We’ve all heard it before “drink more water”. What you may not know, is that by the time you’re thirsty, your performance has already been negatively affected. That means if you’re serious about your performance, you have to include drinking more water. I’ll discuss other types of drinks in future posts, but for now, let me give you an additional tip that I have to be honest, really surprised me.

Men’s Health Magazine (November 2009) reported that in The Journal of Sports Sciences a study quoting that cyclists who actually wrote down their drinking strategy consumed 55% more water than those who didn’t. A drinking strategy for a cyclist can be be as simple as “the mouthfuls art the 15, 25 and 35 minute marks or at the 10, 40 and 50 Kilometers.” For a squash player, it could be “drink a full glass one hour prior to my practice/match, then half a glass on my way to the court, then 2 mouthfuls in-between each game, then a full bottle after the practice/match”.

Just having a drinking strategy can make a big difference – try it out and see what happens! Of course it may just improve your performance by a few percentage points, but in squash, that’s 1 point per game and y’know what? I’ll take it!

Too many people are looking for the BIG BANG solution, when very small, easy steps can add up to produce BIG RESULTS.

Stick with me and this blog and you’ll see how easy it really can be if you actually DO THIS STUFF!

Psst! still not sure if drinking more water can help you lose weight? <- Click on the hyperlink and see how easy it can be!

A friend sent me a link to a 2-day Squash Bootcamp with Former World #1 and current World #8 David Palmer in Sydney next week, January 6 and 7 2010.

David Palmer Squash Champion

Of course I jumped at this rare, one-time opportunity. The reason I’m blogging about it is because if you know anyone who’s an avid competitive squash player, this is a rare opportunity to spend time ON THE COURT with a WORLD CHAMPION… Send them this blog post link.

That’s it for today – stay tuned for some of the lessons I learn from David…

I know you’re on pins and needles, so I’ll get right to it. I arrived VERY early for a friend’s match that was scheduled before mine… Seriously – the first match started with a lot of nervous energy that is symptomatic of the first and early morning matches. I won it 11-9 which is a little deceptive since I had a comfortable lead throughout the game. I came out with a plan and stuck to it, I was just a little nervous which is normal. I knew I would settle into my rhythm.

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Today’s result – a long, well fought 5-setter. I’ll save you the drama. The match was won fair and square by my competitor who was better than me on the day. I didn’t lose, he earned the victory and I learned priceless lessons.

As I keep saying, we’re reasons or we’re results. This match and competition was a GREAT RESULT – it ‘ranks’ me as #12 in Australia, which puts me way ahead of my development schedule and confirms I am training properly as I ascend through the rankings.

Some people (non-champions) think RESULTS means winning, but that’s often not the case. It quite often is about IMPROVING so that you can eventually ‘win’. In my case it’s not even about winning because as I’ve mentioned before, I am not aiming to win the World Championship, but to get into the top “16” in the world. When I get to that point, I will have reached what I consider to be my equitable and optimal ‘RESULT’. In case you didn’t read the blog posts about this – my opportunity costs are much too high to devote the time and effort to trying to beat people who do this for a living and have a 30 to 40 years head start.

Plus – it’s still just a black ball in a white room that you have to hit before it bounces twice…

Anyway, amongst the many lessons (there are more than I list below) I learned, I’d like to share the following with you as my gift for supporting and following me on my journey.

Lesson #1: Read More »»

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!