Squash Tips

Coach Derek@squash-coach.co.uk
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Tips for Team and Good Club Players

Drive-Drive-Drive ... Now What?
So you have mastered the drive on both sides, and you can rally endlessly with your opponent. Now what do you do? You must move your opponent. The best option is to BOAST. Even if both players are playing quality drives, it is almost always possible to boast. The only exception is when the ball is glued to the wall. Wait until the ball is off the wall, then boast.

What effect will this have? Your opponent will have to get the ball at the front, AND instead of hanging back near the back corners, he will have to move right up to the tee, to be sure he can get your boasted shot. This means he will be further from the next drive to the back corner. How often should you boast? Try once every 3-5 lengths. With a little patience, you may see the opponent begin to panic, or at least begin puffing a little.

Squash training tips for Team and Good Club Players
For me to be competitive with these players I found I really had to be more consistent and patient. Everyone gets to almost all balls, at this level, so you must hit quality shots and not expect them to be winners like they were in the lower levels. So for me, drilling more and playing less matches has helped consistency and getting into an "automatic" mindset as to what shots to hit in order to keep your opponent under pressure.

You must also develop a good lob. This is essential for getting out of pressure in the front court and giving yourself time to get back to the "T". As you get better with holding, delaying and disguising your lob, it can even turn into a weapon and not just a defensive shot.

Game strategy against a stronger opponent
My problem (at least with people who are just a little better, and not WAY better) is impatience. It's a hard balance though as I need to play aggressively, yet not go for too much too early. The first game against a better player, I played pretty much up and down the walls and cut off what I could and won the game handily. Imran is a skilled enough player to know how to change his game. He stepped up in the court and cut off more balls and applied way more pressure with pace and deception then the first game. My only response was to lamely try to hit deeper.

In hind site, I really need to stick with my game plan of hitting good depth and cutting off what I could. When Imran started applying more pressure, I responded by trying to match his pressure with short balls, that weren't all that short, and long balls that weren't all that long. I really needed to just hit good length and wait for my opportunities and try to prevent him from getting his feet firmly planted beneath him. Simple, right?

from: SquashClub