Great video

Hi Ahad, any video you made on how to get balances and stable just before the shot is made especially for tall players?

Hi Ahad, any video you made on how to get balances and stable just before the shot is made especially for tall players?

The way how she does the "split step" - she does not try to do one hop with the perfect timing - she does it multiple times!

These type of videos are more pragmatic. 👍

I don't know the name for it, but the satisfaction you get from nailing that 5% surprise crosscourt can easily outweigh the sober realisation that it is the wrong shot the other 95% of the time! Especially when tired, the prospect of a quick winner is hard to pass up in the heat of the moment.

If I was to reflect on my shot selection it would send me into a depressive episode.😥

Great video once again. I think it would benefit from marking/coach drawings type thing as I had to rewind a few times fully understand what the issue was.

You could call the crosscourt a mistake on one hand but it could also be the byproduct of immense straight volley pressure from your opponent weighing on you if you choose to hit straight

The problem if someone doesn't use a cocked wrist, particularly on the backhand -- is that they will break their wrist. This leads to lack of power, total inconsistency, inability to get balls out of the back corner, and potentially tendonitis. A cocked wrist on the backend works properly with an open grip on the forehand (doesn't require "changing" the grip like in tennis). Of course there are variations on the theme, but they at least need to know the "desired" grip and benefits of use. People who golf don't do very well when they just grab a club and start swinging. Thanks to Simon Taylor at Leicestershire Squash for a tutorial provided me to me many years ago.

Easily one of the most common ways to lose a point is the 'use' of a useless cross-court shot. You may have been ‘forced’ to do it though. You may have played it because you became unable to drive the ball straight, and you are trying to avoid the boast at all costs. If so, your cross may well be weak and your opponent may be able to put it away. In general though, why might you correctly choose to go cross-court, in a rally that has been a series of straight drives up to that point? Malcolm Willstrop advocated the shot that has both good width and length. i) You see that your opponent has bodily drifted in to the side of the court on which the straight drives have been happening, that he is starting to ‘reside’ there rather than going back to the T smartly. A good cross-court will suddenly make him work harder. ii) You have been given the gift of a fraction-of-a-second of extra time. Perhaps your opponent made the ball came off of the back wall with a considerable amount of excess height. This opens the option for a cross with excellent height and softness. This will be more effective if you shape for the straight drive when your opponent glances backward at you but play the soft high cross. iii) The straight drive that has just played has caught some early side-wall and has come out, as a somewhat loose ball. You have quickly positioned yourself to volley it, probably by cutting over (sideways) from the T. Looking at a loose ball from this mid-court position actually presents you with many options, one of which is a hard cross court with good width. It is analogous to the idea of a passing shot in tennis. The receiver may feel that he has to reach out to attempt a volley (try to cut off the shot) but if the width and pace are very good he may be unable to do this, or the response may be poor because he made contact by stabbing at the ball. Forcing your opponent to make progressively weaker shots (or a single very weak shot) is how you win at squash (or create an opportunity for a single winning shot). One of my problems with the weak commentating that we are seeing these days is that only the winning shot is praised. The latter was practically a gift, one that required relatively little skill (but a gift that the striker progressively created).

I completely agree that CCs and boasts are risky shots to play if the quality is not there. That being said, I personally disagree that the shot selections shown in the video were necessarily incorrect - I think you do need some sort of variation from every position, especially at the top level, to avoid your shots being predictable and sometimes that might mean playing the wrong shot option. Of course, it really depends on many factors, such as how well you can use your racket prep to show many shot options with the same swing, and how well you believe you can execute the shot. I think Asal and Dessouky's shot options were alright, they just lacked the quality and ended up getting punished. I actually quite like Asal's shot, I think if he executed it marginally wider it would have put him in a decent position to get on top of the rally, while if he played a straight drive (the right shot), you can see that Dessouky was already moving left to cover the correct shot, and he may have ended up on the back foot anyways (getting volleyed). Let me know what you think.

Ahad do you have courses anywhere listed online?

There is a formal squash textbook out there (can’t remember the author) that says (on about page 3) that a proper stroke in the game of squash is a direct analogue to a proper stroke when Tee-ing off in golf. I believe this to be true. Having a spaghettis wrist is bad technique in both cases. I also believe that, if a player who is starting the game of squash and getting lessons is not taught to cock their wrist, and prepare, and rotate through without breaking the wrist, that player will probably never develop adequate power in an efficient way (unless they happen to have wrists like a gorilla). Many high-end professionals take many liberties, the most famous spaghetti-wrist being Rami Ashour. Lee Trevino had an unconventional T off, but became a very famous professional golfer (and made a lot of money at golf). No golf coach would tell a new golfer to T off like Lee Trevino. I grant that in the same way that professionals quite often do not have time, in a rally, to properly bring the racquet back and up, they may do other unconventional things at a given moment. Beyond simply not having time, they may be using deception. Like every sport, there is the exceptional and the unconventional, and there is also the ‘panic’ or emergency response. One of the reasons people are victorious is that they give their opponent no time to prepare in any way, whether with respect to the wrist or in any other respect of what constitutes a proper stroke. That does NOT mean we should actually teach the spaghetti wrist and that there is no need to prepare, no sir it does not. A squash racquet is not a badminton racquet, and your squash game will not forgive you if you treat it like one. (You will probably also end up needing physiotherapy.)

What I really notice is you almost never hit with too much pace including the kills, more about control and target!

The pro players hit the ball hard so it's hotter and bounces off the back more so it is easier to retrieve. They are also playing with new balls and not tired old ones so that helps a lot too and in my experience there are also differences in brands/batches of double yellow dots that affect bounce on traditional courts (and some are very bouncy which also makes timing difficult).

Your holding when you have time makes a huge difference!

The commentary during a game is very useful. Would love to see more.

Love the play by play

Why do you say sorry or thanks after every point?

Thanks for sharing these awesome videos. Is there any further information on when those awesome t-shirts will be available for purchase?

hi, what do you call a funny bounces in the back of the court? did you put a ball box or something like that near the glass ?

What’s with allowing all the people walking across your filming? Minimize that please.

Woah this was super informative!!

hi ahad, can i ask what grip youre using? it looks like greg gaultiers grip

Love all the content. Both on your own channel and with Squash Skills. Would love to see you post a coaching session with a less skilled player. Really appreciate the commentary. Fun videos to watch with lots a good take aways!

I liked this one, the targets are a nice touch, especially at the front on the short line

Hello ARAD Nice to watch your video. Which tension string you use ?

How do you warm up with unlimited time

Thank you Ahad. Been looking for something like this for years! Now the other question - what do you do / recommend when we ARE on time early for a match? 😉. Love your videos man.

Feel like ur glasses are a major hindrance

Great vid More stuff like this👍

Good video Ahad Sir to learn and understand the game play!! It would be great if you can add some commentary as well on some of your shots / set-ups - like what were you trying to aim with a specific shot. Many thanks

Your hold on the forehand is insane, should do a video about it sometime

Nice game, I've seen Elliot play, very nice player. Great camera angles to see your racket technique and footwork. I play at tournament B level, I see some major differences in my game: you are so much more accurate and generally hit with less pace down the walls; your retrieving and defence from the back corners to get it back tight and to length are what separates us. I have a very good short game as do many of us hackers but playing you I wouldn't have nearly as many opportunities with wide open shots. Thanks for this video!

The lift at 1:32 was interesting. You don't see that choice get made very often, but its a safe option.

Just discovered your channel and love the videos. I am hooked .... i am watching atleast 1 every day now. My big concern or question is some of these combinations work well on a player at a certain level of play but sometimes the casual club player or club circuit player will intercept the ball much earlier due to lack of fitness to get it while he can or fitness because once the ball is at the back wall he has trapped himself - would be great to also listen to your opinion on variations for club players like myself ! Keep up the good work mate

I see you're not playing in the tournament this weekend at Mayfair...to bad would have liked to see you play!

Nice hitting, Ahad! I hope Paul Coll is watching.

Awesome video! I'm gonna try taking a watered down version of some of these sequences to the squash court!

When you solo, are you playing double yellow or do you go down to a single yellow?

Great vid! Had a go at hitting those straight kills during my club night after watching. Didn't have a chance to practice on my own apart from the brief knock up so results were mixed but when they were on target they really worked. Look forward to trying out the drills during my next Solo practice.

Excellent video. I see that you hold your racket at the bottom of the grip. My *personal* feeling is that I get much better touch (i.e feeling fingers and strings) when holding it roughly in the middle. Do you hit all your shots with this grip, or do you move it up and down (lift from the back, etc..) ?

Awesome vid! Appreciate the tips :)

I "strategically" drop the 1st game or two performing an actual warm up. I see many people in the later years doing the same. Often come back to win in 5. We call it a daddy three love.

Drill + live is fantastic! More please.

Damn, this is some next level stuff❤

Love it! Keep the vids coming please! Thanks Ahad!

Excellent drill

Really appreciate this! Simple and effective! Looking forward to the next one.