When I’m playing my best squash, I’m at the T and my opponent is stuck in the back. I’m quite tall — 6 foot 4 — and it must be frustrating for any opponent of mine to be stuck in the back, trying to dislodge me from the T.
I know this because whenever I play someone else who’s tall, and I’m the one stuck in the back, it’s immensely frustrating.
In my league match last week, I was up against a lanky teenager, a lefty who whacked the hell out of the ball and kept me pinned in the back most of the time. The first two games were blowouts, 11-5 and 11-5 in his favor.
In the third game, I focused all my attention on getting to the T and staying there. I tried to keep balls glued to the rails, even if it means hitting down the left wall, his forehand side, where he was liable to punish me with his forehand cannon if I gave him anything other than a ball glued to the wall.
All of a sudden I found myself fighting him evenly. He ended up taking the game 11-9, largely on the strength of some clean winners he was able to hit off a few loose serves and short balls left I left out in the open.
It’s quite common while I’m playing squash to be thinking about my shots and how I am hitting them. I don’t put enough focus on where I am standing and whether I am putting myself in an advantageous position.
My goal for tonight’s match is to focus on where I’m standing, not just how I’m hitting the ball.