Back to Drilling

After a week on the road playing tournament squash it is good to get back on the court with my drilling partner and re-groove my strokes and shots. While tournament squash has many benefits, it can actually have a strangely detrimental effect on technique since when you compete the focus tends to be exclusively on strategy and mental toughness. It is nearly impossible to compete effectively while focused on technical issues with your game. Since I want to be sharp for upcoming tournaments and league matches I was quick to get in touch with my friend Eli Slyder, a fellow teaching pro in NYC, and to set up a drilling session.

There is a somewhat annoying saying that goes “Practice doesn’t make perfect – perfect practice makes perfect.” It is true. Watching students of mine practice sometimes makes me cringe. So I was thinking about a few keys that I follow to make drilling the most effective it can be.

1) Find a good drilling partner. Some players really don’t enjoy drilling, so don’t try to drill with them. They will not put in the necessary effort to make drills work and it will be a waste of time. Once you find someone who loves to drill, is willing to try new drills, and is good enough to keep the drills going, hold on to them. They might end up doing more to improve your game than anyone else.

2) Be a good driller. Don’t just put effort in when it is your turn to hit the shot – put just as much effort into making good feeds. For example, when hitting the boast in a boast/drive, don’t hit the tin. If the drive is too tough, pick up the ball and hit the boast out of your hand. It is beyond frustrating to be waiting to hit the drive and the other guy keeps tinning. I will never drill a second time with a bad driller.

3) Make the drills mimic game situations. Get back to the middle after shots. Throw in variations that keep the hitter honest. Put 100% focus on each shot.

4) Develop a drill routine. Instead of standing around after each drill trying to decide what to do next, create a progression of drills that flow one to the next. This will make the session more productive and really allow you to get into a good groove.

5) Spend enough time on each drill. I sometimes see students do a drill for 30 seconds and move onto the next one. Give yourself 2-3 and ideally 5 minutes per person on each drill to really give yourself not just time to get into it, but time to analyze, make corrections, and then groove the corrected stroke.

6) Be open to comments your drilling partner might make. It is hard to know everything you are doing when you strike the ball. But your drilling partner is there watching you. Be open to comments or suggestions they might make. Sometimes one little observation can lead to a major breakthrough.

I suggest drilling at least one time per week as part of your weekly squash schedule. If you do it right you will very quickly feel your game get sharper and sharper, and at least for me it makes me that much more hungry to get on the court and compete.

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