How would you play the best player in the world?
Maybe you don’t feel up to it yourself, but what would your advice be if you were the coach?
The world’s top-ranked player (at the time of wiriting), by a reasonable distance, is Ali Farag. If we consider his abilities and what you would be up against playing him, you may fear that he would read you like a book.
A quarter of the time, he wouldn’t even need to let the ball bounce to hit it, and when he did, he would quite possibly take it on the rise, again depriving you of time. With his short, crafted swing and use of angles and touch, he would move the ball away from you so that you would be continually chasing.
If you play someone who volleys a lot, you know this creates a problem. You are deprived of time.
So, what would be your game plan? What are you going to try and do to negate the most threatening part of an opponent’s game?
For example, if your opponent plays brilliant drops from the left mid-court, the answer is: don’t hit it there.
So, if your opponent is very good at volleying and dominates the T with this ability, the answer is not to play shots that are easily volleyed. Don’t hit balls through the middle of the court, crosscourts, or loose straight drives, particularly those at shoulder height.
This, of course, is easier said than done.
When you are continually chasing, stretched, under pressure, rushing your shots and timing, or off balance, loose shots will drift into your game, and your opponent will pounce on these opportunities.
In the brilliant Qatar Classic 2024, Diego Elias faced these issues and came up with a plan.
He had experience to call upon, of course. In Squash Player Magazine 2023 Issue 2, we looked at a key match in detail: the 2023 British Open final, with the stats provided by Crosscourt Analytics.
It was a close match, which Farag won 13-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-9. Perhaps the key takeaway was Farag’s domination on the volley, which made up a remarkable 27% of all his shots.
The analysis states: “In the rallies he won, Farag dominated on the volley [31% of shots were volleys], and 50% of his shots were hit from the mid-court, demonstrating that he dominated there.”
In the lifted shots category, Farag played: 338 straight shots and 264 crosscourt; Elias played 370 straight and 254 crosscourt. So, Elias’s game was a little straighter but not significantly so. Farag hit 179 volleys to Elias’s 109.
So, what did Elias do in Qatar? The guys at Crosscourt Analytics have provided their figures for us again.
Elias volleyed 18% of his shots in this match (in the British Open it was 16%), while Farag volleyed 21% (against 27% earlier). Here we see that Elias was able to negate his opponent’s volleying domination to some extent and improve his own volleying quota.
Perhaps we can see the key to this when we look at the balance between his straight and crosscourt shots—Elias hit 73% of his shots straight and 27% crosscourt (in this match Farag hit 58% straight and 42% crosscourt).
There are all sorts of factors that can affect a match and performance, of course.
Perhaps one to consider is the unique court conditions in Qatar. Former world No. 1 Jonathon Power, who is now at the world-famous Aspire Academy in Qatar, said to me, “This court is fast, the ball comes through.” He liked it that way, and perhaps that was a factor to consider as well.
In your matches, some of your opponents will have areas where they are strong and create difficulties for your play. Your game plan needs to consider this.
What will you do to negate these strengths? Plan it. Visualise it. Practice it. Review it in your debrief (or evaluation). And go out wiser next time.
Against a good volleyer, you may try to keep the ball mainly straight and low to medium in height. Yes, you can smash it hard and low and it will not be volleyed, but it will likely be short of a length, come into the mid-court, and not take an opponent out of the middle.
So here is a plan against volleyers: hit straight and tight, vary the pace and height, but generally play low.
If you hit everything straight, it will be predictable, and your opponent will hang onto the side to intercept, rather as Nick Matthew did.
So, you do need to play some crosscourts and lobs (possibly), perhaps putting extra width on the ball when required, playing low and hard at times, and hitting to the gaps if the opportunity is there. Use disguise, deception, and variations so your play is not easily readable. And play your own game positively.
GAME PLAN AGAINST VOLLEYERS
- Hit straight: hard and low, varied with tight medium drives and some slower ones.
- Hit crosscourts as a variation but keep the overall straight pattern.
- Try the lob but be prepared to stop if it is being punished.
- Put the ball on the side wall at the point your opponent would wish to play it. Play tight.
- Take your opponent out of the middle.
- Take the middle (the T) if you can. Get in front of your opponent.
- Keep the T by volleying.
- Play positively. Attack when you can. Attack on the volley.
- Use disguise, deception, and variation to make your play less readable.
Good luck
