RETRIEVING MEANS COUNTER-ATTACKING: RAMY ASHOUR vs. TAREK MOMEN

Probably the two most exciting players to watch on the tour, Ramy Ashour and Tarek Momen give us a pretty good example of how the Egyptians conceive the idea of "retrieving". In their eyes, retrieving is not always just getting out of trouble, it is also opportunity to counter-attack in unattended fashion. 

In general Egyptian squash is labelled as attacking, and it is exactly the attacking mentality that teaches them also, as a logical consequence, the retrieving skills. At the end of the day, Ramy wins as many points with inch-perfect width and length as he does with his more fancy solutions, the volley-nicks and cross-drops. 

Concerning Tarek Momen, this rally demonstrates that he is very near or equal to Ramy when it comes to attacking; but he doesn't really master yet the notion of "squeezing a point out of the opponent", he mostly wins (and loses) his points either with a straight winner or a tin. As soon as he learns just a bit from Ramy how to vary more the factors of pace and heights, he will knock straight away on the door of the top5, in my opinion.

TAREK MOMEN SKILL LIBRARY: VOLLEYDROP, NICK-RETURN AND ATTACKING BOAST

We have recently published quiet a few videos analysing Tarek Momen's atypical technique and special skills. We came to the conclusion that he must be one of if not the best in three domains: 1) the backhand volley drop 2) the attacking boast 3) returning the serve into the nick. Now squashtv has come out with their own tribute to this rarely gifted player:

THE MASTER OF THE ATTACKING BOAST: TAREK MOMEN vs. JAMES WILLSTROP

Yesterday we had an attacking boast played by Borja Golan off a hard paced, low but very loose drive by Cameron Pilley (at 1:28); today it's Tarek Momen - probably the greatest master of the attacking boast in the current PSA field - to show us when to employ the attacking boast. 

James Willstrop's straight drive seemed to be really tight, but unluckily for him the ball just caught the sidewall before bouncing on the ground; this in itself would have been alright if the ball is deep enough, but having been exactly at the service line, it was way too welcoming for Tarek to opt for his leathal attacking boast. Of course, as we have pointed it out earlier a few times, the extreme efficiency of Tarek Momen's attacking boasts are prepared with the reliability of his basic straight drives - he can hit them hard and tight basically from any position, also from the backfoot, or at a heavy stretch, out of balance (commom situations where even pros can struggle to hit straight with precision). 

The severity and reliability of his drives make his opponents naturally fear and prepare for a deep shot, in other words: whilst waiting on the 'T' and split-stepping, they naturally put their weight on their forefoot to prepare to lounge backwards towards the deep corners; this is why the already in itself high-quality low attacking boasts of Tarek Momen are doubly efficient. 

THE BACKFOOT DROP: TAREK MOMEN vs. AMR SHABANA, 2012 BRITISH OPEN

Some coaches would make their junior players stop playing and force them to do fifty push-ups if they see them going for a drop in a situation where the ball is behind the body of the hitting player.
But by now we all know that Tarek Momen does not obey to the general rules of squash, or simply, of physics. Take into consideration that he went for this out-of-nowhere shot against one of the best readers of the game ever in the person of Amr Shabana. 
Do you remember Wael El Hindi? This shot, the drop from behind the body on the backfoot, has been his speciality. Check out all the four examples that we have had here on the blog with him, one more crazy than the other: vs. Shabana (at 0:24), vs. Alister Walker (at 0:33), vs. Darwish (at 0:37) and again vs. Darwish (at 1:02).

RECEIVING THE SERVE WITH THE VOLLEY-NICK II.: AMR SHABANA vs. TAREK MOMEN

This morning we had a spectacular receiving of Amr Shabana's serve by Tarek Momen and I pointed out that putting away a loose serve into the nick is a standard drill for Egyptian players at training. 

Not just to make things more symmetrical, but here we have the mirror situation: the lefty Shabana receiving Momen's serve and putting it into the nick as well. Being on the forehand it had more pace, but the real difference was that the serve was not even bad at all: Shabana scrapped it off the sidewall. This version requires even more training, and on club level, I would just satisfy myself watching - and never trying - it.

RECEIVING THE SERVE WITH THE VOLLEY-NICK: TAREK MOMEN vs. AMR SHABANA

(British Open 2012, first round, Amr Shabana vs. Tarek Momen 3:2)
In Egypt one of the standard drills at training is to feed each other with weak serves (serves that either don't tend high towards the sidewall or are not hit straight to the body of the receiver). You have to put the ball each time into the nick at this drill. Yesterday we had Ramy Ashour showing an example from the forehand side, now it's Tarek Momen showing a soft version from the backhand.
This drill has two purposes. 1) you train hitting the nick from different heights 2) you learn and memorize which are those bad serves that really allow to go for this shot.
The serve is the only moment in a rally where you can allow yourself to stand almost still. Hence you can go for your shots with a near-perfect static balance. Going for the nick requires the highest level of precision, and standing still favors your chances to be precise. 

DECONSTRUCTING TAREK MOMEN III.: T-POSITION

As you know from some of our previous posts, I believe that one of the most intriguing players currently on the tour is Tarek Momen. I wouldn't suggest to take him as a technical role model for club players (because of his exaggerated backswing), but I think most of the pros could learn from him a few things (mostly about not fearing to go short and also how to use the rather understated cross-drop), but on the other hand he omits a few things that other pros would do as standard. 

Everybody agrees that his drop shots are very special. He can play them from anywhere and anyhow - in the current video just blocking it at his feet. Great quality in the execution, but the choice itself was probably even more special and unorthodox as we can deduct from the very late reactions of world #1 James Willstrop. (Very few pro players consider the "no-backswing-block-drop" as an option of how to hit the ball. Ramy Ashour is probably the only other player who uses it on a constant basis and you can also see it at times by Gregory Gaultier, but in his case mostly only against lower ranked opponents).

But we have also understood that Momen's main source of confidence to go short comes - beside his wonderful natural talent - from his very steady and reliable drives which almost always land behind the back of the service box - and which make his opponents stand further back on the 'T'. At the same time it is interesting to observe that Momen himself has a rather regressed T-position which is even more evident when receiving the serve - hardly anybody else in the pro field would wait for the ball a full step behind the back of the service box.

Another fact that distinguishes him from the rest of the field is the almost total lack of lobs in his games. Even when extremely stretched in a font corner - when 99% of the players would go for a lob - he still comes up with a counter-drop or a passing-shot temptation. I do believe that if he integrates the lob into his game, it could create (even) more uncertainty in the head of his opponents.

DECONSTRUCTING TAREK MOMEN II.: DECEPTION WITH EXAGGERATED BACKSWING

In our previous Momen-deconstruction post we noted that his game is based 1) on high quality hard deep drives 2) on going short with volley-drops as soon as the opportunity arises. In point 1 he excels with his consistency whereas in point 2 he acts differently to most of the other players who - on pro level - generally do not go short straight after the first half-loose ball of the opponent. 

This time I would like to talk about Momen's swing. His swing is the opposite of what I have always advertised as ideal: it's not compact. He has in general - and mostly on the forehand from the back - a huge swing with a very high elbow-position. There's nothing wrong with that as long as your only aim is to hit long and hard. As soon as you want to go short, you will find it tough to control your shot with such an exaggerated and high backswing. But not Tarek Momen. Look at this attacking boast at 0:20, James Willstrop had not the slightest idea that this shot could ever come out of such a racket-preparation. I think the effectiveness of this boast has three factors: 1) Momen's general quality length from the back corners that makes his opponents stand further back on the 'T' 2) his huge backswing that again lets his opponent think of a big hard drive 3) there is also a funny little split-jump in Momen's movement and he twists his shoulders extremely backwards whilst preparing the backswing - some body-language deception to make the opponent believe that a hard drive will follow at the end of the swing. It requires extreme talent to control your attacking boasts notwithstanding such exaggerated body and racket-preparation.

DECONSTRUCTING TAREK MOMEN I.: LENGTH AND PACE COUPLED WITH DEAF DROPS

Tarek Momen is probably the second most unorthodox and creative player after Ramy Ashour on the tour. I was lucky enough to witness him play in the flesh against James Willstrop at the 2012 Canary Wharf Classic (what a match that was!) and I can tell you, the British crowd was cheering more for the Egyptian boy. This must be due to his incredible touch, hazardous shot-selection and gentleman-like fairness (not that Willstrop himself wouldn't excel in these categories, except the hazardous shot selection of course, but Momen does all this in an extremely unorthodox, special way). In the next few posts I will try to analyze Momen's game through some recordings that I was kindly allowed to do by the PSA and the organizers (Eventis). The below rally is a simple one for his standards but it shows an essential ingredient of his game: the hard paced deep drives. It's the very high quality of these drives that allow him go for his famous volley-drops apparently so nonchalantly. But it's not nonchalant at all. He pushes his opponents - here the world #1 James Willstrop - far back on the court with these shots; few players find more consistently and severely the back of the court than Momen (observe for instance the quality of the one at 0:13). Hitting a good and severe length doesn't mean you'll have to hit straight and long all day long. Momen for example, as soon as the opponent's response is slightly loose, will go for his trademark volley-drops. He will not hold the shot and hit it back long, no, he will go straight away for the drop (80% of the times). In the below case he employs a cross-volley-drop faded into the mid-court side-wall (0:19) as a preparative shot in order to stretch his opponent and then the delicate deaf straight volley-drop just over the tin (0:22) to finish the rally. Looks simple, but requires a genius and a few thousands of hours of training to make it look that simple.

WATCH OUT FOR THIS BOY: MOHAMED ABOUELGHAR

Okay, here we have a few players I haven't had the opportunity to talk about yet. First on is flying Tarek Momen against Mohamed Abouelghar. I have already expressed a few times my admiration towards Tarek Momen (however, soon the results will have to be more consistent, otherwise he could become one of the greatest talents ever not to really make it. Let's hope he proves his points this year). His opponent, 19 year old Mohamed Abouelghar (in red shirt), is another stellar prodigy from Cairo. Watch his shots, hardly any back- and afterswing, his court coverage (both with the foot - to defend - and the eye - to attack!), so smooth and compact that I can't help but thinking of a certain Amr Shabana. By the way when I had the luck to bump into Abouelghar in the Queens Club in January he confirmed me that he mostly trains with Shabana form the big guns. And on top of all, he's got also what this highlight can not show: mental discipline. If this guy will not waste his talent in some way, then watch out for interesting things to happen. Next match is between good old Olli Tuominen - you probably remember our praise of him - against the biggest block on the tour, Omaar Mosaad (in black). It must be a nightmare to be on court with Mosaad unless you are a lot better or a lot smaller to get around him under his armpit. Mosaad is still young (24) and he's been in the top20 for nearly two years, I am curious to see how far he could go. He is probably the hardest hitter on the tour, he's got also great touch and is moving the court around pretty decently for being slightly oversize for this sport. Anything can happen yet with him, however the next two years will show if we shall whether expect him in the top5 or rather top10. Next on, I don't have to introduce Hisham Ashour (in red shirt), last month he achieved carrier high world #11 (grrr, still no top10!) Unfortunately Hisham seems to have gained some extra weight again, you can see it so clearly with him as not only does his upper body become really big, but also his movement becomes totally different compared to his slim times. His opponent, Mohd Ali Anwar Reda, another Egyptian youngster in the top30, is a highly skilled player, but I have seen a few times lack of mental strength in his matches. Last up is Amr Shabana against Cameron Pilley. Pilley (in blue shirt) is another famous hard hitter (you know what he did to his brother, don't you) and a very relaxed guy too. Why hasn't he achieved top10 so far? He probably lacks exactly that tiger-kind concentration that the really big ones have (and that Abouelghar seems to have too!)

THE 2012 TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS AT GRAND CENTRAL STATION NEW YORK IS COMING

This post has been written for two reasons. First: as indicated in the title, the 2012 Tournament of Champions is about to start (qualifications today, main draw first round: January 20, that's when squashtv starts to transmit it live). Generally it's one of the best events of the year. The beautiful and vibrating settings of Grand Central Terminal in New York seem to inspire the players to come out with some of the most spectacular squash. You surely remember when last year 'squash went crazy' with Shabana and Matthew, the shot of the century by David Palmer or the Ramy Ahsour masterpiece - it all happend at the TOC. Unfortunately no Ramy this year, but a revitalized Shabana, a newly crowned world #1 Willstrop, an again-on-fire Gaultier and a back-from-injury Matthew shall make it more than intriguing to follow the event. The latter one will be also eager for some additional reasons: Nick has been a former three-time finalist without having ever won the event. In addition, if he wins this year, he is warrantied to get back his world #1 ranking in February (for the same reason, James will be keen on doing well too in order to keep his new crown). So get yourself a ticket to New York, or if that's impossible, follow the event live with squashtv. The second reason of this post is that No Let! is having a bad debt towards Tarek Momen. We have mentioned him as the most promising up-and-coming player of 2011, but unfortunately there is hardly anything to be found on youtube about him. Not that this clip shows him from his best side (in fact, he is losing 11 points in a row and hardly hits any decent tight ball), but it still shows the style of this unique genius: strange, exaggerated racket preparation (not recommended) no lobs at all (not recommended), drops from anywhere of the court without waiting for the appropriate opening (not recommended), and he can also clear all the drops he is playing (unlike Wael El Hindi for example). Momen was 19 when he played this match against Hisham Ashour, he is now 23 and last year he has added also a bit of patience to his game (did you see when he beat Nick Matthew in Qatar? The only man apart from Ramy to beat Nick 3:0 in the last couple of years). Before omitting it, there is also a third reason to this post: Ramy Ashour is co-commentating and it's always fun to listen to this quick-speaking buddy.

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.