Success! High-five!

Well, Jeff stole a bit of my thunder by posting a comment about it, but that's okay, I forgive him. I won my division in the city championships. So, as I said, I was playing in the D division. It's the lowest division, so it basically means I'm the best of the worst. That's a pessimistic way to look at things though, and that's not my style. I started making an effort to improve my squash game over a year ago, when Jeff and I first met each other playing on the UVic squash ladder. Since then, and most especially in the past couple of months, my game has grown in leaps and bounds. I'm still down at the bottom of the totem pole, but I've achieved a lot of the goals that I've set out for myself, and winning the D division is, for me, tangible evidence of that fact.

My first two games were easy. My first opponent was a nice guy, but had a lot to learn (I scored at least a third of my points because he couldn't return my serves). Keeping the ball deep on him (playing my shots to the back corners) were really all I needed to do. Even though I won the match quickly, I didn't feel particularly good about my game - most of my shots weren't to good length (didn't make it to the back of the court), and my drives kept coming off the side walls. Oh well.

The next game I played was on Friday. My work week had been hectic and frustrating, and I was tired and grumpy. I didn't really know how I was going to play, but hoped to be able to shrug off the mood and focus on the game. My opponent was definitely better than the last game I played, but was at a big disadvantage because he couldn't play drives to a good length. I didn't usually have to move too far off the T in order to get to his shots, and that meant he was doing a lot more running than I was. I was played better squash this game, but still didn't really feel like I'd had to work hard and earn the victory.

The club had a keg tapped on Friday night, so I hung out and had some beers before I headed home. My final match was the next day at 2:20, so I didn't want to get too drunk. My friend Nate went home and proceeded to party until 5:30 in the morning, giving himself two hours of sleep before getting up, going to work, and then playing his final match. I'm glad I headed home when I did.

The last match I played was good. I was playing very well (which means I was happy with how I was playing - it doesn't mean I was playing at an A level), and my game was definitely on. I was hitting drives to good length, keeping most of my shots tight, lobbing for time when I needed to up front, and kept moving my opponent out of position, waiting until he gave me an opportunity before trying to end the rally. I didn't feel like I was playing overly-aggresive, and I didn't feel like I was playing too defensively. I went in with a game plan, and I played to that plan - it felt like I was playing smart squash. In spite of all that, my opponent Matt put up a good fight. He took the first game off of me, which was a negative starting point - it sucks going into the second game knowing that you've got an uphill battle in front of you. Matt wasn't happy with the final result - after losing the first game to him, I came back and won three in a row. If I remember correctly, I took one of those games 9-0 - definitely a shot to his confidence.

So, now I'm ready to move up to the C division. My friend Bevan and I are planning to spend a lot of time doing drills this summer, as we're both really getting into squash, and both have set goals that we want to meet by the end of the summer. I'm meeting my friend Lee for more drills tonight, and should have a journal posted of what I'm planning to focus on over the next month or so.