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.
Archive
Yes, it’s time to lace up my runners and get on the squash court for another World Masters Competition – this time it’s the 2009 World Masters Games right here, in Sydney where all my training since the 2009 Australian Masters Games and my recent exploits at the 2009 Australian Masters Squash Competition will come into play.
Last year in Christchurch, New Zealand, I got to the ‘Top 50′. This year the goal is a ‘top 32′ ranking… That’s the plan!
Wish me luck and stay tuned for daily updates!
Today’s post was sent to me by Gavin, the Gourmet Guardian. He knows I am always looking for inspirational and motivational videos to share with you. This one’s simply that – inspirational. Watch the video BEFORE you read the description…
Inspirational Video
I was at the Australian Masters Championships this week… If you know me well, you know I am a competitive squash player, if you’re just getting to know me, now you know about my squash addiction. I wanted to take this opportune moment to talk about lifestyle, concentration of focus and ‘purpose’ today.
Too many people equate success with money.
There’s a famous ‘joke’ that sums it up quite nicely:
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 »»
We are reasons or we’re results:
Result today: I lost in 3 games to an equally talented left-hander. There are less than 1% left-handers playing squash in my age category = I don’t train for that eventually, so when it happens, I do my best and move on to the next match.
No time to waste with something like that.
Lesson: In life and in business, we all have to pick the battles worth winning and losing to win the war. Trying to figure out how to play a good ‘lefty’ is not on my to do list.
Eventually, my skill set will supersede a lefty’s advantage, then the problem will take care of itself. I’m not there yet, that’s not my Next Best Step.
Yes, I live what I teach.
Sure it’s disappointing to lose when I ‘could win’ if he held his racquet in the other hand, but what’s great is I didn’t waste any time trying to win this battle – the ultimate war is a Top 32 ranking in the next World Championships which would take 2 equally talented lefties in a row for it to be worth worrying about.
I can live with those odds and sleep well at night.
Wish me luck in my last match tomorrow!
Game 1
I bolted out of the blocks to make sure I got my rhythm and confidence, not used to playing to 9 hand-out, it’s important I get a good start to each game. It started well, I won the ‘spin of the racquet’ to start serve and got the first point. I dominated and won easily 9-4.
Game 2
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
Every once in a while someone ‘thinks’ of doing something out of the ordinary that is worthy of consideration if only out of intrigue. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME KIDS and DON’T PRACTICE actually doing it on the edge of the pool – try to jump to get your feet out of the water in THE MIDDLE OF THE POOL first – if you can’t do that, you’ll never get to this level AND you’ll keep your front teeth!
Today’s post is a video I just published on YouTube. It’s only 43 seconds long, but I can tell you chances are you’ll watch it more than once. It graphically and absolutely makes the point that you need to know your outcome to succeed. Kids, don’t try this at home!
