What's On My Mind
by Naveen Garg

February 11, 2014

Squash – a metaphor for life!

I was pleasantly surprised one day to find my name in Squash magazine (October 2012 editor’s column) thanks to Jay Prince, editor in charge and one of my Squash mentors of late. So I figured I will take this opportunity to jot down about my renewed zest for getting better at this game along with my results at the 2012 World Masters held in Birmingham, England just before the 2012 Summer Olympics.

As the 2012 rolled in and I bid farewell to 25 years of steady 9 to 5 run of the mill lifestyle, I decided to get fit, take my Squash addiction more seriously and play more competitively. It was just a thought but then the opportunity presented itself in World Master Squash in Birmingham, UK in July’ 2012 a week before the London Summer Olympics! On a whim, I signed up and the saga began.

Of course as I started talking about the event and my preparation back in January, people asked me – Naveen, are you going to take some lessons?  Before I could even think, my response was ‘I am not ready!’ That made me think – really, that was so true. I already know there is so much wrong with me, how would just taking some lessons going to make a difference if I am not willing to change. And if I did take a few lessons, I would be throwing the money in the drain as I did not really put much effort into it on my own. So I did a mental inventory of what’s wrong and sat out (stood up - more aptly!) to do something about it.

First and foremost was my attitude itself. I carried an air of arrogance on the court – not against my opponent but more so against the poor refs (mind you it is a voluntary and thankless job and I spared them no gratitude while on the courts during a tournament match). I was often visibly and loudly upset upon myself – and justified my cries of anger as a way to get motivated and find my mojo. This all had to go, as I was going to be up against some top players, top notch referees and a very polite English court settings (ironically where in fact I spent 4 years playing in early defining years of my Squash game – 20 years can change a lot of things!). I made a promise to myself not to question referees calls for any tournament I played since then (I have done only a passable job at best on this but I am extremely conscious of this now than ever before!). I also stopped cursing, shouting or throwing my racquet around when I hit a poor shot. Instead I took the opportunity to pause a moment and think what I could have done differently. Was I late at the ball, did I try to force a risky shot before getting in position properly or what were the other possible shots available..? I also assessed the game score and options available for rest of the game. (I am actually getting much better at this now than ever before! this is also a perfect time to recite your favorite prayers or seek forgiveness for your would-be bad behavior ;)).

Next on the list was fitness, I always thought of myself a fit individual – my vitals checked out OK, I wasn’t overweight. I had recently run into severe anemia issues but a small iron pill a day took care of that. However I knew I needed to get better (and now I know how unfit I was back then!). So came a fitness regimen that included 90 minutes of daily morning drills on Squash court with solo drills (twice a week), 2 person drills (thrice a week – sometimes 3 person drills), stretches before, during and after the drills, squats, lunges and push-ups – minimal weights but repetitions and most importantly a weekly routine. I found a perfect Squash drill partner in Wibe Wagemans who eats, sleeps and breathes Squash (his wife’s words – not mine!). Wibe has a much simpler and very measurable goal – He wants to be a 5.0 player before being relegated to masters division for ever. Together we found a set of drills and matches twice a week that have given both of us a tremendous boost in intensity of our games. The fitness super hero, forever young Jim-Jean Francois, another regular from our club, showed me the squats, lunges and push-up routines that have now become part of my cool-down routine after Squash. Jimmy, Tom Mace and I began to drill often in the morning hours and each and every session made me get to the ball a wee bit easier and play the ball ever so precisely. Besides court drills, I incorporated twice a week of 1200 meter swim (mostly front crawls with a breast stroke lap thrown in at the end of a set of 10 laps). Boring as it may be, it has been a perfect low impact cross-training workout to soothe my muscles and increase my lung capacity. Given that I swim like a brick, it has also worked in my favor as I probably work 2 to 3 times harder than an average swimmer at it. To break the monotonicity, I focus on correct stance for arms (as correct as I can manage that is!) for one lap and the same for legs in the next lap (this also helps me to keep a count of number of laps as I want to be just fair and do all my required number of laps but no more ;). When it came to stretches – most important aspect of my fitness regimen – to ensure that I don’t have torn muscles every now and then, I made time for my routine stretches (a collection of Yoga poses really focusing on various joints and muscle groups) before, in-between or after the games or swim. I didn’t spare even the steam, shower or the dressing room to make sure that I got the last set of stretches in before calling it a day (or night for that matter)!

Besides regular drills, swim and stretch routines, I also was taken up under the wings by Jay Prince and Kyla Workman – both phenomenal Squash players in their own right. They made time to play with me weekly (If I could, Jay was ready to play me every day!) and helped me hone my competitive game. Our club Squash Pros the venerable Mr. Yusuf Khan and then newly appointed, legendary Zarak Jahan Khan made time to watch my games and encourage me to play better with their profound knowledge of this wonderful game of skill and fitness. Having developed a better listening ear recently (instead of throwing fit at my bad shots) I was finally able to absorb some of their tips to rectify weaknesses in my game.

6 months into it, I started to notice the difference (and so did my opponents thankfully!), gone were my loud breathing on the court – with-in one game I used to start breathing heavily (I had blamed my anemia for this of course). Now I found myself easily running up to the front court as often as needed to retrieve the balls and being calmer helped me stay focused on the game. I told myself, the real opponent is waiting for me in England with a professional ref and a courteous audience who is not going to take lightly to any of my outbursts – that really helped! Now was the time for me to get serious help with my stroke play and the game on the court. And the opportunity landed itself just perfectly. Zarak organized a 3-day squash camp for the kids (and kid at heart) where I injected myself in and this camp was indeed a game changer. After 20+ years of Squash play for the first time I learnt what a straight or cross-court drive was and how to play it long and push my opponent to deep corner. I understood what my buddies meant by having a strong ‘core’! I drove up north to Richmond, Canada to play with Shakiru Matti – a great coach from Nigeria who also showed me how to strengthen my core and hit strong deep drives. As part of the Squash camp, Zarak also inducted a physical training routine with Curt Ligot who simply drove my long held belief home that it is not the heavy weights but subtle and mostly our own body weight that helps us become physically strong and agile. Curt offered me a set of introductory movement focused fitness training classes that I took upon for last couple of weeks and I kid you not – in one such class when Curt asked me to turn to run from sprint – I felt like Usain Bolt and I didn’t know I could bolt that fast! Likewise I could jump just as high!

Those past six months had truly been a transformational journey for me as an individual. I had my series of setbacks – a bad case of flu that knocked me out for a complete week and just week before the World Masters, I was knocked out again for another four days by a serious bout of food poisoning. But setbacks aside, I was ready in time – I dropped nearly 10 pounds of weight, gained good chunk of muscle mass, I moved nimbly on the court and all-in-all got ready to take on the World stage in England set against the professional heavy hitters from all over the world.

It turned out to be a phenomenal tournament – not only in its finest setting at University of Birmingham – host of Jamaican and US track and field teams for the Olympics, but also for British hospitality, super organization skills and last but not the least phenomenal caliber of players on the courts. My first match was at the Edgbaston Priory Club against Terry Manuatu from New Zealand on surprisingly warm courts. Neither of us could keep the ball down but Terry made far more mistakes than I did, helping me secure a 3-0 win handily. Terry passed me on a shirt from his home club in New Zealand – what I great idea I thought, apologizing to him profusely as I had only one shirt on. Next round was at West Warwickshire Club. I was on fresh legs and had another easy 3-0 win over Ubirajara Fontenele Filho from Brazil who was visiting with his son, who snapped a picture for both of us after the match. Courts were perfect – Concrete walls that absorbed most of the momentum of the ball making them perfect for a good lob and drop game. Next day I peddled all the way back to Edgbaston Club where I was playing my third round against an Englishman Karl Hardy. It turned out to be a fine battle. I was nearly dehydrated by the third game and Karl took me out 11-1. I borrowed some water from a fellow player to pull back in the 4thand rushed to get a water bottle from the bar but ended up getting a conduct warning as it took me a while to order a drinks bottle at the busy bar. But thankfully I won the final game 11-6 leaving enough margin for the losing party to take solace that match was decided pretty fairly. Next Match – Round of 16 was at Solihull Arden Club. Courts were perfect, ball was great, body felt great and my opponent Eamonn Price was a perfect opponent (3/4 Seed – British Over-45 champion and finalist at last year’s European Masters in Cologne, Germany). First game was close till 8-8 but Eamonn closed it 11-8 and then proceeded to put me in place. I never got a chance to control the T in next two games and was forced to retrieve the ball from deep back corners (forehand mostly). I would have liked to give him a better game but everyone who knew him (and most players knew him apparently!) told me that he is pretty darn good and so he was. It was the end of the line for me. All-in-all I got to play four rounds in the main draw in my first ever World Masters – played against a Kiwi, a Brazilian and two Brits – met some great players, got to play at some great venues and make loads of new friends!

This journey would not even have begun without the overwhelming support that I received all around me. Tom, Curt, Jimmy, Kyla, Wibe, Jay, Shakiru, Yusuf and Zarak and all my family members, friends and many others who have egged me on – A big thank you to all of you!

Parting Thoughts
 - Have a goal
 - Identify list of things to work upon
 - Get mentally and physically ready before getting professional help (and really listen!)
 - Drill solo, drill with a partner – nail the basics
 - Cross-train – listen to the body
 - Have a game plan – identify areas of attack, defense maneuvers and have mini-milestones
 - Have fun!

Now that’s a metaphor for how I should be doing most things in my life!



Naveen is an amateur Squash enthusiast who picked it up during college in India (as it was the only sport where he could keep the ball with-in the court dimensions) and has carried it with him ever since through his life as an IT professional in England, France, US (& Canada) and Denmark. Naveen has played amateur tournaments and league in these countries as well as participated in US Masters, European Masters and World Masters Squash events. Recently Naveen started Seattle Urban Squash with some of his likeminded Squash friends based on National Urban Squash and Education Association charter of helping kids from underprivileged communities to graduate from high-school through regular and intense Squash training and tutoring. Naveen lives in Seattle with his partner Anne-Marie Canis and their two dogs Daisy and Lola.


What's On My Mind is a column by rotating authors.
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