Squash Tips - MOVING ON THE COURT

Going to the center

The center is the nearest point to all the corners. If you always come back to the T you can Control how you'll move next. All this movement are intertwined. The better you do one , the better you'll do the next.

Being in the center is a clear sign of the fact that your leading the game.

But the only way you'll be in the center is is you develop the habit of always going back to the T.

The real center is one step behind the T that's because it's easier to move toward the front-wall than toward the back-wall.

Reach the ball in a way that you can always play a drive and eventually choose not to

The objective of your movement is to be oriented in a way that you're able to play a drive. This means that you need to end with your belly-button pointing at the side wall.

Moving toward the ball

First move toward the front/back wall, then make the side-step.
A big mistake we tend to do is to move crosswise when heading for the ball, this is useless because most of the time you'll find yourself too near to the ball and you'll have to back-off.
Instead analize the ball movement pattern like described in this article.

Going to the central part compared to the side wall first is the more profitable way of moving because if you're on the side the opponet will easily know where to make the shot.(In the position your not.)

To understand this and put it into practice you need to train yourself at least 10 minutes per training on movement.

Here's how:
1)Start from the T
2)Decide where to make the shot (upper left- upper right- lower left -lower right )
3)Move by walking in the center, parallel to the side walls and make the last side step.

If you need a step pattern it works like this:
For shots on the upper right side (you have to put your left foot toward when hitting the ball) : start with the left foot and make a step in the front, then make a diagonal step with the right foot and lastly make a side step with the left foot.
For shots on the lower left side (you have to put your right foo forward when hitting the ball) : start by making a step behind with your right foot, then make a diagonal step while going back with the left foot, then make a side step toward the side wall with the right foot.)

Move as less as possible and keep on moving

When coming back to the T you should slow down so that when your opponent makes the shot you're still moving, this is because keeping momentum makes you move faster and save energy.

Considering this and the moving pattern i previously talked about:

You should always walk if you can, this is because hitting the ball sooner is not necessarily helpfull.

An advanced techinique is to go toward the ball pretty fast and then wait for the opponent to reach the T and put his feet down, then making the shot. This is a pretty nice way to mislead your opponent without making some feign shot.

Check out my video tutorial for more informations

Squash Tips - EGO DEFENSE AND THE TRAINING IN SQUASH

Practice is key

Practice is key. key key. The only way you can improve in squash is by training. But that's not enough.

You have to practice on your weakness in order to improve in the best way possible. The funny thing is that We prefer doing what's easy to us

We like to keep on moving, to say that we like to focus on activity but we tend to prefer those in which we are already specialized, both because the law of investment (the more you do something the more you'll like it) and also because if we can do something with a good result, it's a nice boost of self love for our self image. Even in little things like training the self image can slow your improvement, that's because you'll tend to do the things in which you are already good just to avoid making mistakes (which are the true foundation for improving)


So The best approach would be to do the things you need and surround them with the things you like, for example let's say you need to improve your drop-shot and decide to train alone, the best exercise that would force you to move would be to make a boast and then run to the front wall to make the drop-shot. Of course after 5 minutes the ball will become cold and you'll be annoyed. But what if everytime you make the drop-shot you try to recover the ball and start making increasingly longer volley so that you can go to the back wall, keeping the ball warm, exercising on another maybe for you funnier skill (i love to volley), and being able to train for a straight half hour without any pause. WHAT ABOUT THAT?

The 80-20 rule tells us that the 20 most important percentage of things we do does the 80% of the work for us. So instead of playing for two hours without thinking, just train yourself for 20 minutes and focus on your weakest skill, you'll get amazing results.

Squash Tips - THE SHOTS OF SQUASH Part 2 : Drop shot, Lob and Volley

The Drop

The drop is the one shot that will make almost every point in the game, both for you and for your opponent.

This shot backfires a lot and you'll find that whenever you're not confident on what you are doing your accuracy will decrease. But implementing this shot in your game is a key step to improving.

The drop shot is the second component to an aggresive-style game, the drive being the first part.

When should you make a drop shot? Everytime your opponent has to run to get the ball.
If you haven't checked out yet you should read the tactics post.

You'll notice that everytime you are leading the rally in squash you're the one that's closer to the front wall( generally on the T).

So when you find yourself leading and your opponent gives you a easy shot, make a drop-shot, so that he has to run for the ball.


Now let's clear two important concepts:
1)Don't worry about scoring points . 2)Use the drop to mix things up.

The reason you play the drop-shot is to make your opponent run and by doing so increasing the chances he will be tired and he will make more mistakes.
The frame of mind from wich you should come from is that the more he runs the more you will walk, don't focus on making points cause this will lead you to throw th ball under the tin. Focus on making calculated tactical shot that forces your opponent to ''obey to your will''.

A good thing is always to keep the game full of ''variation''shots so that you're not predictable.

The Lob

Using the Lob means adding class to a rough game

This one shot is extremely funny to do but also very hard.
This can be used in a rotation of shots when you're always in front of the court mixing the shots with drop/lob/cross court or reverse boast (if you like them)

The best lob you can play should be on your serve but you can use it whenever you find yourself in advantage.It is better to use this shot when you're nerar the front wall so that it provides the time to come back to the T and it is also a fruitful shot.

Generally speaking the only time you shouldn't do this shot is when you're on the back wall. That' because if you do it you give an almost always easy killer shot top your opponent.
Use the lob as much as you can and remember to do a good lob you need to throw a weak ball near the upper line of the front wall. Key concept: Weak shot. High shot. 

The Volley

THE GAME CHANGER
The difference beetwen a novice and an intermediate is generally the consistancy of the volleys. You should make as many volleys as you can, mostly making Drive or Cross court or drop shots.

Avoid using the volley when you're near the back wall becaue you speed things up when you should slow them down.

Remember volley is an attacking shot, it forces the rhythm of the game to be faster and this is important mostly because it will give you the chance to lead the game.
The progress that you make on the volley are the general progress you make in the entire game of squash because if you can make a volley it means you have a good racket ability!

A basic basic exercise that it's so good for improving consists of simply making volleys, as easy as you are able to do them in series of 50 shot per group. Everytime you can make 50 shot make the exercise a bit harder by throwing the ball faster or by straying farther away from the front wall. This is applying babystepping to the volley. I have written an article about learning you should check it out