2011 US OPEN, ANOTHER SUPERB DIVE AND TOUCH: WAEL EL HINDI vs. AMR SHABANA

It's not the first time that Wael El Hindi is showing his exceptional touch and balance by playing a drop shot on the run, behind his body on the backfoot! This time add to the bill that he was just recovering from a dive in order to lob back a good faded drop by Amr Shabana. EL Hindi, in general might not be at the levels of a Ramy or a Shabana, but in this respect - playing drops from behind his body - he is probably the greatest on the PSA tour. Without looking specifically for the subject, we've already had previously three other similar solution by El Hindi here on the no-let blog, check'em out in this video at 0:33, in another one at 0:37, and in this one at 1:02. But don't try this at home!

DROP / COUNTER-DROP DUEL - THIERRY LINCOU vs. JAMES WILLSTROP

There are 7 drops within 16 seconds in this rally. I often point out how deep professional players bend with their bust to hit the ball (Nick Matthew and James Willstrop going down the deepest maybe). Bending allows you to make less/smaller steps, to hide the ball better and mainly, to put your eyesight onto a near level with the ball which enables you to control the ball better. And pretty certainly the drop is the shot that necessarily needs the most accurate control if you don't want to miss it or allow your opponent to counter-attack, therefore one needs to bend the most for this shot. The rally finally was won with a reaction drop, typically played as a volley off a loose ball. To be noted also that Lincou was not going for the inch perfect low drop, but rather for the perfect angle that made the ball fade into the side-wall.

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!

PROBABLY THE BEST FORHAND DROP ON THE PSA TOUR: KARIM DARWISH

For a long time I thought Karim Darwish - nevertheless being a great player - is somewhat boring, lacking special - or let's say so: spectacular - qualities. Then I happened to witness him in the flesh at the Super Series Finals in London in 2009, and I was immediately converted. In my eyes, he's got the combination of Jonathon Power (deception, racket-speed and compactness of the backswing) and of Peter Nicol (leg-speed, hilarious stretch and discipline). Is it possible that the combination of the two is less spectacular to watch in one player than separately? Anyway myself I even like the fact that - beside having a very deceptive game - he is executing it in a dry way, not showing off cheaply with his skills. He is also pretty dry in his way of running over weaker ranked opponents. Next to Gregory Gaultier he is the most consistent player to spend no time on court against players ranked outside the top15. And even inside the top10, it can happen that he beats the likes of David Palmer, Gregory Gaultier and Ramy Ashour all within 35 minutes, round by round in the same tournament (Sky Open 2010). And to pick something more specific, let's have a look at this beautiful, extremely cut-sliced forehand drop-shot. Amazing touch, as deadly, if not more, as David Palmer's or Thierry Lincou's on the backhand side...

FROM THE REACTION DROP SERIES: RAMY ASHOUR

Here we have a pretty amazing solution by Ramy Ashour that you won't find in the 'books'. An entertaining rally, with lots of drops and loose shots, some fantastic recovery, and then this totally unorthodox half-volley drop block played without any backswing, form behind his feet! Please also observe the quality of transmission - what a difference to current PSA and psasquashtv standards. 1) You can see the little white ball well, as the dominant tonality of the court is dark enough 2) The position of the main camera is very high which gives us a great overview and understanding of the depth of the court 3) Main camera is moving, following slightly the current position of the ball, which makes us feel involved as viewers 4) And finally, the sound quality, so live, so true, you feel almost like being present. This is absolutely world class quality, not being an insider I have no clue why the PSA is not setting similar standards for his own live streamings. A pity, as the above mentioned points need little investment, just attention to details!

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.

REACTION DROP III.: THIERRY LINCOU

Thierry Lincou's backhand volley drop is famous in squash circuits. The below one at the end of the rally didn't have to be very special as Ramy Ashour's cross-court shot was not wide enough and previously at 0:31 he played a wrong chosen cross-drop that shifted the momentum in Lincou's favour - similarly as Wael El Hindi did it at 1:05 in that great rally against Darwish that we've already discussed a couple of times. The cross-drop is typically an 'Egyptian shot', and Egyptian players might also play it almost "l'art-pour-l'art", for the beauty of the risk, for the fun of the game, even if it can have negative consequences. Nevertheless, Lincou's volley drop, to be controlled as it was in this case, still required those rugby-player legs to keep the balance of the upper body - and balance, in general, is the key to racket-control.

REACTION DROP II. : WAEL EL HINDI

Apologies, we've already had this tube in an earlier post without though talking about the rally itself. It's not part of the 'best ever rallies' series, nevertheless, it's highly creative and entertaining, even if here and there some shots are badly executed (like the smash into the nick by El Hindi at 0:32) or even badly chosen (like El Hindi's cross drop at 1:05). On the other hand, there is some amazing retrieving, first by Darwish with a huge stretch at 0:30, then by El Hindi, a great straight lob off a very good Darwish drop at 0:55. But the most amazing shot - one that you have to rev back a couple of times - can be seen at 1:02. El Hindi plays a beautiful gentle reaction drop in a situation where he is out of balance on his back-foot. Extremely hard and risky shot to execute properly in such a situation. It's a shame that he played that irrelevant cross drop off Darwish's loose retrieving afterwards. But what can you do, the guy is apparently more into beauty than efficiency, and we won't blame him for that. Good to listen to Nick Matthew too in the commentary box.

REACTION DROP I. : JULIEN ILLINGWORTH

The reaction drop in general is played on the volley, and more on the backhand than on the forehand (Palmer is a master of this cut drop on the volley, and Lincou plays it great too). In the bellow rally Julien Illingworth's reaction drop is not played on a volley, it's a normal drop off a not too effective cross kill by Hisham Ashour. To drop off a kill in itself is already rare and special, but the most interesting is Illingworth's racket-preparation: it's a full backswing executed at full speed. You would expect a drive or a kill with this racket-preparation as it is very hard to control a drop with such racket-head speed. This makes it definitely one of the best cut slice drops to be found on the internet.