Missing Squash?

All of us are itching to get back to the squash courts post the corona virus pandemic. Most of us have never stayed away from the game since the time we started playing. We all know how addictive the game is, so it’s natural to miss all the action.

But there are many athletes, especially young teens that may be getting into depression as their daily routine revolved so much around squash training and the courts. They ate, drank and slept squash. I happen to speak to a 14 year old squash enthusiast whose mother was upset that he was missing squash “badly”. I asked him what he was missing the most. And he replied that he was missing his training.

Well, do we really have to MISS training during this time? Does squash training only mean doing drills and fitness inside the court? We all know that’s not the case. There are multiple aspects to training and unfortunately, most of these aspects are largely ignored during our regular “intense” training programs.

So how do we keep our training and development ongoing and make optimal use of this time and situation? Training (under current situation) can be divided into three categories-

• 1  Physical training
• 2. Mental training
• 3. Analytical/ informative training.

Physical training

Most athletes are now making best use of this opportunity to do extreme squash specific workouts and challenge themselves in a way they always wanted to, but had never done it before. Focus areas for physical training could be upper body strengthening, lower body strengthening, core strengthening, stamina, stretching, flexibility improvement and balance work. It is important to plan a workout which focuses on areas in which you are not as strong compared to other areas. Your coach or a trained physical instructor can design a workout program suited just for you.

Mental training

This is one aspect which is largely ignored during regular training. How many of us think that we are capable of performing much better in tournament matches than what we actually do? There are so many aspects of mental toughness which are never taught to an athlete in his young days but are so crucial for his best individual performance on court during tournaments. Some simple ways of improving your mental toughness are-

·         Meditation- breathing and relaxation techniques help immensely in making us mentally strong during those tough training and match situations. Like any other technique, meditation needs to be learnt and practiced to show results over a gradual period of time. You will be surprised as to how much these techniques help in converting those close matches to wins or to get over limiting beliefs. Lot of apps are available these days to help you learn and start meditating.

·         Yoga- yoga is extremely helpful in muscle flexibility and relaxing the mind. It calms the mind and helps to deal with demanding situations.

·         Books- there are many books available which can help train your mind to be tough. Grab a good book and let the learning begin.

Analytical/informative training

Again, this aspect is mostly ignored during regular training. Analytical training involves watching coaching videos, squash matches (PSA or your own earlier matches) and try and learn various key aspects. Noting down all important points on how you could improve your technique would be ideal. You could also plan your training for post lock down accordingly. Understanding about various other aspects of athlete development like nutrition, off court tactics of top players, goal setting could be more ways of enhancing your squash knowledge to your advantage. There is a universe of information easily available online which can be used for this.

My advice to young athletes would be, don’t lose heart. As illustrated above, you can ensure your squash training is ongoing even during this time. The choice is yours, you can either complain about the situation on which we have no control or keep our squash training ongoing which will help us return stronger and smarter to the courts when they finally open.  

Amit Gajria

World Squash Federation Certified Coach

Mumbai, India