By Ian McKenzie
Squash is a rallying game. Pop onto YouTube and choose a few matches to watch.
Select a few ‘representative rallies’, count the shots, add them up and divide by the number of rallies. For the top men you will get 15 and the women 9.
(I better qualify this. It can vary massively. Do a match or matches if you like. The first game, with a bouncier ball will probably have longer rallies. Courts, conditions and styles vary.)
However, come up with some ball-part figures for the top men, women and your team-mates.
Within the rallies in a squash match there are different shots and ‘plays’. These shots have a purpose. We are not trying to win the rally on every shot.
I often try to explain the tactics we use in rallies, very simply, as a balance of defence and attack. Another way may be to look at it as rallying and looking for opportunities.
Previously we considered some advice from Hashim Khan’s (British Open champion 1951-56 & 58), widely regarded as the father of the modern game) when we looked at depriving an opponent of opportunities.
We rally and wait for opportunities. However the better players are not just waiting they are trying to force these opportunities (these weak balls that can be attacked) by playing difficult shots for an opponent. We can call these tight shots, (clingers for example), dying shots and shots that challenge a player’s movement and scrambling ability.
It is a nice enough construct – good defence, opportunities and attack but there is an elephant in the room. Pressure! Time for your shot and timing are key in your ball control and rally control. The hard shot, the shot skidding across the floor, the hard dying shots, all give you less time, less control. These hard shots may force opportunities that allow a player to move into their attacking game.
Pressure is not just about the pace of ball, it is reducing the time you give an opponent. So there is roughly one and a half seconds between shots (1.4 secs).
Go to Youtube again and work this out for yourself. Your job as a player is to cut that time down for your opponent and increase it for yourself. Add pressure (reducing the time) on an opponent by hitting hard, taking the ball early on the bounce, volleying and hitting away from an opponent.
One problem with attempting to apply pressure is that you may well sacrifice control and play looser yourself. You may cut down your available time so you will need judge your ability to exit your striking position promptly and cover your opponent’s options.
You will also consider pacing yourself through the game and match.
Applying pressure is key. Select when to do it. When you have a slight opportunity, when you can volley and deprive your opponent of time, when you have a gap and can hit away from an opponent.
Key also is the understanding that pressure shots are not an end in themselves. Pressure happens over time, that is why it is pressure. Pressure is a number of shots on end. Your opponent under pressure is a little more predictable (allowing you to move early); a little loser (allowing a full swing, more power and more volleys); perhaps they will lift the ball more and may provide more volleying opportunities.
When you have the opportunity wind the pressure up. Bang, bang, bang! Pressure should happen in bursts. You will also yourself go back and repair your basic game and vary the pace when you are under pressure.
So squash’s rallying game is a balance of defence and attack and pressure! Become a pressure player. Select the times to apply it. Apply it not in shots but in bursts.
Do some study when you watch a match on YouTube. Look out for opportunities to apply pressure that were taken and not taken. Watch one of Farag’s games and count the number of volleys and imagine what you would do if playing him. Get a little of his game into yours. Apply pressure
