Key elements to practice

 Purposeful practice is the building block of improved performance. But it is crucial to approach your practice with the right mind set. Having a fruitful practice session can be very satisfying and fulfilling. There are few key elements to practice which an athlete must know about, before he starts his session.

Be clear about the intention of the session

Before a session, the athlete must decide his key focus area in that session. You must be clear about the intention and what you want to improve upon in that session.

You can list down a particular area or a couple of areas to work on. A mental imagery would also be helpful while planning out the session. If you train with a partner, make sure you have decided before hand on the theme of the session. The focus area could be mostly technical, but observing the mental side could also be one of the intentions in the session. Being observant and open to feedback is the key. Using a tripod and smart phone to record your practice makes a huge difference in understanding how well the plan was executed.

 Repetition is the key

When learning any skill, it is important to go slow in the beginning to make sure we are doing it technically correct. Taking help from a coach during this time is highly recommended. A strong technical base would help master the skill in the long run. Incorrect technique in the beginning would lead to enforcing the ‘wrong’ practice making it extremely difficult to undo or change later.

Now, after understanding the basics, it is important to practice the same multiple number of times. The idea is to develop muscle and brain memory to shift the technique from the thinking brain to the sub conscious brain. It should be repeated so many times, that even if woken in the middle of the night and asked to play that shot, the athlete must hit it on target at least 5 of the 10 times.

Good days/ bad days

We all know about those match days when we just don’t perform to our best. More effort leads to lower performance and more frustration on such days. We call them, “Bad day at the office”

Practice also has its wavy graph. There are days when we are on a high. On these days we hit almost all shots on target, we have beautiful timing, the ball invariably hits the sweet spot, we move gracefully and have quick reactions. But there are days when whatever we do, however hard we try- the practice is not good. The shots just don’t go as planned on such days. We feel way off course.

Being present to the fact that it is just one of those ‘OFF’ days and letting go off the hook slightly really helps. It helps to be motivated and spirited for the next session. I personally always look forward eagerly to the practice session after my ‘OFF’ day as I know it is only going to be better.

It is only when the practice performance is going down regularly, the athlete needs to introspect or probably get in touch with an expert/coach.

 Keeping targets/ goals every session?

Having targets or goals in your practice sessions helps to measure the progress. But having targets every session may not be a good idea. The reason is that the fun element in the practice should always be there. You should look forward to your practice and the toughness of the exercise should not draw you away from it. The session should be challenging yet fun. If the session becomes too goal oriented, it becomes like a ‘work done’ in your to do list. It’s all about finding the right balance between challenge and fun, a balance which the athlete himself must decide.

To sum it up…….

We all talk about mental toughness and how time should be dedicated to develop the same. But practice is the best mental toughness exercise for an athlete. He not only challenges himself but also understands himself better as a person. He understands his moods, his thinking patterns, turn ONs and turn OFFs, strengths and weaknesses and many other aspects of his mind. Understanding all these patterns help immensely during competition. So it is very important to put in those long hours of practice to have a better understanding of yourself- your mind and your body. At the end, the competition is not against an outside opponent. It’s about getting the best from the person within.

Amit Gajria

WSF Certified Squash Coach

Mumbai, India.