Club Night Tonight

In preparation for Club Night tonight at 7.30pm - I hope to see many there - here are some thoughts on a topic discussed at our away match last night (Blackheath won!) about controlling the pace of the game. A big part of the game we love is to control the ball rather than be controlled by it.

Good movement and racket skills are necessary, of course. You also need a clear understanding of the spaces on a squash court where the ball ought to land. Principally, there are four of them, one in each corner. There are also four zones on the front wall to hit the ball. More on that and something I call "the unit of time" in squash further down.

Starting with the four corners on the floor, it's probably best if most shots go to the back corners. We all struggle with shots that die in the back. However, you're not always in a position with enough time to play the ball to those back spaces accurately or the front corners may be the better option, if you see your opponent out of position.

So, as you move to return your opponent's shot, a flurry of computations happens in your mind, the purpose of which is to assess the shot(s) that you can and cannot make. Trying to make the ones that aren't doable or that are risky will likely result in a bad shot that puts you under even more pressure. Learn to identify those situations and play the shot that is AVAILABLE to you, the shot that is CERTAIN to get the ball into the best one of the four spaces. Note, not the "ideal best" one if you get lucky, but the best one that you're able to certainly execute.

The front wall has a lot of space that ought to be used wisely if you are to control the pace of the rally.

A racket's length above the tin: drops and kills, attacking boasts
A racket's length higher, up to the service line : attacking drives that add pressure
A racket's length above service line: floated drives or "jockeying for position" drives to the back, defensive boasts
The big white space above that: lobs to get out of trouble, to relieve pressure

The "unit of time" in squash is the length of time it takes for you to leave the T, hit your shot and get back to the T. Ideally, you would want to your "unit of time" to be as long and leisurely as possible and make your opponent's unit of time as short and hurried as possible. The battle in squash is between the two players for that unit of time. It's elastic in each rally, i.e. it shrinks and stretches. You have to adapt where you hit the ball (the four spaces) and how you hit it there (the zones on the wall) with every shot in the rally, depending on the situation.

If you always manage to hit the ball to the intended corner, you'll always make your opponent hit one more shot. The percentages will work in your favour in the long run. If you add to that the ability to get the ball there in the optimal way - which largely depends on the unit of squash time you have at that point in the rally - hitting the appropriate zone on the front wall with the appropriate velocity, you'll start controlling your "unit of time" and, consequently, the pace of the rally.

Here are some suggestions for condition games where you can practice this.

Pairs:

1. Every shot has to be played above the service line. A great way to learn to control the velocity of your hitting. It's difficult to find dying length by playing above the service line. A good warm up routine for even the best players. As the ball moves a little slower, it's also easier to work on your movement patterns, racket preparation and body positions.
2. Every shot hit below the service line must be returned above the service line. A great way to learn to change the velocity of your hitting mid rally and to take the sting out of your opponent's attack.
3. Straight drives only. Place the bin (the one outside the court) a racket's length forward of the T. A player must touch the bin with their racket after each shot. To make it, your shots have to be good enough to allow for your movement to fit within your "unit of time".

Solo:
1. Hit continuous drives to land in the service box. Once you find a groove, start alternating between below and above the service line, to still land in the service box.
2. Hit a straight drive followed by a cross court lob, move across to return the lob with a straight drive, cross court lob again, to repeat.
3. Hit straight drives as tightly as possible, but without letting the ball touch the side wall. Preferably not at all, but definitely not on the way in or before the short line (half way line) on the way back. Make it more difficult by alternating low hard and soft high drives.

As it happens, we do a lot of this stuff on Sundays, if you're interested!

Hope to see you on court soon.

Ville Leppanen
Head Coach
Blackheath Squash Club
07939 007224
www.blackheathsquashclub.com
Weekly training sessions at Blackheath
https://calendly.com/blackheathsquashcoach/sunday-intermediate-session
https://calendly.com/blackheathsquashcoach/sunday-advanced-session