New Pop in my Game

I have struggled with a proper swing ever since I began playing squash.  But after watching 6.0 players during this last tournament, I think I've solved my stroke problem.  I got on court on Monday to try it out and after some time I began hitting with more power, quite likely double the power and pace.  It felt so good to drive the ball hard and give it that pop!  Most surprisingly it felt easy.  Yesterday I put it to the test with a few games against the division B league captain.  It felt great!  Best of all, hitting with power took so much pressure off of me and my game that I relaxed a lot and played with an easy rhythm.

Lessons to Learn

Last few weeks I've been taking lessons from Frank and Cheché.  Each one teaches something different.  Frank talks a lot more and gives me tips on tactics.  Especially I have taken to heart the message about 'hunting'.  Frank's drills also emphasizes creating a put away shot situation.  Another message I have to put into practice is the change in pace.  Frank introduced a drill where practice hitting three drives each with a second bounce at the bottom of the back glass.  The first one comes off the front wall at the service line, the second one below the service line, and the third one just above the tin.  Each one is hit with increasing pace to drive the ball deep.  Most importantly, Frank has been helping me with balance and control.  The most significant change is making more space between me and the ball.  To do that I've had to change two things about my foot-work.  One is to take a final lunging step.  Two, I have to use smaller skip steps to make space between me and the ball.  In the drills, Frank reminds me to always step back towards the center line in order to keep from drifting towards the walls.  I am very aware now how close I have been drifting to the walls in my return of serves and when I rally.  Frank shows me the 6 cone drill where I move from cone to cone, but always staying on the center line.  These drills have helped me a great deal to improve my balance.

1. always on the hunt in the front court
2. stay low and take skip steps
3. hit with an open stance for a drive, boast, or cross
4. use the working boast as an attacking shot

Cheché and Erick's lesson are much more physical.  The lessons are mainly drills to work on moving from one part of the court to the other and drive the ball with pace or to hit drop shots cleanly.  Cheché introduced a drill where I hit a drive to myself, stepping back and then stepping forward again to hit a boast.  The other drill is to drive from a drop followed by a volley and then move to the back court for a drive.  All the drills work on foot-work, control, and balance.

Pre-match Preparation

Yesterday I took seriously to thinking what I should do to prepare for my match.  Unlike the match before where I just simply walked on the court coming from doing errands and other family responsibilities, I started preparing 4 hours before my match.  I started by repacking my squash bag.  I put my racquets into plastic bags to keep the grip from drying out.  I place shoes, shirts & shorts, socks into their own packing cubes.  I put medical tape and wraps into a toiletry case.  After everything was packed up and organized, I went to the gym.  I began with a light weights routine followed by stretching.  Then I got on an empty court to hit to myself to get comfortable with my timing and reaction.  I hit until I broke a sweat and raised my heart rate to 165 or so.  After that I went to my match.  Before my match was to start, I watched the pros play.  The pros' action was a big confidence boost.  The rest of the preparation felt good and kept a lot of anxiety about not preparing out of my mind.

Looking back at my league matches and some successful tournament matches, I can recount the bad ones were always associated with not preparing and just walking on the court straight from the street.  The ones where I played my potential, I spent time to prepare.  Like exams, I feel better when I prepare for them.

Friday late matches

I just got home from playing a very unfocused match.  It was filled with errors.  Every drive and return of serve landed short.  Every boast hit the tin.  I saw the ball late and lost focus of it when I swung at it.  I did not bend my knees and did not move nimbly.  I sucked!  So WTF?

Erick said I am a better player than my opponent and I think so too, but I have to show up and play my game.  So now I must search for the problem and find a solution.  The day started uneventfully and I had good sleep last night.  I ate one croissant, some noodles, and drank 2 cups of black teas and a glass of soy milk.  I took my son to the nurse for a immunization visit and then to school.  I had the afternoon to work and read until after school pick up.  During pickup I ran into another parent who's also a business associate.  We chatted about business and summer events in our lives.  Then it was off to the courts with my son to play my match.

As soon as I arrived the situation felt off.  The pro was rushing me to warmup.  The time was 4:20, ten minutes before the time I thought was the match start.  The ball was new and I felt uncomfortable with its bounce.  I felt intimidated by my opponents low drives.  I had planned to get on the machines to fire up the quads before I got on the courts.  That didn't happen.  During warmup I couldn't get into the rhythm.  My drives were already off and I was already flatfooted.  I started the match anyway thinking I will get into it as the rallies went on.  The errors started from the beginning, but the rallies got shorter after the initial HR spike.  I can't say if my accuracy was better at the beginning or not, but I know it wasn't there for sure.

Looking back at my league matches, I lost badly in matches where I showed up late and rushed on court.  I guess this is a problem for everyone, but it must be fatal for me.  I had two cups of caffeine today which is more than my training allows for.  I did not warm up my heart rate and my muscles.  I think all these are factors in my bad performance.  The new plan is simple:

1. arrive early
2. warm up HR and muscles (machines and bike, or agility drills)
3. stretch before match
4. only 1 cup of caffeine on day of match
5. avoid Friday matches that clashes with son's school and pickup

I just have to be methodical in shaping this pre-match preparation.  If this doesn't work I'll just have to adjust it next time and find something else that works.  I have a match tomorrow so that will be when I put this plan to the test.

Prepping for a Warmup Tournament

Well my knees are holding up.  The left knee has been a bit angry with some fluids remaining after a battery of ibuprofins.  I wear my knee brace for play just in case the fluids in the knee make the joint a bit unstable.  In the meantime, I have continued the strength training even during the getaway over the long Labor Day weekend.  Upon returning Tuesday, I started with a new coach Frank working on drilling in a group.  I also started a lesson with Erick today that was very productive.  In both lessons my objective is to improve my judging, movement, and balance.  The movement and balance follows the judging.  Better judge of where the ball is going leads to better movement.  Better movement leads to better balance.  Better balance leads to stronger pace and more accurate shots.  Erick showed me where to watch for boast.  When the boast is struck low on the side wall, the ball will have faster pace and fall shorter.  That tells me to stay low and move forward.  The other corrections are:

• stay on my toes when moving from front to middle to back
• make space between me and the ball; work a little harder by making space and then taking that one final lung step to strike the ball.
• stay on my toes so I can move back to make space between the ball and my racquet.
• strike the ball in front of me

The lesson I learned from Frank contradicts the lesson from Erick.  Frank advocates I play my backhand with an open stance so I have more options for my shot.  With an open stance I can play down the line, cross, or boast.  Erick advocates hitting my backhand the same way as the forehand with a closed stance.  I have seen this difference in approach with other pros too.  For now I should try to hit with an open stance whenever possible and a closed stance when I have less time or when I want to take time away from my opponent.

I will be playing a warmup tournament this Friday to test out my conditioning and to take stock in my consistency.  I have one more drill session tomorrow before my first match.  I'm looking forward to putting myself through the test.

Getting to Today's Practice Assessment

This is the third week I've been able to practice with other players.  Tomorrow will be the second time I will have practiced on two consecutive days.  This is an important milestone as it shows the training with weights has strengthened my knees to the point that I can play hard for two days without knee problems.  Since spring I have been pounding the weights.  The list is comprehensive.

1. leg press
2. leg extension
3. leg curls
4. calf raises
5. leg abductors
6. leg adductors

In the last month I added agility training and before next week I will add more ghosting too. All the work on the strength and agility of the legs have made a noticeable difference in my performance and health over the last two weeks.  My immediate goal is to keep up on this regiment and add lessons and drills with partners when possible.

As for today I am very happy with my performance.  I characterize it as athletic.  The cardio has clearly paid off too.  While I did not win any games, I did play exceptionally well retrieving all the difficult shots and playing extended rallies without breaking down.  What would have tipped the scale from a loss to a win today would have been better watching & judging with deeper returns.  I'm looking forward to feeling and playing even better in the coming weeks.

New season of squash

My last post was just 1 year ago.  The time for that skill level tournament has returned.  This time I have had some new lessons that changed my racquet preparation and swing, particularly on the forehand.  In addition I have been working with weights, cardio on the bike, and agility on court.  All in the hopes of keeping my body healthy and perform better on court.  The body has taken its toll.  During one of my new more dynamic lessons with Doug, I most likely tore the meniscus of my right knee.  Since then an MRI has shown some loose bodies in that knee.  I've been able to train and practice without much complications.  I still plan to play the tournament next month, but I will get an orthopedic to evaluate the condition.  Meanwhile, I do weights 4 times a week, practice 2 to 3 times a week and work on cardio 2 times a week.  All this I hope to make my matches more dynamic and rewarding.  I'd like to win a few matches this time.