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By Shona Kerr - Head Squash Coach, Wesleyan University
There should be two phases to your on court drilling, the “Training Phase” and the “Competitive Phase”.
The training phase refers to when you do not have an imminent competition and involves concentrated work on technique whilst the competitive phase kicks in around 4-8 weeks before competition and works on your tactical game. Looking at your yearly calendar it may be that some competitions will fall into a training phase, this is absolutely fine. You are aspiring to peak for your major goals and it is good practice to “train through” competitions, after all it is the long-term goal that you are looking at.
How do the different phases look?
Training Phase
The aim of this phase is to work on technique including the swing, movement, body positioning, shot refinement and consistency.
Drills should include:
• Solo exercises – to work on the technique and consistency of individual shots.
• Single feed drills – you and a partner feed for each other. For instance your partner might feed a forehand boast for you to practice your backhand crosscourt lob.
• Closed drills – this is where you and a partner or coach perform a two person drill but you know what the order of shots will be. The boast drive drill is an obvious example of this.
• Matches – when working on technique and wanting to transfer alterations to a game situation it is more advisable to play people not as good as yourself. This reduces the amount of pressure you are under and hence will give you more time to focus grooving a technical change
All of these drills build confidence in your ability to execute different shots. With the drills being narrowed and decision making not a factor, it allows you to concertedly focus on technique and movement. You should start off with the drills being physically easy in order to give yourself as much time as possible to place your feet correctly and to address any floors in your swing. This is near impossible to achieve under physical pressure. It also allows you to achieve many repetitions of a drill without becoming exhausted and hence begins to “groove” the changes you are trying to make.
Only when these alterations start to become second nature should you start making the same drill more challenging. Be disciplined and meticulous with yourself, there is no point “grooving” a wrong movement or technique that might be hard to change at a later date. In the same vain, try and get feedback from a second pair of eyes, whether that be through video tape or a coach, often we feel like we have altered something correctly but are unable to actually verify if that is true. As a final note on the training phase be sure that you check back with your goals often and that the drills you are focusing on are in line with what you planned. As you make improvements be sure to track these also.
Competitive Phase
As you move into the competitive phase the technical aspects to your game should have been thoroughly addressed as this is when you need to put yourself in pressure situations and begin working on shot choice, perception and anticipation.
Drills should include:
• Pressure drills –technical aspects worked on in the training phase are now put into pressure situations. An example would be where your partner was performing a single feed at the front for you to drive, they are now going to feed with their best drop shot, you are now running to and from the back wall to play a straight drive.
• Open drills – where shot choices and decisions need to be made. This can start off simple, for example take the boast drive / drill and now add in the option of the cross court from the front. As this phase progresses many different decisions can be allocated to a drill.
• Condition games – this is effectively making the open drills even more open and game like. For example, you can only go short if your opponent is behind you or you must play short off a boast.
• Matches – start playing opponents of a similar standard to you in order to work on strategy, perception and anticipation. You also want to start playing people of a higher standard than yourself to work on your game under pressure.
This phase is allowing you to work on anticipation and deception. When there are choices within a drill you start to see and get used to what your opponent looks like as they line up for different shots and anticipate their shot selection. You are also able to work or deception by either keeping your partner guessing for as long as possible which shot you will play or indeed trick them. It also works on playing the same shots grooved in the training phase but now under pressure.
Condition games allow you to practice particular game plans and styles of play. If your need is to play the ball straight more often a condition for you would be to only play straight. Or if you need to work on increasing the pace of a game your condition might be that you can only hit length below the service line. The conditions set on yourself and your partner do not have to be the same, and in fact when they are different it can lead to some very interesting results. The possibilities are endless. As with the training phase make sure you check back with the tactical goals you originally set and track your progress. It’s great for self- esteem when improvement is noted, reference can be made back to this as a confidence booster.
Now you have a template with which to plan your success.
There is one thing to know how to plan, another to go ahead and do it and even better is to carry out the plan.
As we all know many wonderful plans have been uselessly left on shelves so get out there and use your valuable training and court time to it’s maximum!!!
Shona Kerr is the head coach of both men's and women's squash and holds the rank of adjunct assistant professor of physical education at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. Shona previously coached a t Wellesley College, University of Wales Institutes Cardiff (UWIC) and at Cardiff University Squash Club.
As a player, Shona was a four-year member of the Welsh Universities team from 1996-99. More recently, she was a member of the UWIC team which won the Women's Welsh Premiere League. She also represented Wales at the 2000 European Club Championships, held in Amsterdam. In the United States, Shona was a national squash age-group champion for under-35 and at the 5.0 skill level in both 2004 and 2005 and also played for the Boston Ladies "A" Team which won the Howe Cup.
In addition to her playing and coaching experience, Shona holds Level III advanced coaching certification from the England Squash Association. In the summer 2003, Shona traveled to Cairo, Egypt as a presenter at the World Squash Federation Development and Coaching Conference. She also has been active in several camps as a coach including SquashBusters summer camp for which she served as director. Shona began a two-year term as vice-president of the College Squash Association in 2005, of which she has been a member since 2001. In Ocotober, 2006, Shona acted as local coordinator for the College Squash Association's Coaches Conference held at Wesleyan. Shona also organizes activities around Wesleyan's Rosenbaum Squash Center to foster greater interest in the sport in the area. Shona earned a bachelors degree in music from Cardiff University in 1998 and graduate certification in management from Oxford University in 2000.
For more information, contact Shona via e-mail at
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or visit http://www.wesleyan.edu/
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