Taking stock

After many months of playing less squash, I took stock of where my game is and where it goes from here.  First off I feel good about my game.  I think I've improved how I handle fatigue.  Before I mentally and physically shut down when I reach red-line.  Now I recognize the symptoms of fatigue and I start to compensate.  The effect is I can play through the fatigue and push myself a little bit harder and longer.  I also improved the quality of my drives and added an effective feint drop into a cross.  On the need category, fitness is a big issue.  Fatigue sets in very early now.  After 5 points, I would reach my red-line.  Playing a lot of games doesn't improve my condition, in fact it hurts my body.  The next biggest weakness is the cross court.  They are still too short and too shallow.  A smaller issue is keeping space between myself and the back corner.  Corollary to that is choking up, slowing down, and taking shortened swing when playing shots from the back corner.  The sum of all of this equals not ready to play tournaments.  Before I play tournaments I'll have to work in physical strength training for my legs,  add on court aerobic training, and add lessons with Richard.  I'll need to heed the stretching, core strength development, and chiropractic adjustments.  That's my recipe for getting back to playing tournaments.

Warm ups

I tried out a few routines to warm up for practice and competition. I first went with a rigorous bike warm up for 5 minutes.  Then I tried drills.  I've settled on a simple routine involving 2 minutes on a stationary bike and stretching.  Followed by sprints on a court.  Ideally at the end of my warmup, my heart rate has peaked around 150 and settled down to 125.  I begin to fatigue and lose focus when my HR exceeds 180. During my warmup I want to avoid extending my heart rate beyond 150.  Doing drills is not a good thing for me at this stage of my fitness development because it raises my heart rate beyond 170.  A precipitous drop from 180 can also affect my concentration.  So I shouldn't start peak my HR early.

I've heard from a doctor and other athletes that my heart rate is high for someone who plays sports.  I don't know what my HR was when I competed in my twenties and thirties, but I'm relatively certain that I don't work up my aerobic condition enough to have a steady low HR.  Still I don't want my HR to hit 190 which it did this week when I practiced after a full dinner.  I must remember to hold my food intake on active days or nights.

A needed break

I took a self imposed break last night from squash. It's unusual for me to pass up the chance to play, but I felt spent. I was physically and mentally tired of squash. The last few weeks I have seen myself play my best squash ever. Monday night's practice was the pinnacle of success for me. I dove like a pro to return some nasty kills and boasted back balls that were dying in the back corners. The best part was in how early I saw the ball. I wasn't always in control of the rallies. More often than not I was defending but exceptionally well for my standards. The extraordinary turn was in how I controlled my focus during the changes in momentum in the rallies. 3.0 players often make errors when a rally starts to extend. I managed to maintain my composure during a long rally where I had to switch from defending to attacking. In fact I was the one extending the rallies by returning a lot of balls under pressure. I also managed to maintain focus between points which is the time when I often make errors in returns and serves.

I have to attribute my better than average performance to physical improvements. My weight dropped below 155 from over 160. I have since gained 2 to 3 pounds back, but I feel the relief on my knees from the shed pounds. The lack of pain means I feel unfettered to run and lunge. My recovery to the T is better with 2 big quick steps, I bend much lower to the ball, and I get back in position faster.

I'm still hampered by poor endurance and stamina, the qualities Richard calls conditioning. I see that I fatigue faster than nearly everyone I play in practice. My errors come in torrents when I reach various stages of fatigue. I think here too I've made some conscious changes in the past couple of weeks. First I'm recognizing when fatigue sets in. It nearly always come after the first really long rally. That's the moment when I feel a shortness of breath. To combat this I remember what Niki said to take slow and deep breaths. Raising your arms over your head opens up the lungs and taking a walk to the back wall to wipe your hand on it can provide a few seconds of recovery also. The other common stage of fatigue comes after playing a number of extensive points especially when the score approaches double digits or starting a new game after finishing an intensive game. That's when I enter this very low energy state called the possum. The telltale sign is slow and shallow breathing followed by late reaction and failure to see and track the ball. I was keenly aware of this lately and tried the technique of taking some quick vigorous breaths to jump start the heart rate. I'm happy with the results so far. It seems to work and brings my focus and energy back temporarily. Once I get going again and into a rally. The stamina returns.

I'm in a good place of my game right now. I want to maintain this weight. If I could also strengthen the quads and hamstrings I know my game would improve even more or at the very least consolidate my gains so far. I don't see that I'll have time to add cardio training to improve my conditioning, but the new breathing techniques are really good for maximizing the conditioning I do have. The break yesterday is giving me the rest I need to keep the intensity up when I return next week. I will have to monitor when I need to take these breaks again so I can maintain this good rhythm I'm establishing.

Watching Federer

I got a jolt of enthusiasm from watching the French Open semi's and finals. Roger Federer against Rafael Nada is riveting to watch. I'm a fan of Roger for his dexterous movement and graceful strokes. His game is still tops if not for the tenacity of Rafa who brings 110% intensity to every shot. Despite being ranked number 1, Rafa still plays like the underdog. Rafa's quickness and explosion just can't be beat. Still, I prefer to emulate Roger over Rafa. His game is about efficiency. Being efficient grants longevity. The payoff to Roger has been an injury free career. At my age I have to consider longevity and health.

I can't help but make a comment on Roger's struggle against Rafa. Success is much closer to his grasp than the scores tell. In the finals, Roger started out playing aggressively in a different way than he has or in the way Rafa plays aggressively. He came to the net frequently and won. This is different than hitting hard from the baseline like Rafa plays. Surely Roger can slug it out on the occasional point, but that's not the game he is suited to. With his nimble movement to the net, he easily can shorten the time Rafa has to react and shorten the points to his favor. The last set proved how going toe to toe with Rafa from the baseline is a losing prospect. Roger's ground strokes could not match the pace of Rafa's and put him in constant defense. I'm eager to see Roger play in Wimbledon. I hope to see a lot more net play and to see him win the championship.

I continue to play my squash. I kept up with practice over the past three weeks and the result is good. I am playing better with mainly reaction and movement improving. I'm getting on the ball early and diving low to get control of the ball. I definitely feel relaxed and unconcerned about my own performance. One change I've made that's given me more confidence is adding a higher toss in my serve. It has made it harder to attack. That has eased my anxiety tremendously. Now I have something to aim for and repeat when I play.

Back in the Saddle Again

After 5 months of rests and the use of a brace, my elbow is nearly completely healed. My game however needs a little healing now. Footwork needs a refresher on the finer points of lunges. The cross court shot needs attention badly. The focus and watching aspects need drilling into my head. The one notable success in the past months is the lob. I'm feeling more comfortable with it and have added it into my game more naturally. The cures for what ails my game will have to come from doing some solo drills and getting my head wrapped around the basic mental preparations again.

Absence makes the heart grows fonder?

I've been out of the squash scene for a good couple of months. First it was demands at home. Martina is on crutches for the third month now as a result of tearing her ACL and meniscus. So I stay home to be caretaker. Then I tore ligaments in my elbow when I threw my elbow and hyperextended it. This strain has been really long time in healing. It's going on month 3 and I still don't have full range of motion. Pain persists in the extreme extension or contraction of the elbow. The good news is I'm back to playing once a week since last week with the aid of a elbow brace that limits extensions.

The practices show that I'm returning to the game with inconsistency again. This is not a surprise given I've been out for so long. The extreme results puzzle me. In the same night I'm feeling weak and unfocused losing to unspectacular players, I'm winning against a really solid 4.5 player after having already spent 2 hours playing. I obviously and apparently regained focus and strength to beat Pankaj, but how I did that was quite sub-conscientious. I did not even realized something within me had changed other than to say I was happy when he invited me to play. I can remember the things that went through my mind. I thought about where my serve was going. I thought about when he would change things up from exchanging rallies to playing short to move me forward. Lastly I thought most about keeping the pace steady and firm. I blocked out a good deal of negativity. When my serve fell short and Pankaj killed it I blocked it out of my mind altogether.

On the technical side I executed a few maneuvers well, but didn't show a broad range of skills or shots. I didn't lob once and I didn't use deception from the front but only two deceptive crosses from three quarters that did pass Pankaj unawares. If Pankaj were to volley or cut off more of my drives and send them cross courts I think I would have been severely pressured. I was lucky to have played my game successfully without concentrating harder on watching him hit the ball. That would be the only way I could have been prepared for cross court exchanges. Lastly as Pankaj pointed out when we chatted afterwards that the one thing I showed consistent weakness was keeping my distance from the far back corner to return lobs and deep crosses. I was also lucky in that Pankaj seemed to forget to watch me when I was behind him. That is the only explanation for why my attacking short had the positive effects that it did.

All in all I cannot say whether the absence has any severe impact on my game. The jury is out on whether it cleared my head and gave me any fresh confidence.

Aggressive plays

Watching the semi's between Djokovic and Federer got me thinking about the two styles of aggression. Djokovic clearly attacking with every shot, while Federer attacks opportunistically. Part of Federer's greatness is his ability to change things up to create the opportunities. I once said that Federer plays too much to the odds and not dominate through more aggressive plays. I see now how he creates the opportunities as much as he waits for them to come naturally.

I see the parallels in how some squash players attack like Djokovic - Alex and Keng. In contrast I don't like to attack. Rather, I play somewhat conservative defense. In recent months I've begun to attack when the ball is short. Sometimes I attack long but it has not become a natural choice More often I attack short but not reliably so. To become a consistent attacker I will need to come up with some tactical combination shots. It also means when I play an attacker that I know to play strategic defense like Federer does.