Boasting!
BOASTING..
Hmmm... definitely one of my favourite shots. You can really twist and turn somebody, so what better title can we have for the story part of the website. I know I have quite a few tales that I will be sharing and I am sure the majority of you will have as well. So don’t be shy!
June 18,2009. 6.45am.. As you know if you have read the preceding pages I am on my annual walkabout to Australia. This is my morning outfit on the way to my wake up swim. Seeing it is winter down under the air temperature at sunrise today is 8C ( 46F) and the water temp is 19C (68F) Certainly glad it is not the other way around. Definitely a great way to wake up that's for sure. It instills that wierd sort of mental discipline that you have to have to be a good squash player. Oh and as for the sharks, nothing a good backhand won't fix. No boasting just Crazy !!!
THE BEST BOAST EVER
Now that is a big statement to make but I think I can back it up. If you can beat this one then let me know.
I was just in Bateau Bay Bowling Club, one of the local social clubs here on the Central Coast of N.S.W, Australia when I noticed a squash racquet in a glass case on a display wall. There were other bit's of sports memorabilia as well but being a squash player this one needed a closer look. Upon closer inspection it happened to be the squash racquet that Heather McKay used to win the 1968 British Championship. (she ended up winning 16 in a row) If you have read my previous story on Heather in the World Champions I have played you know she has probably been the Greatest Female Squash player of all time. Definitely Unbelievable. What I read attatched to the racquet just completely blew me away. Here is what it said-
SQUASH AND THE FAMOUS
That got me thinking that there must be more to the story so the conversation got a little deeper and it turned out that she was wife of Nils Lofgren, the famous guitarist from Bruce Springsteen's band and a World renowned musician is his own right.
Very nice guy who told me he used to play a lot of squash but was recovering from some hip surgery and was hoping to get back on court in the future. I am sure all the stage antics during a concert would make a game of squash easy. Hope to see you on the court soon Nils.
The other musician that I met and actually played happened to be Eddy Grant who had the number 1 hit at the time Electric Avenue. This happened to be in Toronto in the 1980's and as I mentioned Eddy was at the peak of his popularity. A very keen squash player our match was kept very quiet almost secretive as he certainly had a lot of groupies at that stage.
Anyway a very fit guy and quite a good player fortunately I could give him the run around on the squash court. I have to say though his squash game was way better than my musical skills, all I can play is a good CD.
STRANGE BUT TRUE !!!
Now here is one of my many stories that I could tell you about from one of the true charachters of the sport, namely Kevin Shawcross.
Kevin had an amazing career both on and off the court in the late 70's and early 80's. He won every amateur championship imaginable including the Australian, British, South African and The World Championship before tuning professional and becoming the World No 9 player in the Open Ranks. However his playing ability aside he gained more notoriety amongst his peers for what he did off the court than what he did on it.
One of his best moments started with a car accident in England. A traffic ticket was given to Kevin but not being an English resident and it being toward the end of the English part of the squash circuit, Kevin forgot all about it and returned to Australia. ( On a slightly different note he came from Lithgow the same town as David Palmer. )
Anyway a year went by and many squash tournaments were played and of course to Kevin the traffic ticket was long gone and the English Squash Circuit had commenced once more.
Now Kevin was a highly ranked player and seeded to reach the quarter final stage of the British Open. Now I don't know if there happened to be some squash players in the English Police Force or maybe the referee thought the match was going to get out of control but during the third round straight after he had come of the court Kevin was arrested and taken to another court. One with no lines, nearly always your fault and you end up in the nick instead of hitting it.
Yes the long arm of the law ( I am not sure if it was a forehand or a backhand ) certainly had a great reach and a amazing memory of Kevin's game. He ended up having to pay a fine for the traffic ticket, couldn't drive in England for a period of time and lost in the next round of the British Open. It just goes to show you, KEEP YOUR DRIVES STRAIGHT and you will stay out of trouble.
THE OVERATERS
Yes we all know them. The players who think that they are way better than what they are. To make it worse not only do they think it they like to tell you all about it as well. During my squash career I have met and still continue to meet some classic Overaters.
How about this one.
I was in San Antonio for a number of years and although I had some excellent players to play there was not an over abundance. So any time a good player came for a visit or was passing through, I would jump at the chance of having a game with someone different. On this one occasion I was practicing on the court when a guy knocked on the door and said he played professionally in Mexico City. Great I said, when do you want to have a game? His reply was in a couple of days. So there I was looking forward to the challenge as like you I am always interested to see how my game is doing. So the Big Match happened to be at high noon and the showdown began.
We did the usual and started the warmup. Obviously you look at your opponents style , swing ,how they hit the ball, generally check them out looking to see if they seem to have any particular strengths or any noticeable weaknesses. He didn’t seem to be hitting the ball that well and I just thought he might be better in the match. Well he won the serve and lost the first point. I served he missed the ball, I served again he mishit this one out of the court. Another serve another miss and that went on for 2 games. By the end of the second game I pointed to the other court where some novice players were playing and told him he would have a better game over there. Yes I think he had a 6.0 ego and a 2.0 ability.
Then there was
Another guy again in San Antonio who thought he should have been seeded above another player even though he had lost to him 15 out of 16 times because he played in the Houston Squash League.
And Another
A lady player who thinks she is going to win a national age championship because she had beaten the current national age champion when they were playing in the junior U/19 over 20 years ago.
One last one.
All the players who think they are a level above. Say for example a person who considers themselves a B player even though they have never won a C tournament. Yes it takes all kinds to make life interesting but I know that I would prefer to let my racquet do all the talking.
01-13-09:
Concentration
Yes, its the make or break of winning a match or probably a great number of things in life, as well. What can you say when you completely miss a ball when you are thinking about what you are going to eat tonight? Or why did I hit the tin 3 points ago. Or better still, that grip on my racquet sure doesn’t feel good today, and why is the ball not going where I want it to go.
I don’t know about you but, concentrating seems to get harder and harder the older I get. Now is it because you have more to think about and less time, or is it because you have less to think about and more time to think? I will let you decide that one.
But getting back to the game. Lots of things can throw you off. Lets, strokes, spectators, opponents, and they all seem to compound the worse you are playing. When you are in a zen-like trance and winning comfortably, nothing seems to affect you at all. However, throw a possible losing mixture into the scenario and all of a sudden even a bit of cotton on the floor or a serve from the wrong box can throw your game into the dreaded No Concentration Zone.
Then you are in trouble, your whole game plan is shot to bits. Your mind is now wandering like an 18 month old little kid just starting to walk. Up and Down. Shall I do this or shall I do that? Now this is the point of the game that is like being on a see saw. One wrong move and you go down or get your mind back in balance and the game tilts back in your favor.
My solution after years of trying to master concentration was to see a sports hypnotherapist and what an experience that was! It started with a meeting with Les Cunningham, a very successful sports therapist from Sydney, who had worked with all types of sports people including Olympic rowers, rugby teams, boxers, etc. Well now he had a pro squash player who was in desperate need of a good dose of concentration. Les was a big guy weighing about 250 pounds and he had a crop of silver hair and a beard to match. The first thing he did was to see if I was the hypnotizing type. He did this by having me watch some sort of strobe light and then telling me that my left arm was as light as a feather and was going to rise up. It did, it started to lift up seemingly all by itself. Before the hypnotization had started I had told Les the areas that I had wanted to improve. Things like: go for more shots; make no mistakes; volley more: and concentrate harder every point.
Well there I was in this peaceful trance when all of a sudden Les started screaming all of the above. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO MAKE MISTAKES! YOU ARE GOING TO VOLLEY MORE! YOU ARE GOING TO GO FOR MORE SHOTS!
I think it was more like shock therapy but it definitely worked for that was over 20 years ago and even today, if I am getting ready for a match, I can still hear Les screaming away at me.
Everyone has a certain way of concentrating and my advice is to try and find your way to maximize your capabilities in the mental toughness department. You will surprise yourself with the results. For me it will always be that big booming voice inside my head.
That is a question that I've been asked thousands of times by just about every beginner I have taught over the years. When I know the answer, I gladly explain it, proudly sharing my knowledge of the game. But some questions I just don't know the answers to, such as how did a boast get its name? And how did a nick become a nick?
I don’t know whether it is just me but there are lots of names that you really have to question. What where people thinking?-
Let’s start with golf. Why golf? Let alone the bird aspect of the game. Birdie, Eagle, Albatross. How did a bird become a part of getting a little ball in a hole?
Then we have cricket. I have no idea what they were drinking when they came up with these. It really is something out of Monty Python. Maybe they were having some sort of strange contest. Googly, Silly Mid On, Silly Mid Off, Square Leg. Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t know of anyone who has a square leg.
Billiards- Hmmm
Running - steeple chasing? How does a runner jumping over hurdles and water become a steeple chaser? The only steeples I know in my limited amount of knowledge are on a church. Does that mean the churches were only 6 ft high?
Then of course we have gridiron. What is a gridiron? How does that relate to a football?
Tennis – an ace? Was tennis before a deck of cards or a deck of cards before tennis?
Ice Skating- A triple lutz? Of course, that's obvious!
Badminton – shuttlecock? Is that a type of rooster?
Yes, it just goes on and on... I could spend half the lesson questioning terminology.
But you know, somethings are better left a mystery.
11-20-08:
The Famous Back Wall
What is it with a squash court back wall that intrigue’s players so much? The number one question asked by almost every beginner that I have coached is: “Roy, How do I hit it off the back wall?” Even I can remember the proud moment when I achieved this seemingly impossible task… and it actually hit the front wall! Yes, it was a big step in my squash career at 11 years old. My parents didn’t hear the end of it for a week.
What I and the rest of the players at that level didn’t realize was that if you can hit the ball off the front wall and it goes all the way and hits the back wall before bouncing then surely you must be able to do the same in reverse. Yet it seems so much harder. You run back, turn to face the back wall, try and smash the ball only to see it bounce on the floor barely making it past the halfway line.
Or even more demoralizing you hit the ball off the back wall only to get hit in the face by your own shot. Or even worse… you break your racquet on the back wall trying to hit this %#$&*(! shot.
So what do you do? Try and hit it harder. Yes that must be the answer. After all you see all the better players doing it so easily, not to mention that they barely seem to move from the T when hitting the ball and can actually win points with the shot.
Well after my first successful back wall shot, followed by another year, a couple of black eyes, 3 new racquets, and lots of losses, I discovered a well kept secret. No, they couldn’t keep it from me forever. This wasn’t a kill shot. I had to hit the ball higher on the back wall. I tried it once; it worked. I tried it again; it worked again.
A brand new part of the game had opened up for me. The rallies started getting longer, I would get what I thought some irretrievable shots back, and I would tell everyone I could hit it off the back wall as good as anyone. Terrific, except I had based my whole game on hitting it off the back wall and lost more matches than ever before for the next 6 months! Ah, that famous back wall.
Early on in my squash career, as with most of us, my racquets took plenty of blame and abuse. Whether it was hitting the wall or the floor it didn’t matter. In those days the racquets were made of cane, and it certainly didn’t take much to put a fracture or a crack in their heads. Treating them like a human, one would then try to fix the injury by putting on a tape bandage soaked in superglue. Yes, many times I would then lovingly protect the racquet until I thought it had healed. But somehow, the racquet would continue to make the same errors in my game, making me mad at it.
After a few years, a few racquets and, of course, quite a few dollars, I realized that all the mistakes were not actually coming from my racquets but from me, although certainly they were guilty accomplices. All those moments of embarrassment with my peers seeing me hammering the wall with my racquet (yes, I did that!) were all for nothing. What I really needed to do was give it a warning. That’s right, give it a good talking to. After all, that’s what your parents did when you were causing trouble, right?
Well, it worked. I am proud to say that my racquets (granted, they now are made of graphite) last me years, and the only operations they receive these days are restrings. I treat them with respect, and strangely enough, I certainly win a lot more matches, as well.
Not everyone learns though, and I have seen some champion racquet-breakers in my time. My favorite has to be from my stint in Canada. A friend of mine lost a few points and then the second game. In between games he grabbed his racquet and placed it in between the doorframe. Luckily, the door was made of wood. He then broke the racquet shaft in two and then smashed the head on the sidewall. It was all over by the ninety seconds, and he was ready to receive serve with his backup racquet for the 3rd game…
Yes, as I mentioned, everything varies in squash. Try not to take out your mistakes on your racquet, as it really is your best friend.
I had won my first couple of matches and had quite a hard match in the semi against Tristan Nancarrow (he went on to be No 6 in the world). Even though I won the match, I paid a heavy price as when I woke up the next day and started to walk, my feet were killing me. Yes, I had a bad case of blisters on the balls of my feet UNDER the calluses. Just what I needed.
The final of the tournament was 5 hours later and I was going to play Chris Robertson (he went on to become World No 2). That was certainly not going be an easy task, especially feeling like I was walking on broken glass. Hmmm what to do next?
One of the players in the tournament knew a doctor at the local hospital, and he suggested that we go and see if he could help me. So off we went to the children’s ward where he happened to work. I met him and he had a look at my feet. Apart from the strained look on his face after looking at a squash players feet, he suggested he could slice open the calluses and drain the blisters. That sounds like fun, I thought, oooh!
In the ward there were about 20 kids ranging from 3 up to 12. So there I was twice their size, lying next to them. The next minute the doctor came back and said he had to deaden the balls of my feet so he could slice into them. He pulled out a needle and put it right into the ball of my right foot. Then he did the same to the left. The scalpel came out next and he started cutting a quarter inch slice into my foot, all the time asking if I could feel it. Unfortunately, I could. Oh no, out came the needle again and another shot went into the ball of both my feet again.
At this point I was sweating more than in a sauna in the middle of the New Guinea Rainforest, and all the kids had gathered to watch and seemed to cheer every moan and groan I made. Anyway, after an hour of pain he had cut, drained, and wrapped both feet and declared me ready to play. I proceeded to the squash courts later that afternoon and wrapped pieces of foam around my feet and played the final. I would like to tell you I won but then I would be lying. Chris beat me 3/1.
From that match on I have always broken in a pair of shoes days ahead of a tournament. You learn something new each day, that’s for sure. Never underestimate the importance of good footwork.
