MIGUEL ANGEL RODRIGUEZ: THE GREAT DAVID PALMER DISCIPLE

It's been now some time that David Palmer started to coach the funniest and quickest guy on the tour, Miguel Angel Rodiriguez. Just a few days ago we had a very similar David Palmer dive here on the blog and here we have the Colombian cannonball doing even two of them in a row in opposite corners. 

Rodriguez has visibly benefited a lot from the training with his legendary supervisor, but it has to be said that in the decisive moments when the loose shots arise his choice of shots are not yet as good and as sharp as his tutor's used to be. Still it's high quality squash and extremely entertaining. 

Oh, and concerning his opponent, Mr.Willstrop, it's just each time a pleasure to observe his timing of shots: there is a delay on each shot, even on the most basic drives.

SPEED AND FLAIR, SHOW ME ANYBODY MORE FUNNY THAN MIGUEL ANGEL RODRIGUEZ

We can be really grateful that Miguel Angel Rodriguez has chosen to play squash. Just imagine what football player he could have become for example (and how much money and fame he could earn with that). Not only is he incredibly quick, he's got also an interesting deception and a special sense of humour that he can express with his movement and shots whilst playing the world #2. Look how cool he waits on the 'T' whilst Nick Matthew is in front of him at 0:26 or the surprise factor of his deep lob at 0:44, or the way he walks after another lob at 0:53, like on a promenade on a sunny Sunday afternoon, or the way he reacts to Matthew's bump after he sent him the wrong way with a great straight deep forehand volley at 0:56 - it's all quality and funny at the same time. Mr. Rodriguez, you are hilarious and we are enjoying very much your presence on the PSA World Tour. Keep walking! Keep running like crazy!

CAROUSEL SQUASH II.: JONATHAN KEMP vs. MIGUEL ANGEL RODRIGUEZ

A few months back we've aready had a "carousel" rally with Gregory Gaultier and Simon Rosner.and another one with Alister Walker and Chris Simpson. "Carousel rallies" are similar to what we call "Four Corner Squash", when every corner of the court is employed/explored/visited, with the slight difference that in a "carousel" rally we've got also looser balls and not always perfect shot-selections; albeit the lower quality of some of the shots the athletic ability of the players allow them to stay in the rally and shift the momentum again with some unexpected solutions and so on. 

This time it's two of my favourite "outside the top10" players, Jonathan Kemp and Miguel Angel Rodriguez who show us some furious volleying and attacking. You might remember me praising Rodriguez a couple of times (The Man Who Likes To Go The Wrong Way, Probably The Most Outrageous Shot Of All Times, Squash Going Crazy Again) this time let's concentrate on his opponent.
Even though I hardly ever had the opportunity to talk about him, I am an absolute fan of Jonathan Kemp; it's "agressive squash" at its purest, such a high "T"-position, chasing always the volley. It's also funny if you have ever met Jonathan in the flesh, as his personality is in total opposition with the aggressiveness of his squash; he is one of the nicest and most modest persons you will ever meet (reminding me Stewart Boswell in this respect).
He is about to retire as far as I know so please make sure to remember one of the great under-achievers of the modern times (his highest ranking having been #20).
If you ask me why he has under-achieved I would guess that it was partially due to the very demanding nature of the type of squash that he has chosen for himself; to be that hight on the 'T' and chasing the volley even more than Nick Matthew or Ramy Ashour requires an extreme physical talent and preparation. Kemp might probably have gone higher in the rankings with a slightly more conservative aptitude, but we squash-watchers would have definitely lost some of the unique blend that he has created throughout his carrier with this relentless attacking style. Luckily, Kempy will keep working in squash circuits and we wish him success for his future coaching carrier. We look forward to see some young Egyptian-type English players coming out of his hands...

SQUASH GOING CRAZY AGAIN - TOC 2012: AMR SHABANA vs. MIGUEL ANGEL RODRIGUEZ

Slowly but surely more and more people learn to know what an outstanding entertainer Miguel Angel Rodriguez is . He is goddamn fast, he loves to run (also the wrong way, just to exploit his speed in a funnier way), hits magic exhibition-like shots (he acquired first world fame with this shot), but has also a very smooth basic technique. He is one of the very few players who generates smile on people's face who watch him play. On top of that, Rodriguez generates smiles even on his opponents face after his extravagant, funny solutions. The below rally is the last one of his second round match against Amr Shabana at the 2012 Tournaments of Champions in New York. What a crazy rally to finish a tight five-gamer! To add to the fun factor in a broader perspective, this match is almost perfectly mirroring last year's semi-final between Shabana and Nick Matthew in the very same place. In that 2011 match, Shabana came back from 2:0, in this match Rodriguez came back from 2:0 down. In that 2011 match Shabana ended up losing 3:2, in this one he ended up winning 3:2. In the 2011 match the final rally featured crazy four-corner squash with Shabana tinning a backhand drop shot, in this match it was a similarly crazy rally and a similar backhand drop tinned by Rodriguez that finished the match as you can see it below. And both years, the spectators erupted and gave the players a long standing ovation. One more time proved: New York Grand Central Terminal is bringing out the very best of the players. 

THE FADED KILL II.: by MIGUEL ANGEL RODRIGUEZ

For once nothing extreme - except that little horizontal clearing at 0:03 - from the lovely Miguel Angel Rodriguez, just some very smart squash. First a good, wide, greatly pounded backhand cross-court at 0:14 that bounced off hardly from the backwall, forcing the loose length from Lincou. Secondly, a perfect faded kill into the sidewall. The faded kill is a subtle weapon. I for example have not seen, not understood the existence of it until Professor Marcus Berrett has once pointed it out to me. This shot has been one of the main weapons of Jonathon Power, he has been initiating a large part of his attacks with this shot. What's the point? What's the difference compared to the 'real' kill? You hit it less hard (70-80%), slightly higher, less riskier over the tin, with emphasising the slice, and instead of looking for a quick second bounce you want to make sure that the ball fades into the sidewall with not leaving your opponent a chance to take the ball before it bounces on the wall (as the ball is still too quick for it) or to hit it after the bounce off the sidewall (as the ball is already on a down-course close to the floor). This shot does not have to be a straight winner, the goal is rather to make your opponent scrap off the ball the sidewall loosely. Well, JP or Rodriguez might both be magicians, but they employ also less fancy stuff in order to create situations where they can exploit their creativity. This is squash: a subtle mixture of intellectual engineering and instinctive magic.

PROBABLY THE MOST STUNNING SHOT OF ALL TIMES: by MIGUEL ANGEL RODRIGUEZ

Holy moly! I only believe my eyes because I've seen from Miguel Angel Rodriguez a similar attempt last year at the 2010 London Open. Well, the man who likes to go the wrong way as we called him last time, or if you prefer, the quickest man on earth on 5 meters likes not only dancing on the court but also has shots that only a Zen Buddhist Karate Matrix Magician - who has the power of slowing down the time and even foresee the future - should be capable of. Rodriguez, of course, went again the wrong way, then turned 180 degrees to hit this volley out of the blue and am afraid I called David Palmer's famous shot at the 2011 TOC in New York a bit prematurely the shot of the century. (By the way, Palmer and Rodriguez train these days together, let's hope that will enable this funny genius to go less often the wrong way and strengthen also the "boring structure part" of his game in order to get into the top10 - which would be just great for squash in general). Back to the current video, it is pretty funny how the commentators reacted: long seconds of silence before Joey Barrington started to employ various superlatives ("outrageous shot", "that's ridiculous", "who plays a shot like that?"). It's a shame this rally did not happen in front of a larger crowd, like Palmer's at the TOC, and that the referees did not see at first that the ball has passed Lincou by far by the time he raised his racket to appeal for a Let. But this time I don't really blame them, I guess they were as amazed as anyone else in the audience, facing a never seen, an almost religious-like revelation situation, kind of Jesus walking on water. Luckily science - video review - allowed to award this shot with what it deserved, a clear No Let! and point! Thank you Mr.Rodriguez for existing.

THE MAN WHO LIKES TO GO THE WRONG WAY: MIGUEL ANGEL RODRIGUEZ

Finally I have found some footage about one of my favorites from outside the top20 on the PSA tour; Miguel Angel Rodriguez, probably the quickest person on earth on 5 or 10 meters, by the way a lovely squash player with a particular type of deception in his shots and a funny Gaultier- or crab-like lateral movement. Well, as we said, he's got definitely the quickest feet on the tour (yes, quicker than Gregory Gaultier or Aamir Atlas Khan) and he is also a clean striker. So why is he stuck outside the top20? Probably because back in his home country Colombia he lacks serious training partners. For me, this guy should come to the UK, and under the guidance of the likes of Peter Genever for example he could easily become top10 if not top5. So which are his weak points? Definitely his reading of the game. He often goes the wrong way, even though he almost seems to like to go the wrong way to exploit his hilarious speed. He is the only player on the tour to make on a constant basis 360 degree turns (like in the current video at 0:48 and like I've had the luck to observe in the flesh at the 2010 London Open; once there he was even doing it on the volley, and fellow PSA player Joe Lee who sat next to me said that this would have been the greatest shot ever if it hadn't hit the tin...) Once we said, that what distinguishes Amr Shabana from the other dive-kings on the tour (John White, David Palmer) is his ability to get up after a dive. Well, have a look at Rodriguez' get up at 0:22, and you will probably agree that Shabana is only number two in this respect.