A LITTLE SCARE: JOHN WHITE vs. GREGORY GAULTIER

It's been always a pleasure to watch John White on court, as well for the quality and high entertainment factor of the squash as for the human aspects. He never refused any opportunity to make some fun; the below joke was slightly scary, as you don't want to be hit by anyone, and surely not by one of the hardest hitters ever. However, even the scared opponent, Gaultier appreciated the joke. We might appreciate the sportsmanship spirit even more knowing that all this happens in the middle of a main tournament, at 5:6 in the deciding fifth game! As far as I know the history of squash, it's been John White to introduce this kind of relaxed, funny and friendly attitude on court. And to become world #1 with this attitude deserves the highest ratings of our appreciation.


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PREPARING THE RACKET FOR THE VOLLEY

Some time ago we've already featured a rally with Adrian Grant and Aamir Atlas Khan as a demonstration of the difference of high and low-elbowed racket-preparation. This time I refer to the bellow rally mostly because of what Peter Barker is explaining in the commentary box. He is reproaching Grant's racket-preparation not in technical but rather in tactical terms. He is saying that instead of looking to keep the racket-head in front of him in search for a volley he immediately positions the racket backwards. I feel this point is very true and concerns not only Adrian but in general the old-school British attitude (except Matthew and Willstrop of course). How many times do we see mediocre cross-courts that the player lets pass himself to hit it then off the re-bounce from the back-wall. Looking for the volley does not mean looking for cheap winners, you are welcome to hit it deep if you feel it's not time to go short, but if you have the opportunity to volley a ball just do it, it will take away time from your opponent, which means less recovery for his body between two shots and more uncertainty about where the ball goes as from the 'T' where you volley you have definitely more options than from the back of the court. As the volley is often a reaction-shot, without time or necessity for a back-swing, a firm wrist will help the precision of your shot. Therefore - to follow Peter Barker's suggestions - it makes sense to keep the wrist already cocked when the racket is in front of you whilst you wait for your opponents shot.

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TOM AND JERRY: RAMY ASHOUR vs. AAMIR ATLAS KHAN

Amr Shabana, Nick Matthew, Karim Darwish, Gregory Gaultier. And a bit back in time probably David Palmer, Thierry Lincou, Anthony Ricketts - these are the players Ramy Ashour has/had to give it his all to beat them. (And James Willstrop? Well, even though he has lost to him at a few occasions, in general Ramy looks deeply relaxed against James, just as at their last PSA meeting in New York this year January, where Ramy produced one of his most outrageous masterpieces in about only 30 minutes). But then, outside the top10, he just plays cat and mouse with his opponents. He just knows where the shot goes before his opponent plays the shot. And this is particularly amusing against someone as quick as Aamir Atlas Khan. No disrespect to Aamir - one of the quickest feet ever to run over a squash court - but there as very little he can do against the magician; as little as Alister Walker could in this older example.


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FROM THE DYING LENGTH SERIES II.: RAMY ASHOUR

It's nice to have an opportunity to point out that Ramy is not just all about attacking; he's got amazing defensive skills and he is one of the best if not the best in knowing how much 'weight' to give to the shot to make it die in the back corner. We've already had a similar sample from Ramy, that time on the volley and against El Hindi who got so frustrated after the rally. But let's start from the beginning. At 0:03, Ramy's service return volley-drop was very loose - but this is exactly what I have already pointed out so many times: the top Egyptian guys don't have to worry about the quality of their short balls as their perception/reading of the opponents' shots (when being behind them) has developed to immensely high standards due to incorporating relevant drills into their training regime from the very early junior ages. As weak as Ramy's first drop-attempt was, as incredible was how quickly he got to James Willstrop's excellent counter-drop at 0:05. And then at 0:07 - after James's excellent deep and low cross-court kill-attempt - he made sure to hit his defensive boast in a way that it rebounced around mid-court - (when you are stuck in the back you will always look for the boast that lands high in the middle of the court as this will give you time to get back to the 'T' and less options to your opponent to play a quick drop whist you are still in the back-corner of the court). Then at 0:14, after a few mutually loosish shots, comes the perfect dying backhand length from Ramy: good width (so that the opponent can not volley it) and fantastically controlled speed and height (in one word: weight) of the ball to make sure that second bounce stacks in the back corner. Interesting to note that this shot was played almost exactly from where James himself likes to play his very deceptive deep trickle-boasts'.


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GAINING COMPOSURE: NICK MATTHEW vs. RAMY ASHOUR

This is a rally from that famous last match of 2009 in Saudi Arabia which decided who would replace Karim Darwish as the new world #1 in the 2010 January rankings. Beyond the entertainment factor I am referring to this rally for the following reason: according to the Nick Matthew that could have been seen in the last 12 months, I feel like the one shown in the below video is slightly less composed and slightly more hectic in his racquet preparation. I am referring to nuances, but we all know how much the tiniest detail can make the difference, probably in squash more than in any other sport. And especially if you gain general composure, that can allow you to stay calmer and more focused on the court, hence react and think better. However I don't know if the current, more composed Matthew is due to the fact that he has matured mentally or if he became mentally stronger because of the gained composure? Anyway, I find it very remarkable when someone can improve and adjust his game at a relative late stage of his carrier and on the very top of the scale. It's not that he became top20 after having been stuck in the top30, no: he boosted his game, at the age of thirty, to become from an established top5 player the world #1. And on top of that, according to his recent interviews, he is planning to stay there for a couple of years. And indeed, it seams that there is only one guy who could interfere into this project: the one who plays that delicate counter-drop at the end of the below rally.


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NO LET! Post Nr.100 - PRAISING JONATHON POWER

There's unfortunately too little to find about Jonathon Power in an acceptable resolution on YouTube. But even the mediocre image quality does not disable us to appreciate his genius in the below rally. I've pointed out in the past a few times how effective Karim Darwish's extremely compact racquet preparation is in terms of generating deception. Well, the inventor and godfather of the compact backswing was indeed Jonathon Power. Observe how close he keeps the elbow all the time to the hip, you never know if he is going for a drive, a boast or a drop, therefore the opponent is so often wrongfooted, just like Amr Shabana at 0:56. But there's more to observe here, for exemple the concluding backhand drop: even though Shabana was far in the diagonal back corner, knowing his speed, Power made sure to raise the racket head high enough to threaten with a drive or cross-court which made Shabana stuck at the 'T'; as this example shows it too, compact racket preparation does not mean that the racquet head is not up! And the third thing that is pretty apparent in this rally, is in fact the other famous weapon of Power: the faded kill into the sidewall, you can see it at 0:14, 0:16 and at 0:37 on the volley; it's not a real kill, as played only with half-pace and a lots of cut to make sure that the ball does not bounce off much the sidewall. In general terms it's interesting that Power often hits even the drives not too deep, bouncing around the top end of the service box; he wants to avoid the overhit drive that rebounces off the backwall and gives plenty of time to the opponent to hit the ball, he is rather obsessed with making the opponent scrapping off the ball from the sidewall. To put it in one sentence: the great stuff about Power's game is that it's a very intense mixture of shot-making and preparative shots - and on top of that, due to the uniform compact racquet preparation, you never know which one to await.


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THE VOLLEY LOB: by RAMY ASHOUR

The volley lob, in certain situations, is one of the best preparative shots to force the loose shot from your opponent. At 0:15 there was already an excellent traditional lob played in the right front corner by Nick Matthew that forced a desperate loose over-the-head cross-court volley from Ramy Ashour, but Matthew couldn't convert it as his volley drop was of poor quality. Four shots later at 0:23 comes that wonderful volley lob played from the left service box. Note that Ramy's previous volley was straight and hard as he found the ball pretty low at that moment. Whereas when he played the volley lob he found the ball at a similar spot of the court but way higher than the previous one. Why didn't Ramy go then for his trademark volley-nick? Because Matthew's shot was not loose and Ramy could hit the ball only from behind himself; and this can be set almost as a general rule: you want to lift the ball when you hit it on the backfoot.


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ECONOMY OF MOVEMENT: SHAHIER RAZIK vs. CHRIS RYDER

We've said a couple of times that there might be more to learn (to be copied) from the pros outside the top5 or top10 for the club player. Movement-wise, in terms of economy of movement, there are few guys out there more efficient than Shahier Razik. The below video, filmed from a great angle behind the front wall (I wish psasquashtv would use this angle a bit more often in its live coverages) demonstrates really well  Razik's impeccable smoothness and balance. Before the last step or lounge his steps are not only light-footed but also rather tiny, as this allows him to adjust easier in the search of the right path and distance when going towards the ball. The other thing to be noted beyond movement is his patience and intelligence: the shot-selection is almost always a percentage shot, avoiding the risk of unforced errors. Of course, this conservativeness might also be a complaint towards his game in terms of lack of spectacularity, but once again, I am rather an admirer of his deep backhand drops that is probably the only really attacking shot he employs to initiate. On the other hand, let's don't forget his opponent, Chris Ryder, a very good all-rounder himself, the only technical concern I would dare to observe is that his upper body position is way too upright. Based on the examples furnished by the likes of Matthew, Lincou or Willstrop, you are supposed to bend the knee and the upper body not only at the moment of hitting the ball, but even whilst waiting for it: this way, your first step will be more efficient, and I guess you will agree that in squash the gain of any split of a second might be decisive in search of hitting the most efficient possible next ball.



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OUT OF NOWHERE: JOHN WHITE

As John White hits a couple of loose balls here and there (as a result of over-pacing the ball), I was rather concentrating on David Palmer, who keeps it as steady and disciplined as ever... And then, out of nowhere, from a slightly overhit lob that rebounced directly from the backwall, there you are, that incredible backhand kill from around the service box. The racket-head speed is phenomenal, and interestingly, in opposition to some coaching thesis that teach to hit the ball as far away as possible from your body, White, at the point of touching the ball kept his elbow pretty near to his hip. Based on my observations of the very best players, I always accentuate that if you keep your swing tight there will be more deception too your shots. And indeed, Palmer realized where the ball went more or less at the second dead bounce of the ball.


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DON'T RUN, WALK: JOHN WHITE vs. JONATHAN KEMP

Not to be copied, that's what we've said about great John White a few posts ago. This time even though I would love to encourage anybody (myself first) to copy what he does - he is basically walking instead of running out there - but am afraid very few people can achieve this exceptional level of anticipation, a mixture of deep rooted knowledge of squash and extra fast perception. And White is not doing it against an average talented club player in an exhibition match, but against another pro, the ever solid top20-top30 player Jonathon Kemp (a mystery why never have been ranked higher). After this rally White was leading 1:0 in games and 7:4 in the second. Based on the cat and mouse type of difference that this rally is demonstrating, I guess you will be surprised to hear that Kemp, after being 2:0 down in games, came back to two-all, and finally lost only 11:7 in the fifth. But this is how squash is: just always slightly more complicated and more unpredictable than one could guess.

THE MAGIC OF JOHN WHITE

Okay, you surely remember the famous rally that followed this one in the quarter finals of the 2008 Tournament of Champions; it was probably one of the greatest rallies ever, John White being 2:1 and 10:9 match ball down against Gregory Gaultier. White looked so 'winded' (as David Palmer said it in the commentary box) and had so much to recover before saving his life with a cross kill hit from out of balance. So here we have the previous rally, Gregory Gaultier with his first match ball, and if you have a look at this one, your amazement and appreciation of the big man will surely only grow. Saving a match ball with a crazy rally might happen, but with two crazy and high quality rallies in a row is really rare. In opposition to that other famous rally, White was most of the time dominating/attacking here (I feel like Gaultier was even provoking White with deliberately not hitting good lengths at 0:25, 0:29 and 0:31) but White was patient enough and came out with the magic shot, the cross volley-kill into the nick, at the very best of times.


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