During my squash league match this week, I tried to use some of the ideas I’d been working on recently: staying in front of my opponent, and playing a “tidy” game.
The results were very erratic. Some points flowed smoothly and I felt in control of the match. Other times I would space out and lose several points in a row.
Our match ended up tied at 2-2. In the fourth game, we were tied in the early going, but my opponent ran away with the game towards the end. I felt like I need to regroup mentally for the fifth game.
I decided to approach the 5th game point by point. That is, I’d focus intently on just playing each point hard, rather than think too much about my overall strategy. This was very beneficial. I got out to a huge lead in the fifth game, going up 7-2.
All of a sudden, my opponent started to come back. He hit some tight shots that I couldn’t do much with. I was still using the mindset of playing each point as it came, and this felt effective: my concentration was fully on each point, rather than being distracted by any sort of meta-analysis of how I was playing. Despite all that, my opponent narrowed the gap, and soon I found myself down 8-9. Instead of panicking, I kept with my plan of playing each point to the fullest. I managed to slow the last couple points down and hit some deep, tight shots that my opponent couldn’t retrieve. I went up 10-9, and then won the game with a close last point. Success!
The 5th game in this match couldv’e gone either way, for sure. But in retrospect it was clearly the right way to approach the game. When I focused on “just playing”, and taking each point one at a time, my focus was much sharper. I played smarter shots and didn’t make as many mistakes. Even if I had lost the 5th, I think I’d come away with the same feeling — it’s better to just play the game.
Next time I get out on court for a match, I will try to visualize some of the big-picture thoughts about staying in front and playing a tidy game. I’ll do this beforehand and during the warmup. But once the games begin, I’ll revert to thinking only about each individual point.