I had my second lesson of the week today with Stuart. Jarryd hung out and played with us, so most of the game was spent doing conditioning games - playing to specific parts of the court in a normal game setting.
These kind of games are good, because they force you to think about specific shots in the context of a regular game. When you're doing regular drills, you aren't necessarily under pressure, and you're fully aware of the next shot. Playing conditional games forces you to continue guessing, but use a limited set of your shots. It's a good way to force yourself into thinking either Attack (should happen less often) or Defense (should be hit most of the time).
Jarryd is great to have around, just because he's got a third perspective (Stu and Dan both give me lessons) and has a point of view similar to Dan's. By that I mean that Dan and Jarryd have both come up through the ranks recently like I have, whereas Stu has been coaching for a looooong time. That doesn't mean I prefer either of them to Stu, or vice versa - just that it's sometimes helpful to have multiple perspectives on how to improve and what to work on.
The moral of the lesson that I picked up was to be way more smegging patient. Attack. Attack! Attack!! Why? I don't know. But I'm doing it. I receive the serve, and I attack it with a weak volley boast, perfectly setting my opponent up for about thirty-eight different shots (normally there are only five-ish shots in squash, but when I volley-boast, there are an additional thirty-three shots. Don't dispute me). So..
- Be Patient
- Play smart and simple
This is the single biggest benefit of playing people like Erik. Good tight shots literally force me to play a patient game. I'm a guy with a lot of energy - that's reflected in my dancing and the way I carry myself. I'm quick to jump into things, and need to be kept busy. However, in squash, you don't always get to decide what happens. If your opponent keeps playing tight shots, you need to respond with tight shots. Be patient, and wait for the opportunities to attack. This is also a benefit of playing people like Dan and Jarryd, but unfortunately, I'm less likely to play as I would in a standard game against these guys, because I'm well aware that they could be smoking me if they really wanted to. There's not much I can do about that, other than just try and get over it.
This is really a stupid thing to write, right? Well, maybe, but if that's the case, why do I keep playing stupid? Because I approach the ball and forget about everything I've been taught. This is attributable to a ton of different things, but it's ultimately just a matter of training and focus. It's important to approach the game in general with a game plan. That plan generally is summed up in something that Stu said tonight: "Build the rally". This re-iterates the above point - be patient. You build the rally by establishing a pattern with the opponent. Play deep, and simple. Then, once an opportunity is created, you attack. Don't come out of the gate with both guns blazing. This doesn't do you any good (though it's a big help to your opponent, because you typically end up setting them up nicely for a winner).
I have a bad habit of getting a nice loose ball from an opponent, thinking about nine different shots I could make, and then hitting some magical chimera of a shot that is a combination of all nine. That shot typically ends up in the tin, or somehow hitting myself in the back of the head. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? I don't know, but neither of those options usually ends up with a point for me. The thing is, building a rally leads naturally towards avoiding this problem. If you let yourself establish a pattern, each shot should lead naturally into the next. Loose ball? Now's the time to attack. Tight shot? Now is a good time to return a shot tight along the wall. Semi loose shot, but you've established a pattern of going deep and the opponent is starting to cheat to the one side? Boast that bad boy.
So these are the things I'm going to work on. The thing I noticed most in the past two days is that my strategy currently needs a lot of work. This is something that will partially be helped just by playing a lot of games - Leading up to the tournament mania period (three tournaments in or around the end of March) gives me a tendency to do a lot of drills, and think more about my shots rather than my shot selection, and my strategy on court. When I play more people, I start to think less about how to make a specific shot, and more about which shot to take.
The best analogy I can think of is to dancing. I spend time each day training a specific move. That move exists in isolation when I'm training it. I practice it without any other context and without any other moves involved. Then, on the weekends, I go out dancing. When I'm dancing, I'm not thinking about the execution of the move I've been practicing. I think about how it fits in with the other moves that I'm using, and how it works with the music that I'm listening to.
So, to deal with these goals, I'm going to play at least twice a week for the next month or so, and continue with the lessons. My shots are improving, but, like Bevan had felt a month or so ago, I think it's time to play some games before I can really hope to start to see some improvement.
Along with that, Jarryd's going to hook Bevan and I up with a lesson on Monday, on the condition that I write about it here afterwards. So stay tuned to hear about how that goes. I'm hoping for further insight into things I'm doing wrong - Jarryd's already pointed out that my forehand drop shots are causing embarassement for squash players as far away as Naden, so that'll probably be at least one thing that'll get touched upon. Next up: Old school dance videos I just tracked down.
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