Thursday 28 March 2013

How to make a Cross Court Video Tutorial



To make a cross court simply orient your body so that your belly button is directed near the front corner.

The ball must bounce in the back corner and stay there.

It is better to use it when in an advantaged position (when you are in front of your opponent)

To make a good cross court you can aim at the center of the front wall, this way the ball will go straight into the opposite side's corner and if your ball has good depth it will stay there.



Use the cross court a few times every rally but not too much, instead make drives all the time. This is because if your opponent get used to you doing cross court he will forestall them and make you pay.
Instead if used sparingnessly you will surprise your opponent and therefore score a point.


Monday 25 March 2013

How to make a Drive Video Tutorial

The drive


Definition

The drive is the shot that stays in the side of the court where it has been made and it is best executed when it is the closest to the side wall and bounces near the backwall.

Best practice

The best drive, after hitting the front wall, bounces on the floor in the 3/4 of the back of the court in a way that makes it bounces near the backwall which makes the shot hard to retrieve.

The purpose of the drive is not necessarily to score points, it has the objective of forcing your opponent away from the T giving you the chance to dominate the rally.

The player on the T that most probably is defining the rythm of the rally.

So in order to obtain and keep control of the T you can use the drive.


Your body positioning and the shots you make

The way you make your swing defines the way you make every shot.

The position of your body determines where you will direct your shot.

To make a drive simply turn your body so that your belly is directly watching the side wall.

Sunday 17 March 2013

Squash Video Tips #6 On Court Movement: How to Move on court, theory and practice. 2 Videos!!

How to move on court 2 Videos And Article!



As i suggested in my philosophy of court movement, in squash you should always keep moving during a rally.

What i mean is that instead of making rapid start/stop movements between the ball and the T and back again, i suggest to always keep your body in movement, so that your feet are never stale.

That's because to start and stop consumes more energy than it would if you move slower and keep your momentum going.

So the next time you make a slow shot don't rush to the T, take the time to slowly go there this way when you get there you will  quickly move away from it with less effort.

Ghosting


Ghosting means exercising as if the ball was there without using a ball.

Basically I'm moving around the court while making shots in all the four corners while always coming back to the T.

This is a great exercise to improve your stamina on court and it is pretty heavy on the legs.

The basic principles that are implied in this practice are:
  • I tend to move in the center in respect to the side walls and then i make a step to the side,
  • I always come back to the T,
  • I open the racket before moving,
  • I face the front wall when going back to the T.

What are the basics of ghosting:


  • You must act as if there was a ball
  • You can focus on various things
  • You will enhance your stamina and movement patterns
  • It builds reflexes to come back to the T
  • It is a pillar of squash skill


The structure behind court movement


The idea is that you should be moving the less and getting the most, therefore you need to know:

Step by step guide: How to move on court.

All these theoretical concepts will be very useful after you take a grasp on the basics.
In this video i provide you with all the step by step explanation you need to learn the movement patterns NOW.





Here is an extract of the concepts contained in the video:
You must always move in a way that makes you do a drive and eventually choose not to.
The movement pattern are 2, one for the right side of the court and one for the left side.

These are just schemes to start working on this skill, when you'll be good at those you will be able to change them according to your preferences.

The basic scheme is that you walk in semi-circle way so that you are facing the side wall when you reach the ball, this forces you to make a drive and it is great for a novice player.

Movement patterns
The movement patterns requires you to make 3 steps and are as follow:
  1. The first step is toward the front/back wall
  2. The second is diagonal toward the corner in which the ball is located
  3. The last is a side step toward the side wall
The order of the feet involved changes depending on the side of the court.
They are:

Left/Right/Left for the Right side of the court
And
Right/Left/Right fort the Left side of the court

Train Hard and see you next week!
-Gallo

Tuesday 5 March 2013

Squash Tips Video #5 The volley. How to make a great volley and train it consistently


The importance of the volley


The volley is the most important shot in squash that is because provinding you move correctly and your accuracy is good, the timing of your shot is the most important factor to win a match.

As a general rule you should be using the volley as much as possible especially to obtain and mantain control of the center.

A great thing when using the volley is that if you are much faster than your opponent you won't even need too much accuracy to score a point, obviously you should focus on precision more than on strenght.


How to make a volley


To make a volley you simply must follow the principle of how to make a good swing and change the impact point up in front of your face.

The swing must be fluid so focus on using the shoulder while mantaining the arm extended.

Try to always hit the ball when it is at should height even if it is okay to hit it in a lower position.

When making the volly you should be extending as much as possible and remember to face the side wall (if you are making a drive)

When to do the volley


You should be using the volley as much as possible, that is becaue it requires less effort and most of the time provides better results.

Where on court


As a general rule it is useless to make a volley when you are near the backwall, that is because the ball will bounce out of it. Anyway you should use the volley everytime you feel comfortable to make it.

How to train the volley


Start by simply facing the front wall and start bouncing the ball, have your arm relaxly extend and hit the ball as much as you can by using the shoulder.

Don't worry about strenght it will come with time.