THE CASE PETER BARKER

A couple of posts ago I mentioned that the shot that James Willstrop is missing - and that contributes to disable him to compete for the world #1 spot at the moment - is the volley kill into nick. He finds the nick on the drop shots, but hardly ever replies with the volley kill nick off the serve or even during the rallies when the loose ball comes around the service box around shoulder heights (he was finally trying though last weak with contained success against Martin Knight at the 2011 North American Open). Don't take me wrong, James is a highly creative player who, a part that missing shot, is pure joy to watch  - nobody plays the deep drop better than him for example, and maybe even his backhand trickle boast off around the service box area is one if not the best on the circuit. Add to this an ultra fast racket preparation on the backhand side that enables him to volley  very efficiently or play the ball in situations where most players would ask for a let.
Peter Barker is a different case. The question is not yet if he can make it to the world #1 spot, but rather if he can break into the top5. He's been now in the top10 for four years, peaking for a single month at #6 and usually standing at #8. If you watch psasquashtv, you might have noticed through the chat board that many consider him one of the most boring players to watch. Nevertheless, he's got some great qualities that for us club players must be valuable to observe. First of all, his movement - he's one of the most fluent movers on the tour. In comparison with Nick Matthew's brutal steps, landing generally on his heels, Barker employs more absorption due to landing rather on his toes (this is of course less visible in the below rally playing against Matthew as he has to do an awful lots of work to stay in the rally). If he seems to be a lot more 'lost' on the court against the top players compared to Matthew, this is due to the speed of perception and the reading of the game - factors in which Matthew is on the top of the scale, whereas Barker not. The other main positive of Barker's game is the quality of his basic strikes - as with the movement, racket preparation and the basic strokes are just pure and harmonic, close to perfect. The third positive is evident: his fitness level and his body strength are spot on, nobody can ask for more (there might be still an edge to progress his leg speed though).
Now to the weaker points. We already mentioned the reading of the game, but this is something that gets better with experience, so we might expect progression in this factor in the coming years.The second, and maybe main default is definitely his touch. His drops are lacking confidence and he struggles to find the right angles when he goes for the nick. But not being a natural talent shouldn't discourage, Nick Matthew's example proved it clearly, this is something that you can improve dramatically if you force it enough at training. And I do believe that Barker is finally aware of this, and started to focus on it. I was very much impressed with his performance against Matthew at the World Series Finals at the Queens Club in January: he was going short almost as frequently as Matthew himself and the quality was also way better than just a couple of months earlier. And in the below rally too, he plays some good counter-drops out of difficult situations (he does the fatal error though when he had time to prepare at the last shot).
To conclude, I would say that if Barker manages to analyse his weaknesses as coolly and consequently as Nick Matthew does his owns, and if he is keen to keep investing physically all the hard work that is required on this level to rectify them, I would not exclude that in two years time, or maybe earlier, he achieves the level that would allow him to break into the top5. And once you're there, you never know... and also, as said in the last post concerning Daryl Selby, let's remember: British players are often latecomers, they don't let themselves discourage because they are stubborn in the positive sense of the term.

LATECOMERS I. : DARYL SELBY

English squash is on a high, Nick Matthew is world #1, James Willstrop is a pretty constant actor of the world top5, Peter Barker of the world top10 and recently, in the last 18 month it's Daryl Selby who shows incredible improvement both game- and ranking-wise. You might remember that epic rally that Daryl lost to David Palmer - according to the incredible quality of retrieving that can be seen in the below rally, I don't think he ever again would lose a single point from such a situation. I shall come back with some more detailed analysis about his game soon, and Peter Barker shall not be forgotten either as in the last couple of months there are definitely signs that he has understood what are (were) his crucial deficits that did not allow him to compete really with the top guys, but for now just lay back and enjoy the below one!

THE DIVING KING IN ACTION AGAIN: DAVID PALMER vs. WAEL EL HINDI

It's definitely a funny collision, but I wonder how could the referee give a 'let' as Wael El Hindi played a great deceptive trickle-boast that made David Palmer go the wrong way and then the ball just came back towards him and El Hindi couldn't play his shot because he was collapsing due to Palmer lying next to him on the ground. Palmer pretends that El Hindi stepped on his foot and this is why he couldn't clear - but that's a poor reasoning as he was lying on the ground hence couldn't have cleared in time anyway. But it has to be said that Palmer is defending his false point a lot more professionally than El Hindi his right point, which means that intellectually he is more accurate and probably that too adds to the difference between a great and a 'just' very good player.

NOT BEING AFRAID OF THE NASTY PLAYER: RAMY ASHOUR vs. ANTHONY RICKETTS

Let's talk less technique this time and bit more psychology; anyway, squash is full of psychological aspects as the two players are basically closed within a 'small cube' in which they are constantly very near to each other physically and  also because of the very high degree of deception that one has to employ to win points. In the below sample, we have young Ramy Ashour playing furious 'mad max' Anthony Ricketts in early 2007. Ricketts is obviously frustrated with both Ashour's shot-making and retrieving. At certain moments, he expresses his frustration in some really strange manner, like for example that half kick-half flick in the air at 0:15. He is rude with the referee who misses the score and spreads some nasty look towards Ashour, without really looking into his eyes. And what does Ashour do at this point? Nonchalantly asks the referee if he's sure that the score is not the other one? I think this reply is just part of Ashour's natural genius; when someone tries to intimidate you orally or with any type of meta-communication on the court, the worst you can do is to try to counter it in a similar manner. It won't work as it was the other guy who started that 'game' and he will feel that he managed to pull you into his trap. The other wrong solution would be to express your disgust with any type of 'educational' comments - again, he would feel like he managed to derail your concentration and to get under your skin at some degree. A better solution could be just being quiet, make it look as if you wouldn't even perceive his behaviour. But this is risky as you very probably have some thoughts about what he is doing, and repressing them might be counter-productive. So the best solution seams to me the one that Ramy employed: humour and sarcasm; "you are upset, dude, no problem, I still enjoy the game, well I even enjoy that you waste your energy with upsetting yourself more and more, so if you like it, just go on...".

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.

THE SHOT OF THE CENTURY: by DAVID PALMER

I've already pointed out a couple of times that David Palmer in general doesn't go for the inch-perfect ball, he rather looks to find the angle that makes the ball fade into the side-wall. And it's the same story in the below rally; watch the reaction volley drop at 0:08, the boast at 0:13, the cross drop flick at 0:15 or the counter-drop at 0:17, in each case the ball goes safely way above the tin and fades perfectly into the side-wall making his opponent stretch and cutting his options to return the ball in diverse angles. But then, at the end, there was no other option, after Ashour's lob that stuck near around the middle of the back-wall, he had to go for the inch-perfect shot, and with a shortened grip, David Palmer hit a Ramy Ashour-like crazy poetic deep drop into the nick. The public erupts and Joey Barrington calls it rightly "the shot of the century".

KEEPING THE COMPOSURE: THIERRY LINCOU vs. JAMES WILLSTROP

This one is just a great classy rally with the two players who have maybe the most impressive physical commitment towards the game next to Nick Matthew. Thierry Lincou has got maybe the most majestic body language on the PSA tour whereas James Willstrop has got probably the quickest racket-preparation on the backhand side coupled with one of the best reaches on the volley. This match was played early 2009, I was lucky enough to witness it live, and after just having seen these two again a few weeks ago at the Queens Club, it's pretty evident that Thierry Lincou has lost some speed compared to two years ago - nevertheless, his composure is still royal, and a part the top3 he still sticks more than decently with anybody on the tour.Concerning James, he is remarkably strong but struggles to beat Ramy and Nick and I think he will continue to do so as long as he doesn't integrate into his repertoire the volley kill into the nick - a shot that the top three Egyptians - and in the last 12 months also Nick Matthew - use at every loose serve or in other similar situations where the ball comes at shoulder heights around the service box; Willstrop hardly plays this shot, he did one against Ramy in the semis of the Tournament of Champions in New York a few days ago and he was so happy about it - so let's hope that will give him some confidence and he'll integrate this kind of a drill into his training regime, so that he can employ it more often and naturally in match situations.

SQUASH GOING CRAZY: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS 2011 NEW YORK

No Let! The Squash Video Blog is generally not about news and actualities, but this time there is no way not to mention this: yesterday's semi-finals at the Tournament of Champions in New York saw two contrasting matches that showed, each in its own way, the absolutely best of squash. In the first encounter, Ramy Ashour created an even for his standards rare and crazy masterpiece, executing the still very well playing world #4 James Willstrop in little more than 30 minutes. There must have been about 20 volley kills into the nick in the three games and, apparently inspired by Ramy, even James, who in general thinks twice before going for it, has found a hilarious one towards the end of the second game - receiving standing ovation both from the crowd and from Ramy. Compared to the outrageous fast pace and surrealistic shot-making of the first semi-final, the second match of the night between squash legend Amr Shabana and current world #1 Nick Matthew offered a steadier and more conventional rhythm, both players waiting patiently for the openings before going for the attack. After a tight first game, Matthew won the second easily and it looked all over after 2:0 to the younger and fitter player. But from there the drama has started, and after facing two match-balls, Shabana equalled it to 2:2. In the below example, look at the precision, the retrieving and the accuracy level that these two were capable of producing after 87 minutes and 11:10 in the fifth game on match-ball. Incredible. So folks, if you don't want to miss the very promising final between the back in form Ramy Ashour and the currently seemingly unbeatable world #1 Nick Matthew, you better stay awake late and get on psasquashtv or bet365 to watch the pinnacle of this beautiful tournament.

RUBBERMAN GREGORY GAULTIER vs. SHOT-HOLDER ADRIAN GRANT

In general, pro squash players seam not to have joints, ligaments and tendons, the brutal forces and weights they put on them is just out of the reasonably conceivable. Probably the most flexible and the quickest of all of them is rubber-man Gregory Gaultier. Have a look at that incredible get in the left back corner at 0:14, he was down in a split, lost in between his racket, then picked it up with the left hand, passed it onto the right hand whilst standing up quickly enough to get to the opposite corner in the front, just to being sent back again to the back corner. Absolutely hilarious. I'm not sure there is any other sport that requires that much dynamism and athleticism. Let's don't forget to mention how beautifully Adrian Grant was playing his last three shots. First one would already have been a winner against many players; he did so well not to panic for the drop and at last played another perfect length. Observe the early racket-preparation and the extended hold he employed for the last two drives.

ADJUSTING THE HOLD OF THE GRIP: AMR SHABANA

Last week I had the opportunity the watch Amr Shabana live at the World Series Finals at the Queens Club. I knew beforehand that he is often modifying his grip according to the type of shot he is facing, but I wasn't aware that he is doing it basically on every shot (when time allows it of course). It starts with the serve, he is holding the racket grip very high, then whilst waiting the return he swaps it into the conventional position just to readjust it at every single shot. Basically whilst he is waiting for his opponent's shot, his fingers are constantly 'playing' with the racket grip (- maybe also in order to have some 'air-conditioning' where sweat could appear quickly). This way, he adjusts both the heights of the grip and the angle of the racket-head. In general it's not one movement, but two or even three, as for a matter of precision his fingers have to look for the perfect position gradually. It's tough to see that on the screen, but in the below rally there is nice example as he is finishing the rally with a drop into the nick; at first sight it might look as if he was just shaking the racket to deceive an early shot, but in fact the racket was shaken because he was adjusting his fingers around the grip twice to enable him to hold the racket higher as he was in search for total control. Higher grip = more control; lower grip = more pace.

(FAIR)PLAYING THE BALL I.: RAMY ASHOUR vs. JAMES WILLSTROP

One of the best spirited pairings on the pro tour is the one between James Willstrop and Ramy Ashour. So few lets, such free-flowing rallies. There would have been so many players other than Ramy (or even Ramy against some other less well-mannered players) stopping and asking for 'let/stroke' at 0:09 or at 0:16, and then it could have been Willstrop's turn at 0:19. But instead they keep playing the ball in the name of fun and fair-play. Another positive thing to mention again is the quality of the video; a main camera following the ball coupled with electrifying sound quality from both on and off-court (with some finely exaggerated echo-effects) make the non-live watching experience so much more enjoyable. Let's hope, psasquashtv transmissions will achieve this level too one day on a constant basis.