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!!
Friday, April 23, 2010
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!!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)