The Red Carpet…. (Give me Space, Johanna)

Space. You know that feeling when a person moves into your personal space. Stands just that little bit too,too close to you. That space you keep to yourself. Where you are comfortable with yourself. A bit like the dentist hovering in your face, and you… helpless, lie. Waiting.

Space. You know that feeling when you sit on the beach, and watch the ocean.Sometimes wide and wild. And you feel an inner peace. Sometimes, she is still,calm and peaceful. And you feel that same inner peace.When you sit at the top of the mountain, and the whole wide world looks back at you. And you feel calm, and in control.

Space. You know that feeling when you get the middle seat of an airplane row, and you are sandwiched between two large, and over-luggaged passengers. Reading, and eating is a tight-elbowed squash. Then sometimes, they need to talk to you about stuff in which you have no interest. And you wish for the freedom of a book or a business-class ticket.

Similarly, a squash court is a small,sweaty competitive box, that for beginners, seems to offer very little room to move. It is a claustrophobic, schizophrenic cell which switches patients’ personalities when theyenter. A contradictory place. There seems to be no place to move, but the ball always seems so far away!And everything becomes a rush, a helter-skeltered hustle, and bustle. Yet watch the top players, and they, seemingly like ballet dancers, float around this place with grace-like airs.So much time to do things like smash nicks, whisper drops into front corners, and float angles out of deep, back corners.

Probably the first two Squash commandments, that any self-respecting coach will offer his students areto prepare the racquet early, and to recover to the tee after every shot. Drill these 2 habits into your psyche, and you will find that Time is on your side. If your racquet is ready, and you have given yourself space, those nightmare rush-shots, become a whole lot easier.That ball will come off the side wall, or out of the back corner.You will be well on the way to taking huge metaphorical strides in your squash. And that, literally is what you now need to do.

Stride. Stretch. Shuffle. Back-to-the-tee, Split step and stride.1-2-3, two step, cha-cha-cha. Trip the light fandango. Stay balanced as you approach your shot. Racquet ready, head still.

To the logical, when asked to divide the squash court into 4, most will see the 4 quarters split by the tee. All good. For tactical purposes, that is a picture you need to keep in your mind’s eye as you strive to move your opponent into the corners that he is not in.

But if you wish to take Big Metaphorical Strides in your game, you need to think differently. Divide the court into 4 long channels, length wise. The two outer channels, roughly lined by the service boxes are Out-of-Bounds. They are for the ball. You must not go there.Inside that, in the centralarea, from service box to service box, is where YOU want to be. That should be, your hallowed territory. The Red Carpet. Where you can become King, or Queen.

And that is your third key commandment. Give yourself space between you and the ball. Halve the court for yourself, and you will double your enjoyment. Slow down a little, and you will speed up your improvement

On Coaches Courses, they talk of the two outer aisles as piranha-infested rivers or raging veld fires. The World Squash Federation introduces coaches to a man, called “George”. “George is personified as that space that you need between you and the ball. “Do not get too close to “George”” they say. He is a Bad Man. He is a Pimp and drug dealer. He will influence your decision-making, inculcate bad habits and put you in compromising positions!

The mistake that beginners make is to run to the ball, instead of the place from where they want to play the ball. Then, as squash players are friendly people, they put their racquet-hand out to meet the ball, as if to shake hands. They should instead, see that ball as molten blob. With-draw the hand and prepare the racquet.

So, as we move towards the new league season, let us slow down. Let us work on our movement, instead of our fitness. Let us develop our hitting skills from a distance. Let us recover quickly to the tee. The view of the ball, is so much better from there Like Royalty, this year, let us move slower to the ball, balanced, and regal as we wave at our subjects and chase our sweaty opponents into those war-torn corners of our kingdoms.

Space. You know that feeling on a squash court where you feel in total control. You are not aware of your opponent, the spectators or the marker. You are seemingly, floating around the court. Your movement is quick, but slow…balanced. You run no further than you need to. Your shots are precision-like, your tactical thinking is clear, your game plan…working perfectly. On those days, you will be living on The Red Carpet. That man, George will be held at bay. Your opponents will dribble into puddles of sweat

Simon and Garfunkel sang a song which started…” Slow down. You move too fast……

The next line went something like this…” You gotta make the rallies last.” But that’s another topic

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