KARIM DARWISH SKILL LIBRARY - LIKE BACK IN THOSE OLD TIMES...

This is a great compilation showing the executional skills of one of the purest and classiest players, at least racket technique-wise speaking. Back in the days when he was world #1 Darwish used to exercise these shots on his top-player rivals, these days we can rather admire them against the slightly lower ranked players, like Ryan Cuskelly and Saurav Ghosal in the below examples. Throughout the 3 year existence of this blog we have been talking a few times about the Karim Darwish drops and his exemplary racket preparation, but let's see again, based on the below rallies, the main features of his amazing technique.

1) the forehand drop at 0:12

I love to talk about this shot and I think everybody should aim to hit it like that. The amazing thing about this shot is that he mixes up racket-head speed and touch. How does he achieve that? It's simpler to show than to explain but I will give it a try: first of all Darwish menaces for his compact standards with a relative high backswing, then he approaches the ball with his racket in a 'caressing' way; I mean he is not cutting the ball straight up-down but simultaneously also from inwards to outwards. It is also key to observe that, whilst executing this 'caressing' movement, he advances a lot more his wrist than the head of the racket. In a normal drive it is the opposite, the head of the racket is making more distance in the air than your wrist. In the case of the drop shot, in order to achieve that extra cut, Darwish does the opposite: the wrist is almost in front of the head of the racket at the moment of impact.

2) the return into the nick at 0:25

Many players can return the ball into the nick when they receive a poor service. But only a few can do that when the service hits first the sidewall. Darwish used to be a master of this solution even if dares to use it a lot less frequently than in the old times. Not sure how to teach this one, but I guess the compact racket-preparation helps for sure.

3) the forehand cross-drop flick at 0:38

again a Darwish special, probably learned from the great Jonathon Power (I think in general it is way underestimated how much Darwish must have learned by observing Power's technique back in the days). Basically it's a similar set-up as in the case of the first straight forehand drop: relatively high (but still compact) racket-preparation (menacing to hit a deep hard drive) but in this case he adds the 'hold' which makes his opponent guess for a straight drop, and as soon as the opponent commits for this straight drop he flicks his wrist for a cross-drop. 

4) the backhand drop at 0:57

as on the forehand, quick and high, menacing racket-preparation and then the soft touch. Observe that, in opposition to some coaching canons, he is not taking the ball early on the top of the bounce but in between the top of the bounce and the descending of the ball. When the ball is over its top bounce, it decelerates and allows you to control your shot a lot more. If you observe the best drop shot players (Darwish, Ramy Ashour, Willstrop, Shabana...), you will see that 95% of the times the drop shot is played after the top of the bounce.

5) the backhand cross-drop flick at 1:17

hard to teach this one. You need to be a top athlete I suppose to have the core strength the execute this shot on the run with such balance and control. There was no time for a hold, but still observe that instead of rushing his shot he was again waiting that the ball exceeds the top of its bounce.

6) the backhand trickle-boast at 1:34

again a Darwish classic, he used to employ this shot more frequently in the past. The trickle-boast is probably the shot that supposes the most that you are also a severe and solid drive-hitter from any position of the court (also when you are late on the ball or on the backfoot). Darwish is very steady length hitter, hehence his opponents have to expect all the time the severe straight drive; and when they do so, he employs the trickle-boast. Observe that even here he takes the ball late, after the top-bounce. 

By the way, let's also mention that Darwish's exceptional executional skills are founded by a very solid basic technique. Darwish is not Ramy, he will not go for shots 'out of nothing' (well, even Ramy doesn't do that too often if you watch carefully); watch the video again and you will see that almost always there is a very solid basic drive that gives him the opening to show then with his next shot his executional skills.

VINTAGE DAVID PALMER DIVE, VINTAGE KARIM DARWISH EXECUTION

Some vintage stuff in vintage quality (unfortunately), but it makes me miss David Palmer and his crazy dives (which were in such interesting opposition with the general discipline and steadiness of his game). The rally is also telling stories about the Dark Prince, Karim Darwish, who after winning the rally, shows signs of being p... off instead of enjoying the crowd's celebration, having just won a spectacular rally that got him to matchpoint. But okay, it's part of Darwish's character, he has never aimed to be a crowd-pleaser, however, in his prime times, he was both sharp as a knife and entertaining due to his deadly touch and exceptional reading of the game. He's not the old himself anymore, but he's still there as he has just recently proven by beating new ace Mohamed El Shorbagy 3:0 in the final of the CIMB KL Open.

THE FOREHAND DROP MASTERS: KARIM DARWISH vs. MOHAMED EL SHORBAGY

To control a forehand drop shot, most players need to reduce their swing dramatically. The two guys who have developed an incredibly skill-full forehand drop technique are old master Karim Darwish and new master Mohamed El Shorbagy. We've had several examples already here on the blog as demonstration, but this is the first one where such a shot is filmed from the frontwall. 

Normally most of the players need to reduce both their natural backswing and the speed of their swing when they go for a drop shot. Try to pause the footage between 0:06-0:07 and you will see that basically Darwish's (back)swing is higher and quicker than he would do for a normal drive: he really fakes a big and hard shot; the only (huge) difference is that whilst with a hard paced shot you generally also have a big and round after-swing, by playing the drop-shot you have to brake your swing and stop your racket in order to hit the ball softly; pause the footage again a fraction later at 0:07 to see how Darwish used his body balance in order to help to stop his racket with as much control as possible.

Be assured that latest hot gun Mohamed El Shorbagy has been watching/observing this forehand technique ever since his childhood days every single time he got the opportunity to watch the 'big guys' (Shabana, Darwish, El Hindi, Abbas) training.

HOW MUCH YOU ROTATE YOUR UPPER BODY: MOHAMED EL SHORBAGY vs. KARIM DARWISH

Young and old generation of the steady school of Egyptian squash, Mohamed El Shorbagy and Karim Darwish. There are less angles than with Shabana or Ramy, they don't go short as much as them; also the higher part of the frontwall is used less (since they use less variation of pace, less lobs as Shabana and Ramy) but still, they can play all the shots, they have the deception, read the game as a book and are quick (Darwish a bit less compared to the old himself). 

This camera angle also allows us to see that these two players do not use that much the momentum of their upper bodies to hit the ball; this is one of the reasons why they are hard to read; a club player or even a lower ranked pro often unveils his intentions through his body preparation: more rotation of the upper body for drives, and even more for cross court drives, less or no rotation when preparing for a drop. El Shorbagy, and Karim Darwish even more evidently, hardly rotate their upper bodies, or in other words, their body language is not unveiling their intentions; a drop or drive is looking similar as far as body preparation is concerned.

Of course there is also another school which uses exaggerated upper-body rotation for deception; I remember Lee Beachill having often exaggeratedly opened up his upper body to show a cross-court whilst he went instead for a straight drive. But this type of deception you can only use it once in a while (in the current field Tarek Momen does this to fake a drive and then go for a boast from the back of the court). 

Anyway, keep in mind that deception is a result of mastering the full body-language, not just the wrist. 

MONSTER RALLY: KARIM DARWISH vs. MOHAMED EL SHORBAGY, 2012 EL GOUNA INTERNATIONAL

We have had a few extremely demanding rallies in the past - for example that epic one between Peter Nicol and Gregory Gaultier, or a few heavy metal versions (I., II. and III.) between Nick Matthew, Ramy Ashour and James Willstrop. 

Here we have a recent one between Karim Darwish and Mohamed El Shorbagy. The high intensity balance is a result of an old master on decline and a future master not yet at the peak of his art. Just a year ago, Darwish gave Shorbagy some simple and straight forward lessons in terms of high pace squash coupled with accuracy and subtle deception, but at the end of last year Shorbagy already managed to get his first win over the former world #1. Darwish managed to get his revenge at the PSA World Series Finals in Queens and a few weeks ago in El Gouna (current video).  But  to be honest, seeing how much slower Darwish is compared to himslef in 2010 and beforehand, and how much this has influenced his confidence in his short game, I wouldn't wonder if this has been one of the very last times he's got the better of El Shorbagy.

ABOUT THE AFTERSWING: KARIM DARWISH vs. DARYL SELBY

This is an excellent camera angle to observe the so called follow-through or after-swing. Mostly coaches tell you to continue to draw your line with the racket and finish your swing high in front of you. If you watch Karim Darwish, you'll notice that he is rather doing the opposite : he cuts his follow-through and ends it short and low (except at 0:12 where he is looking to hit a hard straight backhand drive off a lowish ball from the back). To me this short and low version makes sense: most of the times your opponent will be near around you (without creating a 'Stroke' situation) and if you are able to reduce both your back- and after-swing, then you'll be able to prepare your shots rightly in many situations where players with higher/bigger swings will struggle. 

PEAKING AND NON PEAKING

Joey Barrington said whilst commentating the final of the 2012 Case Swedish Open that we are experiencing a specially intriguing period in squash as all the top players are peaking at the same time. Unfortunately this is not totally the case. Nick Matthew and James Willstrop might be better than ever, Gregory Gaultier seems to achieve or probably even exceed his own 2008 level, but you can't say that Amr Shabana is peaking; he was outstanding at the PSA World Series Finals in the Queens Club, but his results in the past 6 months are way to fluctuating for a former 33 months-long world #1. Karim Darwish is stellar years away from his 2008-2010 peak period (a good sample to demonstrate this is the video below, showing him somewhat slow and conservative); in that 2 year span he beat everybody outside the top6 mostly within half an hour and beat regularly all the other top guys (except maybe Willstrop, his dark horse, but they have hardly met those years). And what to say about Ramy Ashour? Is he peaking now? Unfortunately not, he is hassling with his injuries more than ever. However it is true, whilst he has been healthy, he was peaking indeed; many talk about how Nick Matthew dominates James Willstrop (13:0 since the 2009 British Open) but few have realized that in fact Ramy has had a 10:0 record against Gaultier from the 2009 Sky Open until the 2011 PSA World Open when Ramy had to retire due to injury. So my point is, to see who is really peaking these days, we first should see Ramy come back in full shape to the tour and then see if all the other top guys can invent anything against him. I am sure, they will be keen to do so. 

THE IDEAL SQUASH COURT SET UP: WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS / PADERBORN

Squash starts to show well on television as we could see it - latest - at the PSA World Series Finals in the Queens Club in London. Unfortunately, not all the main events are set up that well. The two biggest issues in general are: usage of colors and set up of viewers areas. Concerning colors, I've been saying it for long, the court colors need to be dark in order to see the tiny white ball well. It also makes the matches more spectacular, more dramatic. In Queens we were very close to the perfect color set-up, but the floor was still too light. The other thing is that the sidewall viewers area is often either totally absent or too far away. When you watch the event on a screen, it just makes a difference if you see crowds clapping and cheering in the picture like at the Tournament of Champions in New York or at the Canary Wharf Classic in London or if you see an empty hall like in most other tournaments. Even in Queens the sidewall viewer area was just too far away to enter into the picture. It's also not good for the commercial aspect; imagine a soccer live transmission without crowds. The below video is from Paderborn/Germany showing the last two rallies of the final of 2011 World Team Championships won by Egypt against England (Karim Darwish beating James Willstrop in the deciding match, Darwish's last noticeable win for over a year now). Colors are way too light, mostly the floor, but the spectator area is huge and nicely close to the court. It is a mutual thing - people being closer to the action get more excited and players feeling the crowds so near get more tuned up as well. And it shows great on the screen, transmitting a real social vibe and not just two men chasing a ball in a cage (as detractors happen to talk about it...) 

I would suggest that PSA creates a color-code and a viewer area set up-code for the tournament organizers. I know, what counts most, is the quality of squash, but believe me, how it is served counts a lot as well.

WEEKEND BAGATELLE XIV.: LET, STROKE OR NO LET? KARIM DARWISH vs. AMR SHABANA

Before coming to the referee's decision... This rally is from the final in Qatar 2010. From this sole rally you can see the difference in Darwish's game compared to how he played in 2011 and these days (4-8 January 2012) at the ATCO World Series Finals in London at the Queens Club; he is still a world class straight hitter of the ball, but he lost his confidence in his short game. In the below rally as for example, he plays the boast at 0:07 almost casually but still with accuracy and control over what his opponent is going to do with the ball, and at 0:09 he employs that famous big-shot-fake sliced forehand drop shot (he used to win a third of his points with that shot). I haven't counted exactly, but in his four matches at the Queens Club he's made hardly any, and he just looked like a few classes below Willstrop and Gaultier when it came to initiate. On the other hand, Shabana looks very much in the mood, he gave a master lesson to the current world #1 and we should all look forward to a great final today at 15.00 UK time against Greg (who looks to enjoy himself very much and who moves again as agile as a teenager leopard-crab). But for now, is the below rally a 'Let' / 'Stroke' or 'No Let!' ?

EXQUISITE TOP SPIN VOLLEY WINNER: by KARIM DARWISH

This is a short few seconds rally, however with a very unorthodox and exquisite shot that you will not find in the books. To understand it better it makes sense to rewind and watch Karim Darwish's previous volley, a lot more conventional one: he hit the ball at service line heights with mid-low pace slice, looking to make it as tight as possible and as dying as possible. In comparison, the winning volley was hit with a totally unconventional top spin pretty low (however without risking to catch the tin); funnily even though it was a full pace shot, the ball died exactly in the back-wall nick, even if that was not necessary as Nick Matthew was going totally the wrong way, due to Darwish turning his upper body in order to fake a cross-court. Also, his backswing/swing was so quick, that it might have indicated a cross-court (straight drives, as they require more accuracy, are executed with slightly slower backswing/swing). Anyway, amazing shot from an amazing wrist as it has already been noticed in other examples too.

FOUR-CORNER SQUASH II.: KARIM DARWISH vs. WAEL EL HINDI

After our last post with the same two protagonists, here we have another example of 'total' or as I allowed myself to call it: 'four corner' squash, even if the right back corner was only visited once (this is how much they mutually respect each other's forehand). And if in the previous rally Darwish finished it off at full stretch, here he concludes by keeping the arm close to the hip at the moment of impact to enable him to control the drop as much as possible; interestingly this drop was not looking for the nick, Darwish preferred to find the front-side-wall angle to make the ball bounce quickly twice on the ground. He had to play this drop with a pretty fast swing, and it was the angle's task to brake the speed of the ball and make it bounce quickly twice in a row close to the front-wall. Last time Darwish maintained control and pace whilst flicking the wrist, in the current example he could hold the wrist firm all the way down of his swing for this drop winning shot (it was the 8th drop in this 40 second rally!)

FOUR-CORNER SQUASH I.: KARIM DARWISH vs. WAEL EL HINDI

If we've said that one of the most entertaining pairings in the current pro squash circuit is composed by Ramy Ashour and James Willstrop, then closely after them follow Karim Darwish with Wael El Hindi. You might remember an earlier example of hilarious attacking/retrieving squash by them, here we now another rally where they make each other visit all four corners of the court a couple of times within those 50 seconds. In the current sample I would specially like to point out Karim Darwish's wrist. We've talked a lot about his extremely compact backswing that enables him to hit any shot from any position without allowing the opponent to anticipate it; however, normally the compact backswing involves decreased power/pace. So how come Darwish can still hit the ball so hard notwithstanding the lack of momentum of the arm? The only explanation I can see is his wrist, the extreme stiffness of his wrist in the moment of hitting the ball in any position of the racket. As it can be seen, he is able to handle that wrist even in such extreme situations like at the last shot: he still managed to deploy power and total accuracy in a situation where he had to use an extreme flick of the wrist. "Well, that's what they call the Egyptian wrist" - says the commentator, Robert Edwards. Well, yes, Karim Darwish disposes of a pretty complete package in terms of an ideal squash arm: compactness, power and touch.

AMAZING DEEP DROP by GREGORY GAULTIER

The commentators (Nick Matthew amongst them) just pointed out how much work Gregory Gaultier was doing in the previous rally, and he is 0:4 down and again totally dominated by Karim Darwish. So I think this totally unbelievable deep drop shot was more due to lack of breath and desperation than anything else. This is why we might call it genius, he comes out with the most amazing shot at the least possible moment. Talking about Gaultier, I really feel for him concerning his last year. End of 2009 he finally became world number one which made him lay back and lose motivation in the last couple of tournaments of the year. But except his match against Cameron Pilley in February he came back strong in 2010, played great squash just to lose so many times in the decider. He played 13 tournaments, won one, retired in two of them towards the end of the year (both times against Shabana), in the other tournaments he has lost 3:2 seven times out of ten (only against Ramy four times)! The whole year, he won one sole match that went to five (against David Palmer at Canary Wharf). For sure these losses were not due to lack of fitness, they were rather the result of some tough to guess psychological-mental issues combined with bad luck. I really hope he can work on these aspects and jump back strong in 2011 - like him or not, he is just a great addition on the squash scene.

THE TACTICAL DROP by RAMY ASHOUR

Great rally which I am posting not only because of its high entertainment factor but because of that drop shot played from the back on the backfoot at 0:53, a shot for which in England your trainer would condemn  you immediately to do 50 push-ups, and even unorthodox genius Jonathon Power is shocked in the commentary box by saying "...oh can't believe he dropped  that, that was such a tactical mistake". Considered from a short-term-efficiency point of view of course it was way too tough and risky to execute it rightly and therefore not beneficial to win the rally, but from a longer-term-efficiency point of view I think it's just part of Ramy Ashour's tactics to play any kind of shot form anywhere. It's this tactic that makes his opponents unaware of what will follow, so they will never know on which foot to attend the next shot. It's part of the tactics to risk, or even sacrifice a couple of points - not this time though, as he was so quick to get to Karim Darwish's forehand drop.

THE CROSS-COURT TO THE BODY: by NICK MATTHEW

If there's a shot I've hardly if ever seen on club-level, it's this one, the cross-court to the body. Even on pro level, I don't really remember having seen it from players outside the top10. Nick Matthew and James Willstrop are the two who use it the most (and Lee Beachill pretends that it's his invention) so we might consider this as 'The English Tricky Shot' - not as fancy as for example Hisham Ashour's mizuki volley but maybe more efficient in terms of employability. So when do the top guys tend to employ it? Obviously after a good short ball, on the run, being late on the ball, which presumes that the only secure shot to escape is a wide cross-court; that makes the opponent anticipate to move towards the 'T' and to open his racket towards the open side of the court instead of keeping it in front of him; therefore he'll have no time to get it back to the other side to enable himself to ask for a 'stroke'. To dare to play this shot: quick thinking and intelligent risk-assessment needed!

DEADLY SLICED FOREHAND DROP VARIATION III.: KARIM DARWISH

Mostly drop shots are played with a reduced swing as it's a delicate shot that needs a delicate touch. But in this case, Karim Darwish was deceiving to prepare a hard-paced drive, raising the racket-head relatively high (nevertheless keeping the elbow near to the hip) and swinging quickly. And exactly these two factors explain why the shot didn't come perfect (quick / high swing = less control), but also why it was still a winner, as the deception of the drive made Gregory Gaultier stuck slightly on the 'T'. Why did Darwish play it this way  whereas in earlier samples (I.) that we have discussed here (II.) he played the drop with a compact, reduced swing? Because in opposition to the previous examples, the present one wasn't a 'reaction (volley)-drop', there was more time to execute the shot (and also for the opponent to observe the preparation of the shot), therefore it needed deception, to keep the opponent behind him stuck on the 'T', away from the front-wall. Whereas the quality of a reaction-drop with the reduced swing is rather depending on footwork (balance), the full-backswing deceiving drop is technically extremely difficult and even on pro level, only a few players are capable to use it successfully.

PROBABLY THE MOST COMPACT RACKET PREPARATION ON THE TOUR: KARIM DARWISH

If I am not wrong, it was Jonathon Power who introduced into the world of squash the COMPACT BACKSWING: a racket preparation that is always similar, if not the same, regardless the type of shot that will 'come out' of the racket. The main difference to the traditional backswing consists in the distance of the elbow to the hip: whereas with the conventional backswing the elbow is raised almost to the heights of the shoulders, with the 'JP' backswing the elbow remains very close to the hip (the difference is more evident on the forehand side and less on the backhand). The other main difference between 'old' and 'new' schools of hitting the ball is the way you use your body's momentum for the shot. The traditional backswing is generally accompanied by a wavy turn of the body - this, as a positive effect, gives pace to the shot, but will also make your shot selection more readable, as you will turn differently for a drive, a cross-court or a drop. This is why the 'new' backswing uses somewhat less the momentum of the body and more the flick of the wrist. There will be less pace in the ball, but a lot more hold and deception. Of course, on high standards, players are capable of mixing the two type of swings, but let's get back to this in a later post. In the below video, Karim Darwish - the player with the most compact racket preparation on the tour - shows how to prepare your shot when you receive a very loose ball in the front around the middle of the court. It's pretty straight forward: 1) you get a loose ball, so you have time to prepare your shot, but also your opponent to observe your preparation, therefore you need deception 2) reduce your backswing as much as you can. 3) hold your shot 4) show the straight drop, play the cross-court or show the cross-court (body turning in advance) and play the straight drop 5) play straight drives rarely in this situation, as your opponent will follow up for the straight drop and cover that side.

EXTRA STRETCH OR EXTRA DIVE: DAVID PALMER

I am not going to praise Karim Darwish again as after a certain point it's going to be contra-productive and you guys as a result will be tired of him ... But this time it's not me, it's the commentators (Nick Matthew, or Joey Barrington by saying for example this nice sentence: "you can hear the strings singing..." ) And yes, there are some astonishing gets and stretches for sure, the thousand times mentioned forehand drop at 0:17, and the final shot, that backhand that has hardly any swing or backswing and which, therefore, is so tough to read, that's all marks of an exceptionally strong player... But this time I would also like to point out the great qualities of David Palmer: I have already paid tribute to his dives in an older post, and I know there are coaches who discourage players from diving, saying that if you dive it means that you were late, therefore in a wrong position beforehand. But let's don't be too academic, in real life, I mean in real squash matches, with a similarly strong opponent, you happen to be in the wrong place an awful lots of times, and yes, one of the least convenient but ultimate solution must be, like or not, the dive. It's not lack of discipline - would you dare to say that to great divers such as John White, David Palmer or Amr Shabana, just to mention a few? It's rather demonstration of commitment. Of course, there might be one alternative: being extremely quick and having an amazing stretch. That was for example the case of Peter Nicol, or, for instance, of Karim Darwish, but taller players like John White, David Palmer or Ramy Ashour will just produce that dive time to time. The great thing about Palmer is that he also has a very strong and equilibrated stretch, otherwise he couldn't volley as well as he does or play as good defensive shots on the back-foot from behind his body as it can be seen at 0:09, 0:14, 0:16 and 0:37. A pretty complete package topped with that famous iron mentality, that so tough to beat will and concentration. Except maybe Shabana and Ashour, I don't think anybody has ever been happy to have Palmer in his draw.

YOU HIT THE LOOSE BALL, YOU PAY THE PRICE

Caution! Do only read this post if you tend to have 'let-stroke-no let' issues during your games, if you are both aware of the rules and play a fair game, just watch the video, as it's still a good rally between Gregory Gaultier and Karim Darwish. So, the below video stands here as a demonstration of a common situation in which, on club level, players, who don't know the rules completely, often tend to ask for a 'let', even though it is a classic 'no let' situation - as we can also deduct it from the fact that Gregory Gaultier wasn't even trying to contest the decision afterwards. Let's make the point: at 0:35 Gaultier plays a loose shot near the middle of the court on the forehand side, then he chooses to go around Karim Darwish on his backhand side, who, on his turn, plays - instead of the drop that Gaultier probably tried to anticipate - a deep dying drive into the back of the court, where Gaultier was initially finding himself when Darwish was starting to prepare his shot. So it's a clear 'no let' situation because as long as you hit a loose ball around the middle of the court you have to pay the price and go around your opponent regardless if you, meanwhile, have chosen to anticipate a shot in a way or in another. Or in other words, as long as your opponent is playing his shot from around the 'T' (which generally is the straight consequence of a loose ball played by you), it's you who have to go around him and not him to clear from the 'T' (admitting that he is not hitting the ball straight back to himself in which case you will get a stroke in your favour of course). This is what the rules state, but this is also what the common logics dictate: as long as you make the mess, you will be responsible to resolve the situation. If you could ask for a 'let' in these cases, it would mean that after each loose shot it would be sufficient to run quickly close to your opponent and bump into him pretending that he was in your way whilst you were trying to go for the ball. Of course he was in your way, as he was standing on the 'T' (the main position on a squash court we all are seeking for) whilst you were stuck behind him, and where ever he hits the ball he naturally will be in your way (unless he plays it straight to the side that you were anticipating, but that of course doesn't happen too often). Also, your loose ball was either a simply bad shot or more probably preceded by an efficient attack by your opponent that forced the loose shot. So a 'let' in this case would mean to punish the player who did everything well and subsidise the player who created the mess and the eventual interference.



Here is the applying official statement from the appendix of the rulebook:
G11. CREATED INTERFERENCE
At all times an opponent must allow the player unobstructed direct access to play the ball. However, sometimes the situation arises in which the opponent has caused no interference (i.e. the opponent has clearly provided the required direct access) but the player takes an indirect route to the ball which takes the player towards, or very close to, the opponent's position. The player then appeals for a let because of being "obstructed" in access to the ball. If there is no genuine reason for this indirect route, the player has created the interference where none otherwise existed and, if the player appeals, the Referee shall not allow a let. Whether the player could make a good return is not a consideration - in order to remain in the rally the player must get to and play the ball.

DEADLY SLICED FOREHAND DROP II.: KARIM DARWISH

A couple of days ago we were paying tribute to Karim Darwish's sliced forehand drop shot. Here we have just another beautiful example of the same shot filmed from the same angle, this time against Nick Matthew. The rally starts with a missed tentative by Matthew to send Darwish's serve into the nick, everything else was of a very high standard, except maybe Matthew's last cross-court that happened to be loose enough to enable Darwish to go for his trademark drop-shot. Given that Matthew was somewhat stuck in the back, this conclusive shot would have been a positive one for Darwish even if it hadn't found the nick. Nice to observe the appreciation on Matthew's face after the end of the rally. Also interesting to observe the differences in the movement of the two players as they represent maybe the two extremities in the top5. Matthew moves in a lot more hectic way, bends a lot deeper and uses more the momentum of his bust for his shots, whereas Darwish's gestures are a lot more compact and economic. And to end for today: let's mention that this is post nr.50 in 'No Let! The Squash Video Blog'. So please have a beer for us tonight, or in case you don't have the opportunity, just promise to play at least one cross-court drop in your next game! Cheers!