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.

FROM THE BEST DIVES SERIES: AMR SHABANA vs. RAMY ASHOUR

The overall dive kings are David Palmer and John White, but close after them comes Amr Shabana. In one respect Shabana is clearly superior to Palmer and White: his aptitude of standing up after the dive. I guess being shorter helps in this respect, but even taking this into account the athleticism factor - the speed of getting back to his feet - of the below recovery is hilarious.

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FLYING AROUND THE COURT: ALISTER WALKER vs. WAEL EL HINDI

This is a really good example of an extremely attacking and counter-attacking rally (no lobs at all), with a spectacular ending (El Hindi's dive). But in my eyes the most interesting shot was the drop at 0:33. El Hindi was totally out of balance, not only on the back-foot but even on the back-run; according to traditional squash coaching guides, this is a position you are really not supposed to go for a drop, but apparently El Hindi doesn't care that much and made it a speciality of his as he is doing it more often than anyone else and also constantly at a surprisingly high quality. Funnily though, just as it can also be seen in an earlier example (at 1:02), after having created the opening due to this spectacular shot, it is at the next shot where he chooses the wrong direction, in the earlier example going for a useless cross-drop and in the current rally for a wide and hard cross - instead of a straight kill or straight dying length drive. Let's also pay credit to Alister Walker's athletic abilities. His movement might not be as fluid as the top guys' (throwing his upper body whilst lounging slightly John White-like), but he is still as quick as it can get.

UNBELIEVABLE DIVE AND RETRIEVING by DAVID PALMER

 This rally is from 2007, David Palmer at the time was ranked still very high, at #3, whereas Daryl Selby only #36, just before starting to make his rise. Selby's touch is really nice, soft, like knife on butter and he didn't do anything wrong except of not finding perfectly the nick at his last drop which allowed Palmer, one of the greatest retrievers ever, to get passed him and win the point. And of course, what a dive! But let's turn back to Selby: if you watch him nowadays and compare it with this tape, the obvious difference between the "two Selbys" is in his posture: now he bends his bust more, even if still not as deep as Willstrop or Matthew, but enough to give his shots more power and also to allow him to hide the ball better giving him more deception, whereas in 2007 he stack to an almost upright bust position whilst hitting the ball which means less deception, less power and slightly more footwork as he had to substitute the extra stretch of a bended bust with slightly bigger steps.

THE 'HIGH' DROP: DAVID PALMER vs. GREGORY GAULTIER

Okay, this, of course, is a beautiful crazy rally that does not require much comment. However, I would like to point out a maybe even insignificant detail, David Palmer's drop shot at 0:33 (even if it didn't make him win the rally this time); many players would have gone for the inch-perfect drop just above the tin, but Palmer chooses to play it about 50 cm higher looking rather to make it fade into the side-wall. He does that often, as the drop-shot played as such a high-percentage-shot and not as a clear winner will make the opponent run desperately to retrieve the ball which then generally ends in a stroke or an easy loose ball to put away. (Click here to see another nice example this time on the volley and dropping it at 0:11 even at the heights of the service line (!) against Willstrop in an earlier post). I do agree that it's a bit of a conservative thinking with the likes of Ramy and Shabana on the tour, but it's still intelligent and efficient not only in the short term (in order of winning the point) but also in mid-terms (making your opponent spend a lots of energy and showing him that you don't necessarily have to go for winners to beat him).

FROM THE BEST DIVES SERIES: KARIM DARWISH

Karim Darwish is one of the most flexible players on the tour, lounging and stretching in almost surrealistic ways - one can only be amazed how the ankle is capable of holding all that. In the below rally however, beyond the stretches, Darwish is demonstrating also his diving skills, and he is doing it against the 'dive king', the great John White himself, who finishes off the rally with an elegantly cut reaction drop. Also interesting what the commentator (and former top 5 player) Martin Heath is pointing out: John White is not going down, not bending his knees when it comes to volley; he relies on his hand and this is why he used to have a relative high margin of error. Very much true, nevertheless he still managed to become world number one in his powerful and funny way. A couple of months ago we have started this blog with paying tribute to John White, and time to time we shall always get back to the big man.

FROM THE BEST DIVES SERIES: DAVID PALMER

We are not at the heights of a John White, but still, David Palmer has a firm place in the best ever divers section of our imaginary squash museum. Even if the below one did not save him from  losing the point on a 'stroke'. By the way, I happened to be present at this match, and I was approached by a couple of friends pointing out how much Palmer was blocking. I turned myself to Lee Beachill and Malcolm Willstrop to ask their opinion, and they did agree and pointed out themselves that in such occasions the referee should warn the blocking player. All credit to Darwish, he did not say a word, made all the work of those extra inches that one has to do when his opponent makes himself unfairly wide, and won clearly 3:0. But a part from the blocking all credit to Palmer too for the dive - it's good to see this type of spectacular commitment next to the disciplined steadiness - you need to have from both to be a great player.

THE JOHN WHITE DIVE

NO LET! is a new squash video blog with a selection of great squash rallies featuring the world's best squash players.

Let's start this blog with a classic: the greatest dive ever on a squash court. It might not be the best ever rally (a couple of too many loose shots here and there), but the dive is out of this world, and then the fact that John White managed to hit a relatively tight straight lob in these circumstances and then clear and escape with a 'let' is just the cream on the strawberry. I don't think Peter Nicol stopped in search for a 'stroke', he seems just to be amazed himself or just wanted to stop to immortalise his mate's effort and let the crowd celebrate straight away. YES LET!