Tuesday 18 December 2012

Squash Tips - MOVING ON THE COURT

Going to the center

The center is the nearest point to all the corners. If you always come back to the T you can Control how you'll move next. All this movement are intertwined. The better you do one , the better you'll do the next.

Being in the center is a clear sign of the fact that your leading the game.

But the only way you'll be in the center is is you develop the habit of always going back to the T.
The real center is one step behind the T that's because it's easier to move toward the front-wall than toward the back-wall.

Reach the ball in a way that you can always play a drive and eventually choose not to

The objective of your movement is to be oriented in a way that you're able to play a drive. This means that you need to end with your belly-button pointing at the side wall.


Moving toward the ball

First move toward the front/back wall, then make the side-step.
A big mistake we tend to do is to move crosswise when heading for the ball, this is useless because most of the time you'll find yourself too near to the ball and you'll have to back-off.
Instead analize the ball movement pattern like described in this article.

Going to the central part compared to the side wall first is the more profitable way of moving because if you're on the side the opponet will easily know where to make the shot.(In the position your not.)

To understand this and put it into practice you need to train yourself at least 10 minutes per training on movement.

Here's how:
1)Start from the T
2)Decide where to make the shot (upper left- upper right- lower left -lower right )
3)Move by walking in the center, parallel to the side walls and make the last side step.

If you need a step pattern it works like this:
For shots on the upper right side (you have to put your left foot toward when hitting the ball) : start with the left foot and make a step in the front, then make a diagonal step with the right foot and lastly make a side step with the left foot.
For shots on the lower left side (you have to put your right foo forward when hitting the ball) : start by making a step behind with your right foot, then make a diagonal step while going back with the left foot, then make a side step toward the side wall with the right foot.)

Move as less as possible and keep on moving

When coming back to the T you should slow down so that when your opponent makes the shot you're still moving, this is because keeping momentum makes you move faster and save energy.

Considering this and the moving pattern i previously talked about:

You should always walk if you can, this is because hitting the ball sooner is not necessarily helpfull.

An advanced techinique is to go toward the ball pretty fast and then wait for the opponent to reach the T and put his feet down, then making the shot. This is a pretty nice way to mislead your opponent without making some feign shot.

Check out my video tutorial for more informations

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