Improve Your Shot Selection With This Simple Concept.

Рет қаралды 8,369

Күн бұрын

Stop playing any shot that pops into your head the moment before it's your turn to hit the ball. Use the Squash Traffic Light System to make shot selection faster, easier and better.
Squash strategy and squash tactics can be as simple, but having a simple guide to squash tactics can make your squash better.
FREE SUMMARY SHEET
bit.ly/48D8hld
CONTENTS:
00:00 - Start
00:44 - Quick TLS demo
01:13 - The Decision Hierarchy
03:41 - Traffic Light System Definitions
08:26 - The TLS in Action
10:24 - Closer Look At Some Shots
12:41 - Implementing The TLS
16:00 - Want Me To Visualise YOUR Games?
17:04 - Want Me To Visualise Other Pro Games?
17:34 - My Personal Veto: The Volley Boast
FULL DETAILS:
In this video, I explain the Squash Traffic Light System and how it will make shot selection easier, and should improve your squash immediately.
I use short clips from a professional match to visualise how the Squash Traffic Light System works.
The Nick Matthew and Ramy Ashour video is used courtesy of the BBGBITW channel. They have some other Swedish Open matches on the channel, so go watch some of those: www.youtube.com/@BBGBITW/videos
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Пікірлер: 48

@dmihovilovic 7 ай бұрын

Hey Phillip, I played a match today and tried out the TLS system. It made a remarkable difference! I managed to stay focused on it throughout the game, unlike before when I'd often lose track of my strategies mid-action. I especially appreciate the concept of "Probe." It's such a game-changer, knowing that if one probe doesn't work, another opportunity awaits. This mindset not only helped me build points more effectively but also alleviated some of the pressure. Additionally, I also clearly recognized when my lost points came from overreaching when a defensive stance would've been wiser.

@BetterSquash 7 ай бұрын

That's excellent to hear - thank you for the positive feedback. Well done for staying focused and for also recognising a new area of weakness to improve. Keep up the smart work.

@VikramKumar-gy1ej 20 күн бұрын

Philip sir, amazing new way to look at ur game.. Keep it up

@paulmatthewman8880 7 ай бұрын

Phillip, you must be a mind reader!!! I play far too many volley boasts as well as the reverse boast. I have been told to stop playing them. Like you the first one normally catches them out but after that they pick them up. Anyway your TLS seems like a good idea so I will be trying it out . Keep up the good work. Thanks Paul

@BetterSquash 7 ай бұрын

If only we could limit ourselves to that one volley boast per match! Alas we can't. Glad to hear you enjoyed the videoa nd good luck using it in your squash. Let me know how it goes.

@dmihovilovic 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for this great video. Lot of things to absorbe here. I also love the volley boast ! :-)

@BetterSquash 7 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

@PotatoNachoIT 7 ай бұрын

u deserve great respect man

@PotatoNachoIT 7 ай бұрын

keep this us plsssssssss

@BetterSquash 7 ай бұрын

Thank you for your kind words.

@sianoosh Ай бұрын

This is a great video! Thanks!

@BetterSquash Ай бұрын

Thank you so much for your support. Let me know if you ever have any questions.

@yoloysoloyoloysolo Ай бұрын

I have been to 3 night squash club sessions And I have been playing everyday since I have got the club membership So I’m still a rookie The thirty second mark shows what I’m like in the back corners Im going to try and use the information from your back corners video with the wrist movement. Can’t wait to watch more of your videos Also I used a double yellow dot ball today against a b player. I fell over a few times but I was doing good shots It was so annoying because he looked back at me and I was like oh no he knows where I’m standing. So he hit the cleanest drop shot on the other side of the court I haven’t yet mastered watching my opponent in a game. He said the game was entertaining for him 😅 Now it’s time to watch the video

@agarwalarti 7 ай бұрын

This is awesome. Please do some overlays of pro players if you can. It was so helpful. Thank you.

@BetterSquash 7 ай бұрын

Glad to hear you liked it. I plan to do a monthly series. I need to find pro matches that are not published on the PSA Squash TV channel though.

@mrp0711 7 ай бұрын

Hi Phillip, great video! Extremely helpful and easy to implement. I don't know if this exists or not, but I would love to have a guide to some shot options in different places of the court regarding relative opponent position, an effectiveness classification in each situation and some comments or observations. Do you know something like it? Thanks a lot!

@BetterSquash 7 ай бұрын

Hi, I'm glad to hear you liked the video. With regard to your question, let me start by saying that Shot Selection is more of an art than a science, or at the very least it's a personal science. To my knowledge nothing exists that would match your guide. The problem is that there are too many variables. For example, what would work against one player from exactly the same situation may not work against another player. Those different players each have different strengths and weaknesses, as do you on different days. Your drop might be fantastic one day but the next, not so good. Creating a flowchart guide detailed all your options would be unusable. I do understand why you would want one though and on a very general scale something probably has been created, but you would need to view it as a starting point for your development rather than a definitive guide. What you are essentially describing is "experience". Learning which shot works well for you in various situations. It's a bit like hoping for a guide on all the rackets in the world, so you can find the perfect one for you. One racket tested by two different people will be regarded in very different ways. Anyway, I hope that makes sense. I'll ponder how I can take the idea and turn it into a useful video and article.

@mrp0711 7 ай бұрын

Hi Phillip, that makes a lot of sense. I do understand that there are many variables as you described and it would be extremely hard to take into account all of them in an easy to comprehend schema. As you said, I think a general starting point would be nice to help create the experience itself. Thanks again for your time and kind answer!@@BetterSquash

@ClearMystic Ай бұрын

Gameplan and TLS seems to also apply to life in general ;)

@BetterSquash Ай бұрын

Yes, that's a true observation.

@hassaan4573 7 ай бұрын

Hi coach got a question. Can we consider a straight drive thats low and fast to be either a probing or attacking shot?

@BetterSquash 7 ай бұрын

A lot depends on your intention and the situation. If you play the same drive a lot then you need to consider it a probing shot. If you either win or lose the point at that moment, either from hitting the tin or because your opponent hits a winner from it, then it was an attacking shot. if you play the shot and can cover your opponent's return then it's a probing shot.

@timtolerton9813 7 ай бұрын

Hey there I was wondering you know how you are meant to look at the ball hitting your racket? I have been trying to do that but I feel like I am not actually doing it right as I lose the ability to aim the ball in the direction I want when I do it Is their any video or trick I can use to help this? Thanks!

@BetterSquash 7 ай бұрын

I think I saw a question similar to this on Reddit the other day; it might have even been you who posted it. I am in the process of creating a video about this, but it is taking longer than expected for a few reasons, one being able to record the view I want properly (I do all the recording alone on court). As an interim measure, where is an article I wrote about watching the ball hit your strings: bettersquash.com/2022/20220628.html I suspect you are doing something wrong, but it might also be over thinking the process and it's inhibiting your usual swing. Please bear with me a little longer and hopefully my video will solve your issue.

@captainzork6109 7 ай бұрын

In order to make a good swing you need to know where the object and the target is which you are trying to hit. Looking at the ball should help you know the position of the ball better, which allows you to make a more accurate swing. The court is far less variable as opposed to the ball, so looking at your target is far less important Mistakes you could be making is head movement during the swing, or as coach Phillip says, changing your normal swing The first way I would probably try to figure out what's wrong is doing my regular swing and doing swings where I watch the ball hit my strings, and comparing what's different between them The article coach Phillip wrote is really good btw One thing I would say is that I hope he'll be more elaborate about the need to look up, because the need to look where the ball went is imo an understandable one. I'm sure you're supposed to do it as knowing where the ball went can help in many ways. But maybe it's only helpful at particular times within the cycle. So: not during your swing, not too quickly after as that can interfere with the swing, and also not for so long and so intently you forget to move back towards the T-zone and look at your opponent

@scriptosaurusrex 2 ай бұрын

Do you have a video with the names/types of shots? I played a different racquet sport years ago (and not in an English speaking country). So a lot of the striking movements come naturally after only a couple games - however if I watch videos like yours and you refer to specific types of shot (or if I were thinking about the personal veto), I find I have absolutely no idea what the shots I have in my mind are called/what you mean when you refer to them. Thanks in advance.

@BetterSquash 2 ай бұрын

Hello, I don't but it's an excellent topic for a Squash For Beginners video. I'll try to create it soon. Thanks for your comment.

@taruntius1 7 ай бұрын

Pro-game analysis would be really helpful! I'm a tennis uproot, and very new to squash, but I'm treating you as my virtual coach as I improve my squash game. I have one question: how does one even record their games? Is their an apparatus for this?

@BetterSquash 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for your feedback. I'm not sure I understand your questions. Are you talking about recording your own games? If so, a lot depends on whether you have a glass back court. If you do, then most newer phones and actions cameras work well. If your courts don't have a glass back wall, then it is possible to record from the balcony but mounting a camera is harder. People have supplied footage recorded from handheld phones, but it's not very good. If you are talking about pro matches, then they are broadcast by PSA Squash TV and they have very high quality equipment specifically designed for sports. However, if you attend a pro match, I do believe you are allowed to record the match for yourself, but that might depend on the tournament. Let me know if you have any other questions or would like me to clarify this answer.

@taruntius1 7 ай бұрын

@@BetterSquash Apologies, I did mix two questions/statements. I would love to see more analysis of pro-footage. In those matches, not only would I like to see TLS, but it would also be great to see you explain the various choices that a player had, and why a certain shot is better than the other. My second statement, which was more of a question, was how would one go about recording their own game? We have a glass wall, so I'm guessing we just put a tripod outside the court and record our games. I'm guessing the quality won't be the great - because without an overhead recording, some action would just get lost behind bodies.

@BetterSquash 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for the feedback. I'll see how many other people want pro matches and what other information I can add to it. Yes, a tripod and your camera/phone on that will be fine for recording. It's not as good as the overhead view. from PSA Squash TV, but it's good enough for most uses.

@ryoalpha4207 7 ай бұрын

Hi Phillip, do you have any interesting to talk about the judge? Me and my teammates would like to know the more common squash game rules, maybe you can have one episode about let or no let. That would be interesting! Take care. : )

@BetterSquash 7 ай бұрын

I do plan to make a video about the basic rules for my Squash for Beginners series, but until then, this article I wrote might help you: bettersquash.com/2022/20220527.html

@ryoalpha4207 7 ай бұрын

@@BetterSquash Great! Thank you, Phillip. That's what we are looking for. That's ridiculous that we planed to join the judge conference to learn the knowledge. However they ask us to be a judge first for the local contests. If I could be the judge for the local contests, why do I need to join the judge conference to get the certificate.

@arolene 7 ай бұрын

Hi Phillip, you mentioned not to do so many boast, volley boast and cross-court in a game. So what's should one do? drop, kill, straight drive and volley? and why should one minimize playing boast and cross-court? is it because the ball is easy to go down? Thanks!!

@BetterSquash 7 ай бұрын

I mention the boasts, volley boast and crosscourt because most amateur players use them too much, and they do that because their movement is not great and their straight drives are not close enough to the wall. Play a crosscourt or boast because it's the right time to do it, NOT because it's the only shot you could play without being in the way. The key is KNOWING when the right time is but generally it's less than you do now. You also need to be able to cover any drop or crosscourt from a boast. Ideas like this are best practiced in either club night games or condition games. For example, you are only allowed one boast and one crosscourt per rally. In a real match that would be too restrictive, but it will help you plan and focus better.

@dhichkuaoo 7 ай бұрын

There is a fourth category of shot, i call it the garbage shot. And it can result from any of these three categories. Im an expert at garbage shots. A defensive lob which is over hit and pops up beautifuly off the back wall for a kill. A probing drive which is underhit and opens up the court. An attacking drop from the back which is counterdropped and i have bot even reached the T. I can go on and on!!

@BetterSquash 7 ай бұрын

Alas, your garbage shot is probably 25% of all the shots I've ever hit in my life. In fact, that was going to be the title of my one and only squash book: Garbage Squash - A guide to doing the opposite of what you tried to do. I feel for you, but take heart in the thought that for every garbage shot you hit the intention was clear.

@GraffitiWontDie1 7 ай бұрын

Great Video,I had been implementing your TLS system from one of your other videos. And recently joined a new club where I have let sight of the TLS go a little bit in favour of getting excited and playing attacking far to often. Thanks for posting a full video on the subject time to go away and refocus the (smart squash). The system really Helps me when I'm fatigued to focus on 1 of 3 things.

@BetterSquash 7 ай бұрын

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the video and also glad to hear it has acted as a catalyst to reimplement the system back into your game. The question is whether you were having success when playing more attacking. Most don't, but it is important to recognise if it works. I don't want players to feel that the system has to force them to play boring squash. I want them to play smart squash as you recognise. Fingers crossed it brings more wins for you.

@GraffitiWontDie1 7 ай бұрын

Interestingly what your system taught me was that playing defence was sometimes a form of attack for me mentally, as it allowed me more time to think and then to strategize a new probe shot - i have been watching a lot of ali farags movement and particularly something I really enjoy playing is the attack / probe volley to take time away from the other player. i feel for me the system actually gives you alot of patience, and helps to build the ralley so its not boring as such becuase it means your constantly self assessing, and seeing where you can accelerate or decelerate through the lights almost. @@BetterSquash

@BetterSquash 7 ай бұрын

I am so glad to hear that the system has helped you see squash rallies in a new way. I've found a lot of success with my pupils who don't even have to change or improve their technique to gain an advantage. Over time, your probing shots will become mroe effective and your defensive shots too, but make sure you spend some time playing condition games that allow you to practive them. For example, every boast must be countered with a lob.