On
the rare occasion I teach a lesson, but more often I’m learning one!
Squash
has shaped my life in many ways, and I imagine there’s still a lot of
shaping to be done.
One
big thing that it has taught me is that I can’t do everything that I
want to for other people. Squash has taught me that saying ‘no’
doesn’t always mean that I don’t want to do what is asked of me (only
sometimes). It means I just can’t do it right now.
I
learned this the hard way. I’m sure everyone can relate to being
stretched too thin.
Literally.
When I first moved to Toronto to play full time, I had a job as a
squash coach, I trained a lot without direction, and I played a
bajillion tournaments. I lost an unnecessary and unintentional
amount of weight (I don’t care about my weight, just what I can do with
it, but I knew I didn’t have enough meat on my bones). Over time,
I have had to prioritize. What do I want and what do I
need? I needed to do less coaching. I needed to train
smarter. And I needed to choose tournaments with more
purpose. It’s hard to say no to a boss, to myself, and to playing
tournaments! I love tournaments. But I do not love going to
a tournament stressed, unprepared or injured. Where I want to go,
I can’t be in that condition.
That’s
how saying no started for me, and then I realized, hey, this isn’t so
bad, and hey, some people don’t even care if I say no! And if
they do, we will both push through it.
So
I’ve now extended this theory to my personal life and I feel so much
more relaxed and organized and in control.
Another
lesson squash has taught me both on and off the court is to be
assertive and take my space.
On
court, if I don’t, I will be bulldozed over without second thought from
my opponent. I have to set the ground rules for exactly how I’m
going to play right at the start, and the match will flow
accordingly. Any hesitation and confusion, and lets will follow,
and I’ll probably make a lot of mistakes. I’ll likely make more
mistakes hesitating about making mistakes than I will just going for
the shot, all in.
Off
court, same idea. I have to go and take what I want. People
don’t just hand it to me. Do I need a sponsor? Do I need a
feeding session? Do I need to make a change in my
scheduling? Do I need to eat?! Sometimes I over think
things, and then nobody knows what I want and by then neither do
I! Now I know I have to just go for it, confidently, with purpose
and presence.
And
the final lesson I’ll share with you is that I’ve learned to chat up
the person next to me on flights, I never know what I can learn!!
And I can plug squash... #stillvote4squash
22-Year-Old
Sam Cornett is the Canadian
national champion and is ranked 33rd in the world.
What's On My Mind
is a column by rotating authors. Contact:
DailySquashReport@gmail.com
