.Hi there.

I hv help,trained a group of junior college,girls who hardly hit a ball . abt 12  of them in the year 2002. We started by teaching them how to play a fore hand dr. showing them how is done correctly and feeding them balls after balls until they managed to hit them. maybe 10, 20 even up to 50balls each, and tell them it's all right do it again. U should hv seen their joy n grin on their face, when they start to hit them. slowly but  surely each and every one of them becames more confidence and showed great improvement.  We encourage them each tme when they miss and they can only get better as days goes by. As there r, two of us, one ct does foot work and court runs and the other 6 do drills. All this done in six mths and twice a week.

At the end of the we manage to hv a pretty bunch of girls,whom we hope r still playing squash.( mind u, we r not allowed to touch them, even as to show how to lock or cock the risk when doing a rail dr.)

Rgds

Edmond

 

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edmpnd - sorry to harp on the development of co-ordination and skill - we know squash requires a high degree of co-ordination for starters.   If I go back to when I was a beginner, which is what you suggest; for starters I played with a tennis ball, firstly beam at primary school, then "rounders" in the playground, then up against a verandah wall, and then up against the lavatory wall with a racket long before I got near any type of court, or received any type of coaching.  At the time I did not know it but that was my co-ordination development training.  I walked to school, or rode a bike, that was the base of my physical fitness.  These little games were in fact the foundation of my  skills.  

At primary school phy ed starts with a netball (a big ball, a slower ball) for obvious reasons - and I know you would hardly buy a child a squash ball and tell them to go and have some fun, yeah.
To teach beginners, without any training age, irrespective of how old they are  (have never played a ball sport, or a hitting game) makes the job as a coach much more difficult; more frustrating and disappointing for the student, to the point of wanting to give up.

Find a game for beginners where they can achieve something, you can praise them, and they have fun and the rest will take care of itself.

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Hi , there

 1)were u not  a beginner once b4?  how did u get started? Im a level one coach too. and we were taught to come down to the level of the students, u r teaching, inorder for them to understand u. its not difficult. u just hv to think like, how u were once a beginner and proceed fm there.

2) I would like to add that i am a referee as well. most of the times, i hv read that the refereeing was BAD  and pro players were denied. Indeed the were bad calls now and then, as pros they should be able, to take it, as part and parcal of the game, as  referees are human, just like the pros too. both make mistakes. just because pros had a bad day and cannot afford to lose a match, due to a couple of mistakes that led to the bad call, the referee's decision was bad, as in most cases, the pros, are never wrong as they hv  a tough time making a living. wat a bull!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just wonder does the pros ever read the squash rules, and if so do the respect it as rules 15 indicates duties of a player.

Rgds

Edmond1961( singapore)

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Please read the section Squash Library/Activities and Games, as well as modified games,  and get a handle on the progression of skill, and then this link has games for beginners.
This way is more satisfying and more fun too.

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Yeah, Any advice on this would be great. I've just done my Level 1 course aswell but I still find it sort of diffucult to coach COMPLETE Beginners.

cheers

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