For so many years all that went through my head was what I was doing wrong, which foot should I start from, where my elbow was, or open my racquet face. All that started to change when I started to concentrate on watching the ball and chasing down every shot. While I still don't move around the court gracefully or efficiently, I move much better and get to many shots. It's as if my mind has been freed from a chorus of noisy naysayers. Now I only think about what I do wrong after I've done it as a reminder to correct myself next time. All the rest of the time I spend just playing squash. What a relief that feels.
This week I play Rohit on the challenge court and rallied with him to 7-9. I stayed mentally tough chasing down everything and waiting until I see him hit the ball before committing to any movement. The result was fantastic. I won the points based on hitting not winners but really good quality shots tight against the wall or volleying early when he's out of position. I regret a little I couldn't return all his serves well, but I didn't let me beat myself. Each time I play a 4.5 or 5.0 I gain a little more confidence that I can get every ball!
I know what I want my game to be. I want to play like Jonathan Powers, moving gracefully to everything, but at the same time volley and hit the ball early like David Palmer. Add the shot making of JP and John White would round out my game.
With that I will work on solo drills as Niki says and practice some of JP's front court two wall drop into the nick, JW's boast 3 wall cross court lop from the back, 3 wall lop from the front, and DP's volley drop the opponent's boast. I want to learn to play a drop shot with a full swing slice into the nick, but also play a short swing snap drive into the back like JP does.
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