Woot, it's easter weekend. I've just loaded up on Turkey and while that sweet sweet tryptophan runs through my system, I'm writing out words waiting for Bay and her family to return from church (I'm not religious so I don't head out with them to church for these holidays except at Midnight Mass before Christmas).
I did some drills with Jesse this morning and they sucked. My drives were coming out loose, my lobs were either hitting the ceiling or at head height (prime real-estate for your opponent to call a stroke against you or drive the ball directly into your frontal lobe, cutting off most of your ability to use reason and logic), and my drops have suddenly picked up some weird kind of wrist flicky thing I need to correct.
Huzzah! Whenever I find myself at this point, I try and remind myself that it's not really all that bad. I use the word whenever because I've been here many times before. Squash (and every other thing that I work to improve at) progresses in a series of peaks and troughs. I practice new things, and then spend a lot of time trying to get them to work right. Eventually the effort pays off and my body has learned how to execute naturally what I've been practicing pragmatically. Once this happens, I see a quick improvement in my game. Everything is working so smoothly! Sooner or later though, my opponents start to see their own improvements, I start to get used to the positive changes in my game, and I start to notice the other parts of my game that are lacking. Back into the trough.
Being in a trough sucks, but the part where I can't stop sucking at drills isn't really a negative thing. I think that if I'm out there on the court doing drills when nothing is working, it's a sign that I've got dedication, and is really one of the times I need to be on the court the most. Frustrating as it is, I find that the best way to come out of a trough is to just keep practicing through it.
If things haven't improved in a few weeks time, I take a step back, take a few days off and relax. I might watch a squash match at home while relaxing and seeing what the pros are doing that I'm not (everything, as it turns out), and re-visualize to myself how it is that I want to play.
Ultimately it comes down to a battle with myself. Having the dedication to keep practicing, even when nothing is working, and being willing to take a step back if it's necessary. Both of these things sound like they're at odds with each other, since one advocates pushing through things when the going is tough, and the other suggests taking time off when the going is tough, but I think that for anyone that really wants to excel in what they do (this very much applies to my progression as a dancer as well as a squash player) needs to know when they should push through, and when they should take some time off, and have the discipline to do each of these things when it's time.
Jesse and I were working on straight lobs today because this is a definitively weak part of my game, especially on my backhand. The motion to lob on the backhand side feels so foreign, using very little arm and mostly wrist. It's tough to train yourself to stick with it, and even tougher to get it working such that the ball is getting close enough to the ceiling to give you time to clear out of the way. What does that mean for the Pac Rim? I probably won't be lobbing much from my backhand side.
On a more positive note, Dan helped me correct a major problem I was having on my forehand boasts. I've known for some time that the idea is to hit the ball later, when your racquet is further back in the swing. This means your racquet makes contact with the ball when it is at an angle to the wall, hits the ball diagonally INTO the wall, and then the ball sails beautifully to the front corner and nicks out. I've known this. For some time. But for some reason, I've been hitting the ball at the same place I would with a regular drive, and trying to force the angle of the racquet. This has caused all sorts of weird unnatural swings on my part, and has left me wondering why the swing doesn't feel natural. Now I know. And so that's the other thing I'll be practicing over the next few weeks.
Backhand lobs, forehand boasts. Rinse, repeat. I think the family is just about back from churching, so that's it from me.
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