As the international squash circuit observes the end of an exciting
World Open for men and the cusp of an intriguing Women’s World Team
championship and the U.S. scene sees school and college teams heading
into their seasons, we will hear many athletes refer to “getting to the
next level,” an abstract sort of cliché that engenders notions of
giving 110%, there being no “I” in team, etc. But there are often
actual levels of competition in squash, in sports in general, and in
life as a whole to be negotiated, and what works at one level may not
work at the next.
As a squash example, I invite you to consider one particular
shot: the boast. My son Max, who is learning the game at
age 12 and hoping to earn a spot on his middle school team, can win an
inordinate number of points by playing a boast. It almost doesn’t
matter when, where or how he elects to play that shot since his young
pals on the court are simply not equipped to recognize and
respond. Should my son earn a spot on the Indian Mountain School
varsity team, his chances of success with this particular shot will
depend heavily upon what his position on the ladder. Should Max
continue to advance in his squash career, from middle school to a high
school to a college team, and up through the ranks of junior
competition concurrently, he will need to adjust both how he conceives
and executes that shot and how he trains for both exigencies.
Good juniors can still do well playing a boast strategically, but it
gets more rare among quality high school competitors and begins to
disappear at the upper end of the men’s college squash circuit.
You will have seen precious few deployed at the recently concluded
World Open. If Max, or any other player, is to succeed “at the next
level,” he will need to change not just what he does on the court but
also how he sets about being able to do it.
Moving up to the high school scene, my own team came into the season
with a number of vacancies. To be precise, we were looking to
replace numbers 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 (out of 7 “starters”) on the girls’
varsity ladder at Berkshire School in time for our opening match in
December. Of those who made the cut, two new Bears are ninth graders –
one from an established team at a day school and one from a strong
urban squash program – whose squash adjustments are just a part of the
bigger challenges they faced moving to a residential high
school. Three of those spots will be filled by returning
varsity competitors, who will find themselves squaring off against much
stronger opponents, given their precipitous ladder ascensions.
The remaining members of the squad, moving up from the junior varsity
team, are just getting used to the increased commitment necessary for
success at the varsity level. One of my primary tasks as their
coach is to help all of these athletes to recognize, then respond to,
the challenges that come with their change in squash status. Whether
their adjustments be technical or tactical, physical or psychological,
or some complicated admixture of these three, these Bears have lots of
work to do to prepare for the season(s) to come.
Thinking further about the adjustments players need to make to succeed
at another level, I have recently spoken with several squashers
fighting to earn or maintain roster spots on collegiate teams.
What these athletes have shared with me regarding their own attempts to
succeed at collegiate squash confirms much of what you might
expect.
“The biggest differences are the commitment level and the emphasis on
off-court fitness,” according to Michaelann Denton, a freshman at
William Smith. “We Herons have to lift twice a week, and if we miss a
weight-room workout then we don't play in the next match.”
Allie Brazo, a freshman at St Lawrence, was struck by the extremely
high team expectations in the off season, a culture established and
modeled by her teammates so that they would be able to enter the formal
training season at full speed: “The players are very determined: not
motivated by the coach telling them what to do, but by wanting to get
better so that we can win matches. My teammates approach everything
with enthusiasm and energy. They are always ready to go, always want to
work hard to get better.”
Jack McLean, heading into his sophomore campaign at Williams, noticed
that same quantum leap immediately: “The largest difference from
high school to college is the intensity. Everyone says college squash
is just on another level from high school and I didn't quite know what
they meant until I experienced it.”
McLean compares the different in commitment required this way: “In high
school, a varsity sport is kind of like a very time-consuming
extracurricular activity; in college, squash is like taking another
class or two (time-wise). Even in preseason, we had practice every
weekday with optional but strongly encouraged weekend practices, and
now in season we sometimes have two practices a day.”
This disciplined Eph notes that, “In college squash, every player on
the elite teams trains just as much as we do, so they're just as strong
and fit as we are.” Given that relative equivalence in terms of
strength and conditioning, “College squash is so much more physical
than high school squash. The best players in high school could just hit
winners at will when playing less worthy opponents, but now everyone is
so fit that they can claw these winners back and the points restart
again. In order to succeed, you really do have to have a well-rounded
game.”
There are certain differences between teams, of course. Hobart -
William Smith holds separate sessions in the gym to develop strength
and runs a series of timed miles; St Lawrence generally works on
conditioning on the court, with players able to reserve sessions with
the coaches to focus on specific technical elements ; and Williams
favors spinning sessions for low-impact interval training and
emphasizes the importance of solo practice.
One last component to improvement and success at “the next level” is a
willingness to look critically at one’s game. Moving up a
notch in terms of competition requires athletes to gauge their own
strengths and weaknesses with an eye toward improvement. Jack McLean is
focusing on how and when he goes short, so that naturally good hands
don’t give him the false confidence to put himself in a bad position
tactically. Allie Brazo is improving her racquet preparation to
as to provide herself more options when striking the ball. Michaelann
Denton is getting stronger so that she can power the ball to all
corners of the court. All three recognize that what worked at the
high school level simply won’t cut it on the court against collegiate
competitors.
The next level beyond college squash, of course, is the professional
game. Amanda Sobhy, in her senior year at Harvard, has spoken
often about her decision to defer her full-time entrance into the WSA
tour and the extent to which her collegiate training may (or may not)
prepare her for that eventuality. Her sister Sabrina faces the
same kind of decision in terms of her own career, while her
contemporary Olivia Blatchford has elected to priortize squash over
education at this juncture. On the men’s side, young
international players who might have headed for the pro tour a decade
ago are re-routing their itineraries to include a four-year stop at
U.S. colleges. Whether this will have long-term effects on the
men’s professional game remains to be seen; there is little doubt that
it will change the outlook of the individual athletes and has already
had enormous influence on the level of competition seen within
collegiate ranks.
From a certain perspective, of course, the sport itself remains
unchanged, as do the goals of its participants: to win 11 points
in three separate games and, by doing so, with the match. But the
means to do so, and the groundwork necessary to execute that game plan,
keep changing depending on which level one competes at.
N. B. Since this column was drafted, Jack McLean continues to
battle his way toward a starting position at Williams… . St
Lawrence and William Smith met at host college Vassar. The Saints
emerged with a 7-2 victory, aided by Allie Brazo’s four-game triumph at
#8, while Michaelann Denton came through at the same margin for the
Herons at #4… . My son Max has learned his squash fate at Indian
Mountain School. He has earned a spot on varsity and, although he
is uncertain about his place on the ladder, is optimistic that he will
make the 12-player travel roster.
A.J. Kohlhepp first picked up a squash racquet at Trinity College (before the Bantams’ perennial championships commenced).
An
English teacher by trade, he has coached boys’ and girls’ squash over
the past dozen years in addition to various other duties at Berkshire
School (Massachusetts USA), where he resides about 100 meters from the
squash courts, with his wife (a real writer) and children (beginning
squashers).
What's On My Mindis a column by rotating writers. Contact DailySquashReport@gmail.com
