effect on my game.
Once in a while, we play - what he calls "rallies". In "rallies", there are no points but everything else is like a normal game. So, today morning as we were playing "rallies", I was trying to slam the life out of the ball - it has been an old malaise - trying to slam the ball too hard. After a few rallies, that had left me completely breathless, coach gave me a piece of advice that was distilled from his years of experience in playing and coaching squash to novices like me.
He said " This game is not about hitting the ball hard and running harder. So, do not try to smash every ball. Imagine that this court has three parts - front, middle and back court. Now, think where you want to THROW the ball (notice - not hit the ball!!) - front court, middle court or back court. This will decide how high you will hit the ball on the front wall and with how much power."
I found this to be a very different perspective and a correct one at that. That squash is about positional play was something that I had not been thinking at all during my training and playing sessions with other players. Now this is something I have to cultivate - "Send the forehand passing shot to the back court - so hit the ball high and not so hard" - will need to put this into practice over the next few days and see the effect on my game.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
The weakest link in my game - that is killing me!!
Well, though I knew it all along - the time has come for me to finally admit it!! The weakest link in my game - one that results in my giving my opponents 4-5 easy points along with control of some important rallies is really not letting me make any progress inspite of this practise of movement around the court and other drills!! It is not the backhand corner, the volley or the drop - (though I must admit that these aspects also need a lot of work)!! The weakest aspect of my game is RETURN OF SERVICE from the backhand court!!
In know in theory that the return of the serve from the backhand court has to be deep - either down the line of cross-court depending upon the type of service received. But in practice, during the actual games, it seems to be easier said than done!! My attempts at hitting down the line on lob serves often result in weak shots that are either too low on the front wall or if they are high enough, then they hit the front wall and then the side wall on the front and the ball moves towards the centre of the court for the opponent to make a mess of my attempts. My attempts at returning the low serves on the backhand that hit the side wall and are ankle high before they drop on the court lead to equally disasterous returns!! In a game, I end up handing out at least 2-3 points on erroneous service returns only and another 2-3 points on weak service returns. I have to figure out a way to work on this!!
Some of the things that I am thinking of to handle this is to hold the racket higher - near the top of the handle so that I have more control on the shots. The problem is that if the serves are too deep or too low - I do not get enough swing on the racket and the resultant return is a weak high return - that either moves towards the centre or makes me a sitting duck. Also, I am not sure if I am taking the serves well on the volley - so the cross court returns that are supposed to land deep in the forehand corner, hit the opponents forehand side wall and makes for easy killing. The funny thing is that I am so concious of this weakness, that whenever I get a serve on the backhand that I can return easily - I get so excited that I try and slam a down-the-line backhand retrun into the tin!! The opponents look at me amazed - they are like "How did you *#$% that up? You could have hit it anywhere in the court and you hit it in the tin?!!!"
Hope to do better on this front soon - with a lot of practise - like everything else!!
In know in theory that the return of the serve from the backhand court has to be deep - either down the line of cross-court depending upon the type of service received. But in practice, during the actual games, it seems to be easier said than done!! My attempts at hitting down the line on lob serves often result in weak shots that are either too low on the front wall or if they are high enough, then they hit the front wall and then the side wall on the front and the ball moves towards the centre of the court for the opponent to make a mess of my attempts. My attempts at returning the low serves on the backhand that hit the side wall and are ankle high before they drop on the court lead to equally disasterous returns!! In a game, I end up handing out at least 2-3 points on erroneous service returns only and another 2-3 points on weak service returns. I have to figure out a way to work on this!!
Some of the things that I am thinking of to handle this is to hold the racket higher - near the top of the handle so that I have more control on the shots. The problem is that if the serves are too deep or too low - I do not get enough swing on the racket and the resultant return is a weak high return - that either moves towards the centre or makes me a sitting duck. Also, I am not sure if I am taking the serves well on the volley - so the cross court returns that are supposed to land deep in the forehand corner, hit the opponents forehand side wall and makes for easy killing. The funny thing is that I am so concious of this weakness, that whenever I get a serve on the backhand that I can return easily - I get so excited that I try and slam a down-the-line backhand retrun into the tin!! The opponents look at me amazed - they are like "How did you *#$% that up? You could have hit it anywhere in the court and you hit it in the tin?!!!"
Hope to do better on this front soon - with a lot of practise - like everything else!!
The injury that kept me away for some time
Have been away from jotting down my training experience for some time and have realized that discipline is as important for blogging as it for the squash training!! I had been down for 4 weeks in between with a hamstring injury - it was a pull and it was so painful that I was barely able to limp - leave alone walk!! I believe it was primarily due to dehydration and playing the hot and humid climate in Bombay - I was playing at 12 in the afternoon and our courts are not air conditioned. I was sweating by bucketfuls - but then that is a normal day of squash in Bombay in summer. Then suddenly I felt someting snap in my left calf - it was as if someone has hit me extremely hard on the calf with the racket!! I crashed on the court and could barely limp out!! Just imagine my luck - the player waiting to play after me was a doctor!! He told me not to worry - it looked like a cramp and I should drink lots of water to rehydrate and ensure that my body gets back all the salt that I have lost through sweating.So I did all of that and was hoping that the cramp will be fine in a couple of hours.
However, things did not get better after a day or so and I realized that the ligament that joins the calf muscles to the bone are injured and would need time for healing. Even moving my left leg was hell!! A lot of fomentation, crepe bandages and massages improved things slowly - but the slow healing - without any painkillers was frustrating. Anyway, I just tried to be patient - did upper body workouts that did not put too much pressure on the left leg and did slow stretching exercises for the hamstring!! It took about about 4-5 weeks for me to start moving around without feeling any pain in the hamstring.
Lessons learnt:
- Warm up the lower body and upper body well before playing
- Always make sure that the body is hydrated well to prevent any major cramps and injuries.
I guess that I learn things the hard way!!!
However, things did not get better after a day or so and I realized that the ligament that joins the calf muscles to the bone are injured and would need time for healing. Even moving my left leg was hell!! A lot of fomentation, crepe bandages and massages improved things slowly - but the slow healing - without any painkillers was frustrating. Anyway, I just tried to be patient - did upper body workouts that did not put too much pressure on the left leg and did slow stretching exercises for the hamstring!! It took about about 4-5 weeks for me to start moving around without feeling any pain in the hamstring.
Lessons learnt:
- Warm up the lower body and upper body well before playing
- Always make sure that the body is hydrated well to prevent any major cramps and injuries.
I guess that I learn things the hard way!!!
Friday, April 23, 2010
The finer points of the game are harder to learn!!
Well, another day of gruelling practice that consists of jogging for 25-30 min., strectching, push-ups and then the squash training. The more I have been working on my game, the more I am realizing that picking up the finer things in the game are proving to be more difficult than the basic things that pushed my game up a certain level.
To give you an example, one of the things that I am trying to practice is to use the momentum generated by the backswing of the racket to receover faster from a certain position in the front backhand/ forehand corner or from the back. But it has been so tough that I am tempted to give up after 3-4 days of practice!! I know I have to keep on working on this till I manage to get this right!!
The two big things that I need to work on over the next 3-4 weeks are:
1. Watching the ball; &
2. Recovering faster.
I forget the number of times my coach has said that I should watch the ball all along - but for me, maybe going to the moon would be easier!! There are two specific time-periods when I do not watch the ball - the first one is when the ball is about to hit the racket. Just a split-second before the ball is about to hit the racket, my eyes move to the spot on the front wall or side wall where I want to direct the ball. Believe me, this is not even fraction of a second - but it makes such a huge impact to the overall timing because lots of times, my shot goes completly awary!! If I am trying to hit a rail close to the wall, I end up hitting the front corner and sending the ball back in the middle.
So to tackle this issue, today, I started solo practice. I was hitting rails from the forehand and backhand back corners and the special effort was to watch the ball till the time it hits the racket. The immediate effect of this was that for deeper shots, I stopped worrying about how hard I was hitting the ball. It simply was not possible to hit the balls landing close to the side wall about 1-2 feet behind the service box with any notiecable power because there is no space to swing the racket!!I was working more on more on hitting the ball from the middle of the racket with proper elevation so that the ball stays as close to the wall as possible. I realised that it is not the power with which you hit the ball that makes as much difference as the height to which you hit the ball on the front wall - and to hit the ball to proper elevation, I had to use my wrists. So instead of taking a swing at the ball to connect - I had to use a filp of my wrists to send the ball high. It was slightly easier on the forehand side to begin with. I am still trying to get the wrist flick under control so that I can control the direction and elevation on the deep backhand shot.
The other instance when I lose sight of the ball is when I am recovering fromt the backhand back corner!! I am trying to scramble to the "T" and watching the court to ensure that I am moving in the right direction!!
So while in both these instances, the time the eye moves off the ball is minimal, we all know the difference fraction of a second makes in a squash game!!
Recovering faster on the other hand is a matter of constantly reinforcing that to myself. So now, everytime I hit a shot, I have made it a habit to repeat "recover" under my breath!! I guess, that is a crude way to verbally reminding my mind and my body to ensure that once I complete playing a shot, I do not stand at that position to see where the shot hits the wall and then start reacting only when my opponent plays a shot!! So the moment, the shot is complete, I start the recovery - easier said than done - but then remember, I have started just some time back and these habits will take time to build up!!
To give you an example, one of the things that I am trying to practice is to use the momentum generated by the backswing of the racket to receover faster from a certain position in the front backhand/ forehand corner or from the back. But it has been so tough that I am tempted to give up after 3-4 days of practice!! I know I have to keep on working on this till I manage to get this right!!
The two big things that I need to work on over the next 3-4 weeks are:
1. Watching the ball; &
2. Recovering faster.
I forget the number of times my coach has said that I should watch the ball all along - but for me, maybe going to the moon would be easier!! There are two specific time-periods when I do not watch the ball - the first one is when the ball is about to hit the racket. Just a split-second before the ball is about to hit the racket, my eyes move to the spot on the front wall or side wall where I want to direct the ball. Believe me, this is not even fraction of a second - but it makes such a huge impact to the overall timing because lots of times, my shot goes completly awary!! If I am trying to hit a rail close to the wall, I end up hitting the front corner and sending the ball back in the middle.
So to tackle this issue, today, I started solo practice. I was hitting rails from the forehand and backhand back corners and the special effort was to watch the ball till the time it hits the racket. The immediate effect of this was that for deeper shots, I stopped worrying about how hard I was hitting the ball. It simply was not possible to hit the balls landing close to the side wall about 1-2 feet behind the service box with any notiecable power because there is no space to swing the racket!!I was working more on more on hitting the ball from the middle of the racket with proper elevation so that the ball stays as close to the wall as possible. I realised that it is not the power with which you hit the ball that makes as much difference as the height to which you hit the ball on the front wall - and to hit the ball to proper elevation, I had to use my wrists. So instead of taking a swing at the ball to connect - I had to use a filp of my wrists to send the ball high. It was slightly easier on the forehand side to begin with. I am still trying to get the wrist flick under control so that I can control the direction and elevation on the deep backhand shot.
The other instance when I lose sight of the ball is when I am recovering fromt the backhand back corner!! I am trying to scramble to the "T" and watching the court to ensure that I am moving in the right direction!!
So while in both these instances, the time the eye moves off the ball is minimal, we all know the difference fraction of a second makes in a squash game!!
Recovering faster on the other hand is a matter of constantly reinforcing that to myself. So now, everytime I hit a shot, I have made it a habit to repeat "recover" under my breath!! I guess, that is a crude way to verbally reminding my mind and my body to ensure that once I complete playing a shot, I do not stand at that position to see where the shot hits the wall and then start reacting only when my opponent plays a shot!! So the moment, the shot is complete, I start the recovery - easier said than done - but then remember, I have started just some time back and these habits will take time to build up!!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Working on the overall fitness
Past week has gone on really well - and I have realized that the high of playing well beats all other highs!! It has been good fun playing squash - it has been fantastic to be able to see dramatic improvements in the game and being able to mentally take the game able to the next level.
The next area for improvement for me is strokemaking. My strokes often are short or are overhit (primarily when I am trying to compensate for the short strokes). So if I am playing a good player, I end up losing control of the rally and have to do all the retrieving!! I guess I also have to learn not to be afraid to let the ball go behind me - instead of trying to play a stroke hurriedly without getting into proper position. I also am not at all comfortable with the ball coming into the body - and end up hitting the ball at a very cramped position.
Perhaps the most important thing that I need to learn as a part of the strokemaking is to use the wrists to provide the power, height and direction to the ball. That will decide the length of the ball, my ability to play cross court drives and keep the other player guessing!!
Miles to go before I sleep...!!!
The next area for improvement for me is strokemaking. My strokes often are short or are overhit (primarily when I am trying to compensate for the short strokes). So if I am playing a good player, I end up losing control of the rally and have to do all the retrieving!! I guess I also have to learn not to be afraid to let the ball go behind me - instead of trying to play a stroke hurriedly without getting into proper position. I also am not at all comfortable with the ball coming into the body - and end up hitting the ball at a very cramped position.
Perhaps the most important thing that I need to learn as a part of the strokemaking is to use the wrists to provide the power, height and direction to the ball. That will decide the length of the ball, my ability to play cross court drives and keep the other player guessing!!
Miles to go before I sleep...!!!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Dramatic Improvements!!
In the last couple of weeks, my game has seen dramatic improvement that has left the opponents complimenting me and my feeling more and more confident about stronger players and performing better against them!!
After months of scouring the web for ways to improve my footwork and court coverage and reading a lot on the same - I decided to get the basics right first!! I realized that my legs were not strong enough and I was not really keen on going to work with the weights etc. as I find it really boring and it is difficult for me to drag myself to the gym for workouts.
I have started jogging for about half-an-hour at moderate speeds before I go to the court. So my training routine now looks like this:
1. 20 rounds of a circular track about 150 meters in length - takes me about 25-min to 30 min to do this. The first five rounds are done at a slow pace - primarily to warm up the body and the legs. I then increase the speed slowly and jog at a speed that i can maintain for about 15-20 min. The last couple of rounds include short sprints of about 30-35 meters.
2. Stretching the legs (hamstring stretch, thighs stretch, figure of 8's with the feet), shoulders, waist (side bends, forward bends, waist rotations) - This entire set of activities takes about 10-15 minutes please gives me a good opportunity to cool down and recover my breath.
3. Squash training on court with the coach - primarily around the squash drills and strokes.
I have started jogging only for 1 week (- 6 days to be precise!!) and my game has seen an improvement of 400% at least!! And this is not an empty claim - all the people I play matches with, will attest to that!! My court coverage and stamina has increased phenomenally!! It gives me so much confidence now to know that the drops and rails in the back corner that I could not reach earlier are so easy to reach!! Not only do I reach those rails in time, I am able to stretch and bend enough to have 1-2 shot options for most of the cases!! I could go on listing the benefits forever but the top 2-3 benefits definitely are:
1. Spending more time looking at the ball - now that I am not as worried about my ability to reach the ball, I watch the ball more closely. This allows me to anticipate opponent's stroke better and hence move even better!!
2. Working on recovery - my recovery after making the strokes in improving every passing day. So, from the backhand corner, if I play a rail and the opponent volleys it to forehand front corner - I do not have any problems making it front corner in time. I even have time to decide whether I want to lob the ball or play a cross-court drive!! This is resulting in further improvement in the overall movement around the court!!
3. Digging out balls from corners - I must admit that I was a lazy player earlier!! By second or third game, I would be too tired to dig out the balls from the corners!! So to avoid the corners, I would try and volley without getting into proper position for volleying and make unforced errors. This used to give my opponents lots of points. But in the past week, I have been patient,have allowed the balls directed at the body to pass and then take them off the back wall, play better rails and rallies and in general surprise my opponents!!
So here you go - if you are a Level 4.5-5 player, looking to improve your game, start with jogging!! Doesn't sound like a profound magic mantra - but believe me, it has worked wonders for me and it should work wonders for you too!!
After months of scouring the web for ways to improve my footwork and court coverage and reading a lot on the same - I decided to get the basics right first!! I realized that my legs were not strong enough and I was not really keen on going to work with the weights etc. as I find it really boring and it is difficult for me to drag myself to the gym for workouts.
I have started jogging for about half-an-hour at moderate speeds before I go to the court. So my training routine now looks like this:
1. 20 rounds of a circular track about 150 meters in length - takes me about 25-min to 30 min to do this. The first five rounds are done at a slow pace - primarily to warm up the body and the legs. I then increase the speed slowly and jog at a speed that i can maintain for about 15-20 min. The last couple of rounds include short sprints of about 30-35 meters.
2. Stretching the legs (hamstring stretch, thighs stretch, figure of 8's with the feet), shoulders, waist (side bends, forward bends, waist rotations) - This entire set of activities takes about 10-15 minutes please gives me a good opportunity to cool down and recover my breath.
3. Squash training on court with the coach - primarily around the squash drills and strokes.
I have started jogging only for 1 week (- 6 days to be precise!!) and my game has seen an improvement of 400% at least!! And this is not an empty claim - all the people I play matches with, will attest to that!! My court coverage and stamina has increased phenomenally!! It gives me so much confidence now to know that the drops and rails in the back corner that I could not reach earlier are so easy to reach!! Not only do I reach those rails in time, I am able to stretch and bend enough to have 1-2 shot options for most of the cases!! I could go on listing the benefits forever but the top 2-3 benefits definitely are:
1. Spending more time looking at the ball - now that I am not as worried about my ability to reach the ball, I watch the ball more closely. This allows me to anticipate opponent's stroke better and hence move even better!!
2. Working on recovery - my recovery after making the strokes in improving every passing day. So, from the backhand corner, if I play a rail and the opponent volleys it to forehand front corner - I do not have any problems making it front corner in time. I even have time to decide whether I want to lob the ball or play a cross-court drive!! This is resulting in further improvement in the overall movement around the court!!
3. Digging out balls from corners - I must admit that I was a lazy player earlier!! By second or third game, I would be too tired to dig out the balls from the corners!! So to avoid the corners, I would try and volley without getting into proper position for volleying and make unforced errors. This used to give my opponents lots of points. But in the past week, I have been patient,have allowed the balls directed at the body to pass and then take them off the back wall, play better rails and rallies and in general surprise my opponents!!
So here you go - if you are a Level 4.5-5 player, looking to improve your game, start with jogging!! Doesn't sound like a profound magic mantra - but believe me, it has worked wonders for me and it should work wonders for you too!!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Rude wake up call!!
it has been a long time since I have written about my journey - primarily because I had lost focus - both in practice and in blogging about it!! I am reminded of the amount of discipline required to keep anything going on a consistent basis!!
However, my game today was a rude "wake up" call for me. Over the past 2 months, I had been working on my physical fitness and doing exercises off court like running, doing shuttle runs, skipping, movement drills off court and running up the stairs of our 15-storied apartment condo. All this had resulted in a marked improvement in my movement on court and stamina. However, over the last 3 weeks, laziness crept in and all I was doing was some work on court and playing matches.
Today, I got an opportunity to play with 2 players who are significantly better than me. What really surprised me was my bad movement on the court - to say that I was thrashed was an understatement!! I could not keep the rallies going beyond 3-4 strokes, I was scrambling all around for the ball, my rails were landing in the centre and the crosscourt shots hit by these 2 players were passing me by like bullets!! My reaction was slow and pathetic!! All the hard work on physical fitness that had brought about some improvement in my game was all lost - in mugs of beers!! So today I have decided that I am going to go back to the basics and start working on the fitness again!!
However, my game today was a rude "wake up" call for me. Over the past 2 months, I had been working on my physical fitness and doing exercises off court like running, doing shuttle runs, skipping, movement drills off court and running up the stairs of our 15-storied apartment condo. All this had resulted in a marked improvement in my movement on court and stamina. However, over the last 3 weeks, laziness crept in and all I was doing was some work on court and playing matches.
Today, I got an opportunity to play with 2 players who are significantly better than me. What really surprised me was my bad movement on the court - to say that I was thrashed was an understatement!! I could not keep the rallies going beyond 3-4 strokes, I was scrambling all around for the ball, my rails were landing in the centre and the crosscourt shots hit by these 2 players were passing me by like bullets!! My reaction was slow and pathetic!! All the hard work on physical fitness that had brought about some improvement in my game was all lost - in mugs of beers!! So today I have decided that I am going to go back to the basics and start working on the fitness again!!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Things that I am struggling with in my game
Things have been pretty hectic in the past 2 weeks on the work front – and the squash has also suffered over the past week. I need to get back to it from tomorrow with the same enthusiasm with which we had started a couple of months back.
Over the past three months I have realized that it takes supreme effort and discipline to attain excellence in any sport – it is so easy to go and play when things are good and you are rearing to go and play. It is only on bad days – when you do not feel like going for the coaching and make all types of excuses – that the real desire shows. Dragging yourself to the court on these days takes mental fortitude and calls for immense discipline!! Guess I have to learn that now and make sure that I am there for the coaching – no matter what!!
Over to some of the technical things about squash – I have realized that as we start practicing more and more, my main problems are two-fold – or maybe they are related!! The first problem is that I get too close to the ball thereby preventing me from recovering well and controlling the directions on my shots. This is especially true when I have to run back from the front to the backhand back corner. I end up cramping myself and hitting either a weak boast or hitting the ball in the tin on the front wall trying to hit a rail. Everytime I run behind now, I have to keep reminding myself not to run into the corner and hence cramp myself!! I am trying hard but – get hampered – either going too close to the ball or staying so far that I can barely manage to flick the ball from back wall.
The other big problem is that of balance – I always seem to overrun or be out of balance thereby preventing effective recovery. I understand that this also has to do with the strength in my legs and I need to get down to doing some extra exercises for my legs – things that will make my footwork faster like skipping.
So the agenda from this week onwards is going to be following:
1. Sun salutation/ yoga for overall stretching to get the body going in the morning
2. Skipping – 300-400 for 1 week
3. Squash coaching – 45-50 min.
4. Push-up’s – 10X3 sets for 1 week. The aim is to hit 50 push-up’s and then gradually increase it to 100 in 8-10 weeks.
5. Sun salutation/ yoga to cool down after the practice
Wow!! That sounds like a cool plan!! If only I can put it to work – it will mean waking up at 5.15 AM everyday to make sure that I can make it to the office on time after the exercises and the squash practice!! Will keep you all posted on this
Over the past three months I have realized that it takes supreme effort and discipline to attain excellence in any sport – it is so easy to go and play when things are good and you are rearing to go and play. It is only on bad days – when you do not feel like going for the coaching and make all types of excuses – that the real desire shows. Dragging yourself to the court on these days takes mental fortitude and calls for immense discipline!! Guess I have to learn that now and make sure that I am there for the coaching – no matter what!!
Over to some of the technical things about squash – I have realized that as we start practicing more and more, my main problems are two-fold – or maybe they are related!! The first problem is that I get too close to the ball thereby preventing me from recovering well and controlling the directions on my shots. This is especially true when I have to run back from the front to the backhand back corner. I end up cramping myself and hitting either a weak boast or hitting the ball in the tin on the front wall trying to hit a rail. Everytime I run behind now, I have to keep reminding myself not to run into the corner and hence cramp myself!! I am trying hard but – get hampered – either going too close to the ball or staying so far that I can barely manage to flick the ball from back wall.
The other big problem is that of balance – I always seem to overrun or be out of balance thereby preventing effective recovery. I understand that this also has to do with the strength in my legs and I need to get down to doing some extra exercises for my legs – things that will make my footwork faster like skipping.
So the agenda from this week onwards is going to be following:
1. Sun salutation/ yoga for overall stretching to get the body going in the morning
2. Skipping – 300-400 for 1 week
3. Squash coaching – 45-50 min.
4. Push-up’s – 10X3 sets for 1 week. The aim is to hit 50 push-up’s and then gradually increase it to 100 in 8-10 weeks.
5. Sun salutation/ yoga to cool down after the practice
Wow!! That sounds like a cool plan!! If only I can put it to work – it will mean waking up at 5.15 AM everyday to make sure that I can make it to the office on time after the exercises and the squash practice!! Will keep you all posted on this
Thursday, January 7, 2010
PSA Masters in Mumbai
Our new year started on a bright note – albeit slightly late!! Our squash coaching that was off as the flooring of our court was being repaired resumed today. Since the coaching was resumed after a gap of a month – we escaped with the coaching being slightly easy on the body. The sprints up and down the court were not so bad – nor were the drills.
While we were away from the court for about a month or so – I was witness to something that has made me a lifelong squash convert!! Bombay hosted a PSA squash tournament with several of the world’s top ranking players participating in the same.
Now, for all my passions for squash, I had never seen a professional tournament – simply because we do not have too many of them in India. The tournaments that happen in India are partly run by the elite and exclusive clubs – that are not really open to the non-members. Having said that, nothing that I would have seen in India would have prepared me for the spectacle that is professional squash at the top level!!
The tournament featured top players like Ramy Ashour, Nick Matthew, Amr Shabana, Gregory Gaultier, James Willstrop amongst others!! This was like a feast for someone as starved as squash for me – if I could, I would have spent all my waking hours watching these extraordinary players play!!
It was as if these players were from another planet – their court coverage, the accuracy and the variety of their shots, the deceptions, stamina, footwork…..to me, it was all magical!! Their rails almost kissing the wall looked so deceptively simple that I was left wondering about the number of times I end up smashing my racket on the wall!! Their movement on the court – reaching forward to take the drops and almost effortlessly gliding back to retrieve the lobs really made me wonder about my lead-footed efforts to cover the corners of a squash court!!
What was really amazing to watch was the way these top players had about 2-3 options after reaching the ball for the type of shots that they could play. The players would reach the ball so early that they made the entire game look deceptively simple.
Ramy Ashour and Nick Matthew made it to the finals – and the finals was such a visual treat – Ramy was as unorthodox as they come and Nick was copybook. Between them, they would have played the entire range of shots that you would expect to see in a squash court ….and then some more. They were hitting rails from impossible angles, retrieving impossible-looking passing shots and playing the kind of drops that players like me can only dream of. For someone like me, it was squash nirvana!!
While we were away from the court for about a month or so – I was witness to something that has made me a lifelong squash convert!! Bombay hosted a PSA squash tournament with several of the world’s top ranking players participating in the same.
Now, for all my passions for squash, I had never seen a professional tournament – simply because we do not have too many of them in India. The tournaments that happen in India are partly run by the elite and exclusive clubs – that are not really open to the non-members. Having said that, nothing that I would have seen in India would have prepared me for the spectacle that is professional squash at the top level!!
The tournament featured top players like Ramy Ashour, Nick Matthew, Amr Shabana, Gregory Gaultier, James Willstrop amongst others!! This was like a feast for someone as starved as squash for me – if I could, I would have spent all my waking hours watching these extraordinary players play!!
It was as if these players were from another planet – their court coverage, the accuracy and the variety of their shots, the deceptions, stamina, footwork…..to me, it was all magical!! Their rails almost kissing the wall looked so deceptively simple that I was left wondering about the number of times I end up smashing my racket on the wall!! Their movement on the court – reaching forward to take the drops and almost effortlessly gliding back to retrieve the lobs really made me wonder about my lead-footed efforts to cover the corners of a squash court!!
What was really amazing to watch was the way these top players had about 2-3 options after reaching the ball for the type of shots that they could play. The players would reach the ball so early that they made the entire game look deceptively simple.
Ramy Ashour and Nick Matthew made it to the finals – and the finals was such a visual treat – Ramy was as unorthodox as they come and Nick was copybook. Between them, they would have played the entire range of shots that you would expect to see in a squash court ….and then some more. They were hitting rails from impossible angles, retrieving impossible-looking passing shots and playing the kind of drops that players like me can only dream of. For someone like me, it was squash nirvana!!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)