THE DAVID PALMER EFFECT: STEVEN COPPINGER vs. SIMON ROSNER

One of the best surprises of the last 12 months was the progress that Steven Coppinger has been showing on the PSA World Tour. 
About two years ago he went down to Florida to start to train with retired legend David Palmer; by doing so, he joined another much progressed player Miguel Angel Rodriguez. By now you can clearly notice the influence that the iron man - or the marine, as some call him - has had on both of their playing styles and results (in the current September 2013 PSA Rankings they are #16 and 17# respectively).

Coppinger was a brave a top50 player before with a good complete all-round game and the typical slight lacks that distinguish the top20 from the players ranked below. In Coppinger's case it was clearly the physical aspect that needed an upgrade to achieve better results; he is very tall and that's clearly not an advantage in a sport where every two seconds you need to bend, lounge and brake at the end of a sprint. 

Steven told me about his brutal off-court training regimes with Palmer (you can make yourself an idea if you watch this clip by squashskills). In squash, balance is essential and Steven is now really steady on his foot even at heavy stretches and severe lounges. 

Note how quickly he recovered from a wrong-footed position at 0:34 to play a beautiful forehand drop shot, how well he hit and regrouped to the 'T' after a heavy stretch to the deep backhand corner, his quick reaction in the middle at 1:08 and the excellent reaction-volley at 1:21, and after all that hard work he still had the strength to get into a perfectly balanced position to execute a winning forehand drop shot to conclude this mega rally. 

Simon Rosner and Steven Coppinger, two tall men to watch next to the giant that James Willstrop is in both senses of the term.

SIMON ROSNER: THAT LETHAL FOREHAND CROSS KILL, MY GOD

I am very impressed by the progress that Simon Rosner has been showing in the last two years. Okay, he might still lack that big win - not counting when he beat a disinterested Shabana last year in Kuwait - but he is giving a really hard time to the top guys, extending the likes of Gaultier and Matthew to tie-brakes or even picking games off them. One of his best weapons is definitely the cross-court forehand kill, his is very severe with it form around mid-court but he is capable hitting such winners even from the back-foot from deeper positions as you can see it in the below rally. 

I am happy to have also Peter Barker in this rally, as in my eyes he is the other player who progressed the most this year. Maybe not yet ranking-wise, but his game has acquired so much more variety, so much more accuracy in the middle and in the front of the court. It's still not at the heights of James or Nick, not to mention Shabana, Gaultier or Ramy, but it's getting definitely closer and closer. 

By the way, most people look at me strange when I say this, but I am a really big fan of Barker's movement. It seems to me extremely soft and smooth, economic and balanced. He's got visibly heavy big leg muscles (not like James or Shabana) and still he seems to pop from one foot to the other in a cat-like manner. I would love to learn from him but I am afraid to acquire these qualities you need to invest an awful lot into training, a lot more than any club player could afford. I am also a fan of his racket preparation which is nearly as harmonic as his movement and nearly as compact as Darwish's.  

Rosner has already proved that he is an assiduous student of Egyptian squash; if I were his coach, I would make him sit down and watch and analyse a few Peter Barker matches, to understand how can you become smooth and economical, qualities that will have both mid- and a long-term effects on your carrier, to mention one: reducing the chances of injury, which is always a greater risk for the bigger lads (you might have read a thing or two about this subject in James Willstrop's book).

CAROUSEL SQUASH: GREGORY GAULTIER vs. SIMON ROSNER

Squash TV is recently publishing a lots of hot shots and mega rallies on their youtube channel. I am picking the below one because I think it demonstrates two things I would like to mention: 

1) the great potential that Simon Rosner has got; notwithstanding his big size, it is very impressive how well he moves, and especially how quickly he can get back from big lounges (generally a tough thing for tall players). He is also an excellent reader of the game, he is by now really very close to the top8 in this regard. 

2) But to get there I really think he has to modify one thing: his huge backswing. 

Watch this rally and observe how many times he lacks precision and accuracy exactly because his backswing requires too much time to prepare which makes him hit the ball a fraction too late. As long as he's got time and space, there is no problem with this kind of racket preparation, but as soon as you lack one or the other factor, you will struggle to hit precisely. This is mostly evident in situations when the opponent hits a slightly loose but quick straight ball as we can see it in this rally at 0:16 and especially at 0:23; in both cases Rosner hits late and this is why the ball finds the sidewall.

Of course, in certain situations this big swing favours Rosner, like when he is going for his trademark low cross-court kills in the front, but in situations around the 'T' he will need to study the top guys' swing, to start with the most compact one probably: Karim Darwish.

Will Rosner be able to adjust in this technical regard, then I feel there will be very little to separate him from the top10, or even the top6.

Oh, and just to mention also the obvious before we finish: what a beautiful carousel rally this was! Unlucky for the records that it had to end with a 'Stroke'.

SIMON ROSNER - THE EGYPTIAN DISCIPLE

Happy to get finally some material about Simon Rosner, the skilful and very fair German player. We have mentioned him at the end of last year as one of the most promising up-and-coming players and indeed, it would be surprising not to see him within the top 10 within a year or two. 

To be honest, these nick-compilations do not really help to gather a player's real playing profile, but in Rosner's case they are eventually quiet representative as he indeed is a shot-maker, a true attacker.

The shot that gathers mostly my attention is the drop-shot played at 0:13. It's not the first example that shows that balls that land just behind the service box and somewhat off the side-wall are apt for attacking; you've got the drop option as Rosner shows it here, Tarek Momen in another, or Ramy Ashour in this example. You also have from the very same position the attacking boast option, as the deep straight corner opens up and your opponent is on his backfoot to cover that deep corner; you surely remember Tarek Momen demonstrating this in a recent example.

And if we mention Ramy and Tarek when talking about Simon we are not just talking in the air; Rosner might not dispose of the natural touch, fluidity and agility of those two magicians, but together with his Swiss mate Nicolas Mueller, they are assiduous watchers and learners of the Egyptian school!

LOOKING BACK AND FORTH II: THE UP-AND-COMING PLAYERS OF 2011

In our previous post we had a look how the top 10 has done in 2011. Now it's time to give some well deserved credit to the most impressive up-and-coming players of the year:

#20 TAREK MOMEN (born 1988, last year-end PSA ranking: 27): very few people discuss that the little man from Cairo is a genius. In 2006 as an 18 year old teenager he beats players of the calibre of Daryl Selby, in 2008 he beats then world #2 Gregory Gaultier (who hardly ever looses to anyone outside the top8), in 2009 he beats David Palmer (again, very few people can pretend that) and in the meantime he is frequenting the Faculty of Engineering at the University in Cairo!!! 2010 was poor for his standards (well, still, wins against Iskandar, Boswell, Mohamed El Shorbagy and Pilley!) but now he has concluded his studies and it starts to show. In Qatar he beat world #1 Nick Matthew 3:0, and Matthew admitted after the match that the result (11:9,12:10,11:8, 44m) was even flattering for him. Beating Matthew is a feat in itself, but let's add that next to Momen only Ramy Ashour has beaten Matthew 3:0 in the last few years. The only question mark is Tarek's determination. He has proven that on a one-day basis he can beat anybody. He is also probably the quickest man on the circuit with Miguel Angel Rodriguez; he's got the cheekiest backhand drop-shot on earth that he is capable of executing any time, anywhere. If you play short on his backhand side he'll counter-drop 8 times out of 10 and he'll still clear the ball each time (there are sooo many 'Lets' normally with other players in this situation...) But his concentration and determination can let him down at times. He's got something of a school lad, that makes him extra nice, but am not sure if that helps to become world #1, notwithstanding all the talent he's got to get there - even if he's the only pro player who basically omits the existence of the lob!

#21 TOM RICHARDS (born 1986, last year-end PSA ranking: 31): he might not be the kind of genius that Momen is, but he's showing constant improvements. This year he had very good wins over Laurens Jan Anjema, Hisham Ashour (twice), Ong Beng Hee and Tarek Momen, even if the last two have then avenged the loss. Someone as terminator-solid as Darwish (even though on slight decline now) still beats him 3,4 and 6 in 37 minutes. But I see him humble, and humbleness is one of the best secret weapons in long term.

#23 NICOLAS MUELLER (born 1989, last year-end PSA ranking: 37): he has shown qualities from the very first moment he stepped on court on the pro tour. This year has demonstrated also that he has serious intentions, not only style- and technique-wise, but also ranking-wise, he definitely wants to be in the top5 in the future. This year he's got the scalps of Adrian Grant (twice), Borja Golan, Iskandar and most eminently of all: Amr Shabana (even if we know Shabs is lacking inspiration in last few months). He's shown also some exceptional squash against some other greats even if he ended up losing: first game 11:2 in 5 minutes in Qatar against Darwish!? Anyone ever heard anything similar? He also gave a good run of four games to James Willstrop, who hardly lost any other game in his last 15 other matches of the year.

#24 SIMON ROSNER (born 1987, last year-end PSA ranking: 33): a few years back, Rosner looked really bad. Strange technique, no results. He now looks good, really good. It's still not textbook technique (that ultra high elbow at his backswing, funnily only him - the tallest guy - and Aamir Atlas Khan - the smallest guy on the tour - employ this technique that does not favour deception. But he still kills the ball second to none in the front and shows also delicate touch notwithstanding appearance; he's got really quick feet and very good movement for someone as tall as him; and he's not afraid of anybody. He's beaten Adrian Grant, Aamir Atlas Khan, he's had matchball against Karim Darwish in Sweden (okay, Karim coming back from serious injury, but still!), brought Ramy to 5 quality games in Paderborn and got his heart-warming share of win against Shabana (in similar fashion as Mueller, but still!) He is also keen, and when a German is keen, well, anything can happen.

#33 ALAN CLYNE (born 1986, last year-end PSA ranking: 51): some of you might be surprised that I include him in the list, but I think he deserves to be mentioned based on this year's performance, even if he has had a bad end of year with four first round losses at the last four main events (still gave David Palmer a good 5 game run in Rotterdam). But beforehand he was impressing with his mixture of strange technique, huge stamina and a great heart. He might be not the most beautiful to watch, but he is efficient and a tough nut to crack. Ask Hisham Ashour or the promising young Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad who both have twice as many shots in the pocket but still lost to him.

#45 MARWAN EL SHORBAGY (born 1993, last year-end PSA ranking: 174): Ramy-like stellar rise, almost 130 places within one year with the scalps of Daryl Selby and Omar Mosaad (both top20 and not friendly at all when it comes to battle...). Marwan is junior world champion and obviously extreamly promising: we know his pedigree with his older (still very young) brother already in the top10 and excellent coaching background by Jonah Barrington around Bristol/UK alternated with training camps in Cairo. Some say technically he's got even more potential than his brother. To be seen remains if he's also as tough and determined as Mohamed. Anyway, if the Ashour brother's don't make both the top10 within one family (due to Hisham not being capable of making a regime longer than five weeks;) then the Shorbagy brothers could well fulfil this highly respectable and funny historical feat.