Squash Company

Squash coaching with passion

Thinking ahead to your next shot. 



Looking for combo moves. 

In some sports you can think several shots or plays ahead but in squash this just isn’t the case. It’s a continually evolving game and the field is constantly changing. Even your best laid plans will need to be constantly adapted depending on how the game is unfolding and there are so many variables. One thing you can almost always do though is look ahead to your next shot based on the previous one.

Did you limit your opponent’s options? 

Anticipation isn’t an exact science. It requires you to watch the ball and the opponent and then your subconscious to instantaneously consult all of your previous experiences to create an idea of what is coming next. The result is a sense of knowing or an instinct of what will happen next.

You can also get an idea of what is coming next based on what options your opponent has available to them. Hopefully, you’ve limited their options with your previous shot, which is the key to allowing you to think in combinations of shots. If I’ve played a tight accurate Drop Shot, I can be fairly sure my opponent is not going to be able to hammer the ball deep to either side of the court. They might attempt it but it is unlikely to get to the back of the court if my ball was tight. Realistically, they’ll be forced to Counter-Drop me or if there is a bit of a gap between the ball and the wall, Lob me. I can use this information to consider my next move. With their long options reduced, I would push high up the court. If they play a Drop, I’ll be there for it. If they do go for Length, it is unlikely they’ll be able to play a great shot and so I’ll be ready to intercept and Volley any loose Length.

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Perhaps you’ve played a good Lob Serve and your opponent has let it bounce in the back corner and it’s not coming off the back, so you can push forward knowing they’ll realistically have to either Boast it or dig it out with a weak Lob which you can Volley. The potential scenarios for working out combination plays are plentiful!

Thinking in Combinations

As previously mentioned, it’s the combinations you should be looking for – they come in twos. Long then Short, Straight then Cross-Court, short then long are all simple but very effective examples of shot combinations you might look for.

See if you can string two shots together to make your opponent work hard and where possible, calculate their options so that you can make your combination play stronger and more effective.




Train yourself to ignore ‘bad’ shots 



There’s no such thing as a ‘Good’ or ‘Bad’ shot. 

Good and bad are just points of view, aren’t they? In squash, we’d probably define a good shot as being one that wins the rally or causes our opponent a lot of problems. A bad one would probably be a shot that goes out or hands an opportunity to our opponent. Despite this, good and bad are still just labels. Inherently, there is no such thing as a good or bad shot. It’s just what we’ve decided to label certain events as.

Avoid letting the last shot affect your next shot

Much like ‘playing to the referee’s whistle’ in other sports, you need to keep playing even when you hit a shot you aren’t happy with. If anything, you need to play harder when you hit a shot you aren’t happy with. It’s so easy to start berating yourself or huffing the moment you play a bad shot but what you actually need to be doing is damage control. The best thing to is get on with the game and get out of the way of your opponent quickly if you need to and make sure you get as close to the T-Position as you can so that you can cover whatever shot may come next.

If you let a bad shot affect you even slightly you’ll suffer for it. You might not give up like some players but if you even acknowledge that it was a bad shot, you’ll be a little bit behind going into the next shot. Lots of players hesitate just enough in annoyance to stop them getting back to the T-Position quick enough and so they are left sprinting for their opponent’s next shot. Others allow a bad shot to annoy them enough to make a rash decision or try too hard on their next shot in an attempt to make amends for the previous ‘bad’ one.

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The reality is you can’t allow any shot to affect you, no matter how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ you consider it. The moment you do is the moment your performance will start suffering.

Of course you should note any errors or plays you make as it may be something you need to work on or think about later, but don’t let anything distract you during the rally itself.

Equally, don’t allow yourself to get carried away and complacent about a ‘good shot’.

Remember that ‘good’ and ‘bad’ are just labels. Shots are shots. Never let any shot you play impact the way you carry on in a rally.

You can read more about how to deal with ‘bad’ shots and How to overcome fear of failure.



Don’t think about the score  



Treating every point the same. 

We’ve touched upon some of the aspects of this before in our page on ‘Fear of Failure’ but it’s worth talking about again and again. Whenever you play, do your best to zone out the score or the marker. When playing a friendly, I prefer for the other person to keep score so I can simply ignore it (from time to time you need to listen in just to make sure they’re not taking any liberties of course).

Becoming complacent or nervous

Once you start thinking about the score, all hell breaks loose. No matter how mentally strong you are, you will start to incur subtle changes in your mindset. If you are in the lead, it’s very easy for you to subconsciously step-off and not be quite as sharp or focused, even if you warn yourself and tell yourself to keep it going. Complacency is a real danger. If you are losing, particularly if you are close to being or at game/match ball down, you can start to become tense and make shot selections you wouldn’t usually make. You might become more risky and start going for unnecessary and unrealistic attacking shots or you might go the other way and freeze up and avoid playing an attacking shot when you are in a great position.

Even mid-game it’s very dangerous. Maybe your mind will drift to the end result and you’ll start seeing yourself shaking hands with your opponent in triumph or visualise what the scores will look like on the marker’s sheet or on the club website. All of these are very harmful to your chances, as you’ll start to bring about very real changes in your play.

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Let the points take care of themselves

It is easier said than done at times but do your best to focus on simply working your opponent. Focus on making sure that you make them run with every shot you play and focus on making sure that every shot you play is the right one. If you do this, the points will take care of themselves.



Knocking up with purpose – Part 3: The Racket



Welcome to Part Three of a special series of blog posts on warming-up or knocking-up before a squash match.  A thorough warm-up should not only touch upon your hitting but it should also get you warming-up mentally, get your movement up to scratch and also sharpen your racket speed and skills. Today we will be focusing on warming-up mentally.

You can re-visit Part 1: The Body here and Part 2: The mind here. 

Getting your racket doing the talking 

In this post, we will be considering how to warm-up your racket skills and dexterity so that you’re able to adapt, improvise and use your racket to deal with all the challenges you will face in a squash match. Never underestimate how important the knock-up can be in squash. Those first few hits of the ball can be a very useful tool for helping you focus and get in the zone, as we talk about in ‘Getting in the Zone’.

What we are going to discuss today though is how you can use the knock-up and warm-up to set the tone for your play with regards to tempo and your racket head speed.

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Warming-up the way you want to play

It’s not uncommon to go into the first game feeling a bit slow with the racket. Perhaps you let a few volley opportunities go to waste or maybe you can’t quite get your racket where you want it to deal with a tight shot in the front or back corner. This is not a position you want to be in and you can prepare yourself for this in the knock-up.

Rather than just whacking the ball up and down the line to yourself without thinking, have more purpose to what you do. It’s not really getting you ready to play at the tempo or speed required. Instead, look to stretch and challenge yourself. Step forward and volley the ball to yourself for three or four shots before cross-courting to your opponent. Better still, get on the court before your opponent and really go freestyle on the volleys, throwing in the figure of eight drill and aiming for some volley nicks.

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Another one I like is to step forward to the mid-line and play kills against myself. I say against myself because part of me is really trying to kill the ball and get it past myself, whilst another part of me is trying to prevent the ball getting past me and keep the solo rally going. It’s really good for getting your racket head speed up to scratch and also for getting you into an attacking mentality, as you are now in a rhythm of hitting the ball early.

You can read more about tips for ways to hit the ball in the knock-up in ‘Getting in the Zone’. 

Look out for the final instalment of our special series of posts on the warm-up in squash, in which we will look at warming up our shot making and accuracy. 



Knocking-up with purpose – Part 2: The Mind



Welcome to Part Two of a special series of blog posts on warming-up or knocking-up before a squash match. A thorough warm-up should not only touch upon your hitting but it should also get you warming-up mentally, get your movement up to scratch and also sharpen your racket speed and skills. Today we will be focusing on warming-up mentally.

You can re-visit Part 1: Warming-up the body here.

If there is no enemy within, the enemy without can do you no harm. 

What we are going to discuss today though is how you can use the knock-up and warm-up to prepare mentally for the match so that you start brightly. Getting mentally ready for squash is probably the warm-up step that is skipped most often. This is a heinous crime as the mental warm-up is probably the most important. There’s nothing you can’t do if you are in a good place mentally and there is very little you can do if you’re not.

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Pre-court 
Always do your best to get to your game a little bit early so you have time to mentally prepare. If you have to rush in from the car or anywhere else, you’ll find yourself underprepared. Make sure you have at least a few minutes before you need to go on court in which you can start getting yourself mentally warmed-up.

One of the things I most like to do is to find somewhere private or dark and sit, close my eyes and breathe slowly and deeply. It helps to centre you and bring you into the moment, helping to release thoughts and everyday life which are racing through your mind. Relax your muscles while you do this to further help you leave normal life behind. Keep this breathing going for as long as it takes to start to feel in the moment.

At this point, visualisation is also an option and something that can bring a lot of benefit. Picture yourself playing shots from inside your body like you were playing a first person shooter game and then imagine yourself playing shots whilst you watch as if watching on television.

On court knock-up

One thing you can do as we discuss in ‘Getting in the Zone’ is to select your shots as you knock-up. Don’t just leather the ball up and down. Have a go at playing a series of different shots e.g. lob, drive, kill or even have a bit of a game with yourself. Play your best drives and see if you have to return them with a lob. If you play a weak or loose shot, look to put it away with a kill or drop.

You should also have a target you’re aiming for with your shots. With your drives, you could aim for the serve line or below it. Small things like this cause you to really focus and forget the world around you. They mean that you won’t have to spend the first part of the match battling for concentration as you are already building towards it.

Please do have a go at some of the suggestions above and do your own research and try different things and see what works for you. Try things that help you relax, things that get you fired up and see how it affects your performance. Some people play better relaxed, others play better when really fired-up.

You can also read more in-depth analysis of ways to get in the zone and get mentally ready in the knock-up on our page ‘Getting in the Zone’.

Look out for the next instalment of our special series of posts on the warm-up in squash, where we will discuss getting your racket head speed and racket skills firing.