I need your help – I am looking for the most up-to-date Squash rule book or video. If you come across a website that has them, please let me know. The only two sources I have found so far are noted below. I would like to find an e-book that explains all the rules graphically that I can sell on this site for other squash fanatics like me. We all need to get better at INTERPRETING the rules. Thanks in advance for your contribution!

http://www.worldsquash.org.uk/rules0.asp

http://www.squashplayershop.co.uk/inc/sdetail/2061

Last week, I explained how I increased my speed, agility and quickness with a 5-minute Pilates exercise… An exercise I promised to show you. Here it is. It’s self-explanatory – enjoy!

This is compliments of Bruce Hildebrand – B.App.Sc.(HM)
Bruce is co-director of Balance & Control Pilates Studio in Melbourne and Consultant Strength Coach to the Australian Ballet School.  With a lifelong involvement in sports, Bruce holds a degree in sports-science, international certifications in Pilates and is the Australian pioneer of the revolutionary Franklin Method®. With 10 years Pilates experience, Bruce presents to related industries his teachings of Imagery and Movement incorporating both Pilates and the Franklin Method® at Conferences in Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and the UK.  His clientele range from Olympians, Masters Athletes, Elite Athletics, AFL, A-League and Tennis players, Models and TV stars.
Balance & Control Pilates Studio offers internationally trained and experienced professionals to deliver proven medical-research-based and results-oriented Pilates exercise to accelerate your back pain reduction, core strength, postural pain and flexibility so you will excel at your chosen daily activities.

Pilates Exercise To Increase Squash Speed, Quickness And Agility

Squash is one of the fastest sports that relies on agility, quickness and speed. Agility to move to different places on the court, quickness to react to changing situations shots and opponent tactics and speed to actually get to the ball. With this in mind, a friend and Pilates specialist Bruce Hildebrand of www.balancecontrolpilates.com offered to give me a Pilates session.

Here is an excerpt from the feedback I gave him the day after I did only some of the exercises he suggested. He gave me two “blue squishy balls” to work with – both which ‘exploded’ within 10 minutes of use – soon to be replaced…

Bruce,

I played yesterday after getting through the foot part of the exercises and my partner noticed I played well – My feet were definitely more ‘lively’ and responsive than usual. My movement wasn’t at peak since I had several days without playing, but I know what my return to the court feels like and this was much better. BECAUSE I had more responsive in my feet, my balance and anticipation were keener and sharper, reducing the reaction delay – giving me more time to get to the ball. Fractions of a second count. They count psychologically as well as physically – building confidence to get there.

The other aspect is less fatigue by the end of the match. My opponent today was much less fit than I am,  but I still had less soreness on my feet after one hour of ‘pounding the floor’ so-to-speak. Squash players are notorious for having bad feet. Mine are fine because I started playing as a mature adult, but they still get their workout. I sensed yesterday that they (1) didn’t feel sore or tired during the games and (2) recovered much more quickly yesterday that today’s expected sensitivity is non existent.

So I am definitely a ‘convert’ to Pilates.

I am looking forward to learning more exercises and acquiring more quickness, agility and speed.

This is yet another example of what I call the 1 Percent Improvement Doctrine and antimimeticisomorphism in action. Pilates is one of the last places a squash player will look to improve quickness, agility and speed. An exponentially minded champion seeks ALL avenues and gauges each by the RESULTS they produce – simple as that.

I will, over the next few weeks, explain and illustrate in more detail some of the exercises Bruce has been teaching me. Today’s post was to introduce you to Pilates if you didn’t know what it was all about. NEXT WEEK’S POST will have the exercise video for you… Stay tuned!

At this stage of the process, I know very little – all I care about is RESULTS. Now that I know I can get INSTANT RESULTS, I want to and WILL learn more.

Welcome to the 1 Percent Improvement Doctrine where RESULTS replace REASONS for not achieving.

As we all know, squash is about speed, quickness and agility combined with racket skills, eye-hand coordination and court sense. Jonathon Power is considered to be one of the greatest shotmakers in the history of the game, having perfected a wide range of drop shots and deception shots.

He was often a crowd favourite, partly because of his emotional outbursts and verbal exchanges with referees, which sometimes led to him being compared with John McEnroe. Power’s rivalry with Britain’s Peter Nicol was one of the most famous and extended in the history of the game.

I recently bought a few of his training DVDs – I highly recommend them – come back to this blog for a post on where I got those – I don’t have that information handy right now…

Anyway – his ability to hit with pace is all about the strength of his wrist and grip – enter the Gyro Ball.

One of my squash partners, Michael watched the Jonathon Power DVDs I lent him and his Reticular Activation System (RAS) found the Gyro Ball.

If you want to increase your grip wrist strength you need to get your hands on a Gyro Ball. Buy the Lighted Blue version, I paid $69.99 for it.

To take a look at the instructional Gyro Ball Video <<< click here

That’s it for today – sometimes it’s a KEY tool like this that can make the difference between a loss and a victory in a pivotal match…

Beware The Vortex Of Mediocrity -it’s stronger than gravity and will pull you down into its depths of amateur play every chance it gets. With no disrespect to the guys I was playing today… We sucked. For no good reason, we just totally and absolutely SUCKED. We were hitting brilliant and ‘B Grade’ shots within the same rally. Totally and utterly INconsistent.

Champions Lift Their Game And Their Opponent’s Game

I have the honor and privilege of playing a world-class player and former World Champion who lifts my game every time we play – EVEN WHEN HE’S INJURED – more on that in another post.

Right now, I just want to rant about how terrible I played yesterday. I know you know how it feels. You show up on the day to have a good match and you just can’t get it right. Yesterday for me was frustrating BECAUSE it wasn’t just me – it was ALL OF US.

Note: We play multiple players on ONE court – rotate one player in and play only 3/4 of the court while the other players wait in one corner that is off-bounds (called ‘out’)…

NONE of us played well – it was literally like a Vortex that wouldn’t let go! We would tin, hit it out, get strokes… The thing was NONE of us had the strength to pull out of the Vortex Of Mediocrity.

That is the lesson and my frustration. I thought by now I could do it. I can do it for myself when I compete – but with others on the court, the PULL of the Vortex is MAGNIFIED.

That’s why when we play with my Champion partner and he lifts us all – THAT is MASTERY of the sport… Being able to dictate and eradicate the Vortex Of Mediocrity ‘almost instantly’.

That is my next plateau to aim for.

As you may know from Anthony Robbins‘ Peak Performance strategies – FRUSTRATION precedes… A Breakthrough.

Thanks for listening – it makes me feel better to share this with you. It really does. It helps me consolidate and integrate my learnings in a way that is documented within a timeline so that I can come back and review progress and development.

PLUS you give me comments and encouragement from time to time that really inspires and motivates me!

Thanks and I’ll ‘talk to you’ soon.

This is one of my favourite sites – I have used the Squash Tips on an on-going basis – they are priceless for all squash addicts. Enjoy!

If you come across great sites like this – let me know and I’ll make sure I let everyone know about it!

T  ogether

E  veryone

A  chieves

M  ore!

I was fortunate to get lessons from one of the Khans while I visited Boston a few times – they are truly LEGENDS OF THE SPORT!

Most people who are not very good at a sport simply have not invested the necessary time to MASTER the basics. I spent an hour on the court tonight hitting ONLY deep backhand lobs. That was the ONLY stroke/drill that I did. I must have hit the ball +/- 1,000 times.

“Perfect Practice Makes Perfect”

Each stroke is another opportunity to focus on foot position, movement to and from the shot, racquet swing (arc) versus speed and impact points, placement of the ball (in front or in back of me), distance from the side wall and back wall…

After 1,000 attempts, you have to be ‘better’, more aware and in tune with what works and what doesn’t.

I noticed 3 things that I now know I can make into ‘automatic’ and ’second nature’ reflexes…

1. When I am out of position, aim for the top 1/3 of the front wall. Easier said than done BECAUSE you’re OUT of position!
2. When in a good position, slice the ball so it creates a vortex to spin INTO the wall. Easier to do BECAUSE you’re IN position!
3. When in the ’strike zone’, AIM for the target in the back corner with a reverse spin that does not bounce off the back wall. (I’ll explain targets soon… Yes TARGETS in SQUASH – makes drills a lot more FUN!)

Why bother sharing this with you?

• First, it helps me focus on what I am learning. The MORE you TEACH, the MORE you LEARN.
• I am human just like you can I got ‘bored’ at around 40 minutes. I realised I needed to have a ‘target’ to aim for or a variation to create less monotony. I will resolve this for the next session.
• By hearing my story, you can share my experience and figure what you should be doing or what you ARE doing that is equivalent and valuable. We’re in this quest together each in our own way!

T  ogether

E  veryone

A  chieves

M  ore

There’s an expression in boxing that says when you reach beyond your comfort zone, you’re “punching above your weight” which means you pack a punch like someone who’s a lot heavier than you are. Today, I went toe-to-toe with some of my squash partners and the last man standing (with me) stood his ground.

We played for 2 hours, there were 3 of us, then 4.

When we were 4, we played doubles on a singles court which is a great way to improve your reflexes, reaction time and quick movement as well as court sense – PLUS deal with all the visual and physical distractions of the 4 players on the court AT THE SAME TIME. (More on that in a future post…)

The last man standing with me only played the last hour, but still.

I was running him around and he hit the wall at about the same time I did, but did NOT blink.

Read More »»

If you’re serious about improving at your sport (mine’s squash) you need to start practicing and training deliberately. Deliberate practice is a concept that you’ll hear a lot more about in the next few weeks and months. Anders Ericsson, an expert in Expertise and Expert Performance is the world’s penultimate specialist in this field of research. You can find the reference to this book on my Linked In Profile, look at Marc Dussault’s Reading List on my profile page – it’s on the right-hand side of the page, below the fold, which means you’ll need to scroll down to see it.

Let’s get back to deliberate practice… Simply put, it means having a SPECIFIC outcome and focus WHILE you practice. Having a deliberate intent and focus is essential for on-going improvement that I call the 1 percent improvement doctrine.

For today, just make a list of what you’re focusing on.

For your information, right now I am focusing on NOT making any unforced errors. That means I only go for the kill shot winner WHEN it is in my strike zone and I can feel I have a 90+% chance of hitting the perfect winner. If the ball is not in my ‘kill zone’, I place it strategically to keep my opponent running, off balance and force HIM to make the ERROR.

That is my deliberate practice outcome.

HOW I am doing that right now is explained in my previous post.

You can now start to see how a champion goes about practicing and training.

Share with me your lessons, victories and defeats by posting comments on this blog. I am interested even if it’s another sport!