In parts one and two of our three part series on Teaching Racquet Sports (such as squash) to Large Groups we covered the rationale for using adapted or modified (“mini”) racquets, balls and court size to enhance the learning of the very young or non-athletic adults or youths. We also covered the importance of using a “Rallying” versus “instructor feed” program so that the learning is relatively “open” and realistic so that players can fruitfully practice with each other outside of clinics and lessons (not possible if their only experience is a perfect coach-fed ball).
We suggested that early learning could be split into three units based on the distance from the wall or partner: 6′, 12′ and 18′ – the objective being for the student to be able to consistently rally 10 in a row with a partner at each distance before moving on to the next. In our last post we covered Unit 1 from 6′ – and here are Unit 2 (12′) and Unit 3 (18′ ) explained in video.
Unit 2 – Rallying From 12 feet
Unit 3 – Rallying from 18 Feet
Summary for Coaches
The learning of a correct grip is a fundamental that cannot be overlooked – a progressive program starting with minimal rallying distance is the only approach that quickly stabilizes a correct grip with large groups of unathletic learners. If the grip is not correct then it is impossible for the learner to develop other fundamentals (such as balance, correct swing paths, etc.).
Optimal learning occurs when tasks are challenging (success ratio between 50-90% – made more difficult once 10 in a row is attained) and students learn by progression not correction (starting full court with a regular ball and racquet having to make frequent corrections to an “ideal’ swing).
All of the most advanced tennis countries have now made the progressive approach their official pedagogy – it is time for squash (and other racquet sport) coaches to do the same.
Part one of this three part series covered the rationale behind using a Progressive Approach when introducing players, young or old, to squash and the other racquet sports. In this second video, we make a recommendation to use a racquetball racquet as the starting “implement” no matter what racquet sport you coach. It has the largest hitting surface, closest to the hand, making it the easiest weapon of choice. The only easier implement would be Ken Watson’s Big Hand – a sport “glove” to really make contact with a ball easier – a great product.
Most physical educators and squash coaches are not lucky enough to be able to solely coach talented, young athletes in a private lesson setting. Most of are usually involved in teaching larger groups of untalented (and often unmotivated) youth or adults. Traditional racquet sport pedagogy methods usually involved teaching using lines of students trying to hit full swings off an unrealistically perfect feed from a coach – with little time for individual correction in group teaching. My first tennis teaching assignment (1975) was to teach 75 kids on three courts with two assistant instructors.
With almost 30,000 hits in little over a year, our Science of Coaching Squash blog does get the occasional question. Since in general, we squash coaches are an isolated bunch, I will post any questions with my short initial response. Others are more than welcome to chime in as obviously there is no one correct answer!
Question #1 received from Dr. Shawkat Gaber (shawkat435@hotmail.com) yesterday, August 13, 2009:
“What is the correct order to teach the skills of squash?”
Thank goodness the first question was such a simple one!
In an earlier post we wrote about the general method for doing a biomechanical analysis of a squash stroke by breaking the stroke down into five phases and using seven biomechanical principles to analyze it. I also posted an example of an analysis of a squash forehand drive, and a video of a tennis forehand drive biomechanical analysis (similar but not identical ideas for analyzing a squash forehand).
Premier Performance Coaching Team 2009
I recently had the chance to video the strokes of the current world #1 Karim Darwish at the Premier Performance Squash training held July 10-19 at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania. Along with Engy Kheirallah and Miguel Rodriguez we coached 20 adults and juniors using the Games Approach framework to introduce the players to Egyptian style attacking squash. In addition to on-court coaching we spent quite a bit of time reviewing video of both game play tactics and forehand and backhand basic strokes.
For the biomechanical video analysis, since we were using a Mac and not Dartfish on a PC, we made a Quicktime video clip of Karim’s and each campers strokes, and opened both clips at the same time side-by-side for easy comparison. Although I used the seven biomechanical principles to anlalyze the players strokes, it was very useful to be able to refer to Karim’s technique in each of the five key positions: ready position, backswing, force production, impact, and follow through.
Betsy & Karim's Forehand Preparation
In this video I walk slowly though an analysis of Karim’s basic backhand straight drive off an easy ball in the mid-court (note that you need to specify the exact shot being analyzed since technique differs depending on the situation) using the seven biomechanical principles. The most notable aspect of his backhand stroke is the extreme “blocking” action of the left arm during the follow through, compared to most of his peers. The purpose of the blocking action is to slow rotation of the body (as in a figure skater opening out of a spin), which will help keep his hitting zone longer and shoulders turned for a fraction of a second longer. Most players will do this on precision shots such as the straight drop or straight volley drop, but Karim does it while hitting with power as obviously his racquet speed is sufficient – he does it much less on his cross-court drives. Stay tuned for an analysis of his forehand stroke.
In our first and second examples of coaching deception from the front using the Games Approach we looked at two of the most common situations: pairing a drop option with a cross-court drive and pairing a drop option with a lob – both force the opponent to cover the largest territory – the diagonal. In our third example, we look at a less common option from the front, the pairing of an angle (roll corner in Americanese) with a straight drive. This option could be classified perhaps as a “surprise” option or “an unexpected shot from an unexpected place” since without surprise both shots expose the striker to counter attack: the angle rebounds towards the middle and the straight drive if loose could result in a stroke against the striker. However we do see these shots played at the higher levels so players should be trained in their use and how to anticipate and respond to them.
As in the other two examples, we will focus more on the coaching method and framework or the Games Approach, and less on the actual technique of deception (e.g., use of wrist). Here are the key teaching points from this video which may differ from more technically-oriented coaching sessions on the same topic:
Flexible approach to the session’s’ content. We see the coach accept the player’s suggestion to modify the game according to the player’s preference. The coach can always return to the original options, but should be willing to experiment with the player’s suggestion in order to reinforce self-direction on the part of the player. Build choices for your players into your squash coaching – they may not notice it but will develop more confidence in themselves.
The Games Approach encourages competition so that training takes place in a similar psychological environment to actual match play. In fact here we see that Chris is somewhat down and not that competitive after losing the first conditioned game 5-0, but the coach encourages competition.
In the previous example of Games Approach session we saw the addition of options or conditions to make the games more challenging. Here we see the player presented with a simple skill drill to encourage appropriate technique – in this case the use of the wrist versus the stroking to control the ball. Lower standard players might in fact spend a majority of the session working on basic technique (grip or swing) following the initial game if this is what might improve them the most. What is important is that the student understands that improving technique is what will help them solve the tactical problem they are presented with (in this case how best to attack the opponent in the front of the court after forcing a boast).
Playing a game instead of doing repetitive drills may encourage a player to more closely observe their opponent, if their opponent is clearly better at the game. In this case it is clear that Shona Kerr is demonstrating superior deception with the wrist in the front.
Videotaping and replaying the the Games Approach training session will help the student understand the effect of their initial shot on gaining (or losing) an advantage in the rally with the payoff occurring several shots after the first – something not possible with traditional drilling.
In this second video example of a Games Approach coaching session, the objective of the session is to work on the game situation where the player in the front is working on her deception by lobbing or dropping straight off a boast from the back of the court.
In this example, Shona Kerr, the player in front is winning most of the points (trained as a young girl in the use of the “Pakistani wrist” by Hiddy Jahan) so the emphasis of the session has switched to helping Chris who is responding to Shona’s lob or drop in the front.
By starting with a game instead of a drill, Chris’ weakness in this game situation becomes apparent. Through the use of questioning by the squash coach (a key characteristic of the Games Approach) is becomes evident that he is not really aware of how his “T” position can influence the success of his opponent’s tactics, or his best options in response to her drop attack – although he becomes aware by the questioning process.
The initial game can be modified easily (as it was in this example with the added “redrop” condition) to make the initial game easier or more difficult, or to emphasize a different aspect or tactic. Both players spend the entire time practicing in game-like conditions so appear to be motivated (without coach reminders) to recover, hustle and try their hardest.
The second step of the Games Approach, to drill the different options in more traditional drilling practice (in this case the straight drop and lob), was skipped because Shona demonstrated solid deception and quality lobs and drops. We could have assessed her performance under more pressure by having the coach start with either a straight drive feed or a boast, which would have forced a later start from further back by presenting her from early anticipation of the boast.
Here is a video example of a coaching session using the Games Approach method to teach deception in the front court. Notice the following in comparison to a “usual” technique-based coaching session:
Start with a game to assess the squash player before any coaching takes place. This assures a minimum of talking (boring) and an active start to the lesson with competition (everyone loves competition!).
Use questioning to help the student figure out for themselves what they need to work on – if the squash coach tells them outright, the student will never develop the ability to think for themselves. Notice in the video that Chris’ (the student) awareness of what is actually happening in terms of the results of his shots is not that great despite his relatively high standard (sorry Chris!)
After identifying an area to work on, squash coaches can use more conventional drilling to improve the weakness. If possible, make the drilling game-like by including movement to the ball and also including the recovery and follow-up shot (in this case the straight volley into the open court created by the drop to the front). Also if possible, set a standard of quality (seen in the drop practice scenario in this: if the opponent can lob over the player after the drop has been played) that provides the player with automatic feedback (no coach feedback required).
Missing from the video is finishing with another 5-point game to see if the student has actually improved. Also for the sake of keeping things simple, we have not delved into a micro-analysis of Chris swing, use of wrist and hold, etc.
In this example, three players (including the coach) were involved. Obviously the game could also be played with two players to make it even more game-like. Thanks to Shona Kerr for helping out fresh off her knee surgery!
We have published quite a few posts on the current Tactics First approach to developing thinking, smart squash players. The key concept is that teaching technique alone (e.g., backhand lesson, forehand lesson) and leaving the match play and tactics to the student (laissez-faire approach) in their formative years does not encourage squash intelligence. Squash is much more than striking the ball well. It is one of the most tactical individual sports and involves considerable perception, anticipation (reading the opponent) and decision-making (attacking weaknesses not strengths) on every point. I would wager that squash is the most tactical of the individual sports - with more individual player decisions per minute of play than any other sport (in team sports like football it is the coach making most of the tactical decisions). Our coaching needs to reflect this priority and we need to start training situations not strokes right from the very beginning of a player’s career.
How does a squash coach go about actually planning a Tactics First lesson or training session? Here is a template that coaches can use to plan a lesson around a particular tactical situation:
Look for some video examples of Tactics First training in the coming weeks (maybe even days:). In the meantime, here is some brief background reading from the ACE Coaching site - the leading proponent of a tactics first approach for tennis:
Most squash coaches agree that deception, AKA disguise, faking, holding your shot, etc., is an important part of the modern squash game – thanks in part to the reign of Canada’s Jonathon Power and the current ascendancy of the Egyptians at the top of the world squash rankings. So now what: what deception shots and situations to teach first? Which to teach second? What do we do after the first few sessions? Although there have been recent articles published on how to teach deception (e.g., Cliff Wenn, David Campion, Roger Flynn, John Lau) none of their work features a comprehensive framework for developing deceptive players and deceptions skills.
Even the world’s most deceptive players probably have very little idea about how to go about training deception in a systematic way. Most of the world’s top players who use a significant amount of deception in their game started to learn deception through observational learning (i.e., watched others do it). A couple of years after I coached the Canadian Jr. National at the 1990 Junior Worlds in Paderborn, I invited Jonathon Power (at 17 just starting on the PSA Tour) to my squash club in Montreal to run a clinic on deception for my A, B and C teams. He did a great job (relative to his age and experience) but certainly did not have a very clear idea on deception teaching progressions
The purpose of this post is to outline a systematic approach to teaching squash deception that can be used to develop deception in one particular player – or a nation of players, through a country’s coaching education program.
Step 1. Start with a comprehensive Tactical Model to organize ideas around deception. I plan to use System 3 – which is a zone model of squash, where tactics are determined primarily (but not exclusively) by a player’s position on the court when receiving the ball: front, mid- and back-court zones. In combination with the difficulty of the ball received (easy, medium, difficult) a player determines his or her tactical intent or phase (attack, rally, defence) and then selects a shot to implement this phase (e.g., drop, drive, lob). Any tactical model can be used however, and I will explain the System 3 Zone Model in a future post.
Step 2. Deception is a form of attacking (or counter-attacking) the opponent, so the next step in our approach is to list, in priority order, the different deception situations in each of the three zones. There are several ways this priority order could be established:
easiest to execute to most difficult (probably best for young juniors)
most frequent to least frequent (probably best for pro players)
most important to least important (i.e., good deception in this situation usually wins pt.)
based on an individual assessment of a particular player
personal preference (of either the player or squash coach)
a combination of the above methods
Step 3. Make the list. Here are a couple of examples for each of the three zones that probably reflect a progression of easiness and frequency at an “A” level:
1. Straight drop or cross-court drive off a loose ball in the middle.
2. Straight drive or attacking two-wall working boast off a low, hard straight drive from the back.
3. Straight or cross-court drop off a loose ball in the middle.
4. Straight volley drive or volley boast of a not tight straight drive from back.
Back-Court
1. Show straight hard low drive, surprise with attacking boast off easier ball off backwall.
2. Show straight hard low drive, surprise with straight drop off easier ball off backwall.
3. Show straight hard low drive, surprise with reverse angle off loose ball off backwall.
Step 4. Choose a pedagogy or teaching method to teach the deception situations or skills. The Games Approach seems ideal since this gives the squash coach an opportunity to evaluate the player(s) in a game situation to determine what work needs to be done. For example, in the front court situations listed above, player A could “serve” with a boast, and player B, stationed on the “T”, could return with a straight drop or cross-court drive, and then play the point out to see if player B was able to take advantage of the situation. After 5 minutes of play, an experienced coach would be able to determine which of the shots (drop or drive) needed more work, if the player was telegraphing the shot too much, as well as other basic elements common to all squash situations, recovery, ready position, quality of shot, choice of follow-up shots, effort, attitude, etc. Obviously other teaching methods could be used as well. With top players it might be enough to show a few video examples and then have the “play a game and try it out”. Unfortunately, most squash coaches do not find themselves in this ideal situation and therefore need a systematic approach to teaching deception.
Step 5. Reinforce the importance of deception by occasionally using conditioned games to encourage your players to use and practice deception: two points for a winning deception shot; A must play deep, B can attack with deception; short game (in front of service line); etc. Give your player feedback on missed opportuities to use deception in match play – or the overuse of deception.
Posted by Tim Bacon 
Posted by Tim Bacon 
Posted by Tim Bacon 
Psychology, Dartfish Video, Strength Coach, Planning, Coach Ed., Skype, Training Camps.
$50-100/hour. tbacon@smith.edu
Skype ID: tbacon2001