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No worries

Mind you I think it might be wise to iron out technique style before you go to the trouble of videoing flawed movement

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Yes, but the point of the videos is to illustrate as correct technique as possible, in matches we compromise our technique under pressure but in a rehearshed sessions like this I would have thought it was paramount to show as accurate as possible the correct technique.

As Iam also pointed out, running in a straight line to the ball with little shoulder turn is not what is desired is it not ?

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• balance
• time to get into position
• the ball sitting at a reasonable height
• nothing too close to the wall
• keep the ball out of the corners

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Thanks Ray.

No worries about the pic link.

Painting the court is good.

Lighting, lighting, lighting, you must up the lighting quality, this will make or break the quality, nothing worse than viewing in this orange half gloom that is so prevalent in online videos.

Also a small thing, but the player we see in in most of the stills, time to drop the canary yellow shorts with an orange shirt  scary stuff even when it was in vogue in the 80's !

Gold membership, this is fee based I would guess, yes ? If so how much ?

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• a future version of the player will be able to "position" the stream
• this particular court is being painted very soon
• there will eventually (within 6-12 months) be hundreds of videos and there will be multiple versions of the same video, each one concentrating on a different aspect of the play
• there will be multiple camera angles of the same skills
• some aspects of the production will be improved in the short term eg transitions
• there will also be opportunities for GOLD members to comment on  each aspect of these(with a discussion page for each library page sub section), to argue with us and with each other as well as being a more general GOLD forum
• if we get some encouragement (in the form of a solid Gold membership base) we will be doing a LOT more over and above what i have just described

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Oh...and I must add, this is a great effort by R&R these videos could be a fantastic learning tool

Getting it right from the kick off is so important, I would really urge you to get much more light on the court you are using, at present it is like a yellow twilight in there, bright "white" light is a must.

If I was starting a long process of filming numerous sessions I would also :

Paint the court which will also brighten up the light greatly and add much more contrast and I would also fix a "squashgame info" banner along the tin, the tin is currently a very ugly "baby poo" brown.

Good luck with it.

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Yes iamspartacus, exactly what I was trying to post as a picture of Ramy, here is a link to the pic : much greater shoulder turn >

http://www.squashsite.co.uk/2007 new/ramy.h28.jpg

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I have to disagree with the guys backhand techinque in the drop drive video. Although I'm no squash master, I find certain question marks in his technique....

his elbow is too far out from his body? (swing not compact/efficient enough)

not enough shoulder turn? possibly because he runs straight at the ball instead of an arc and then turning in sideways on (see below - therefore he is using his arm rather than his body/legs to generate power)

He doesn't take the racket back early enough. Rather he has the racket in front of him while he is moving to the ball and then quickly takes it back and swings in one movement. He should have the racket already back as he is moving to the ball (as he DOES DO correctly on the forehand video, incidently) so a little more work on his backhand preparation methinks! if you don't do this then it's impossible to return those crosscourts that kind of half hit the sidewall nick then jump out at an unexpected angle (he wouldn't time to play it if his racket wasn't already back)

Also ,regarding footwork, on both the backhand and forehand sides he is moving to the ball in a straight line, instead of an arc. As a result especially on the forehand side he looks a little cramped up and close to the ball on some of the drives.

I know , I know. but you were bound to get some diffierence of opinion weren't you?

Good job with the videos in general though!

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• It's good that the videos are opening in the current window. I can open my own windows/tabs as necessary. Better than having the web sites guess when I want a new one
  
• The videos don't allow me to "scrub" or position the play head at a given point. If I want to see something again I have to watch the whole video again.
• The faster transitions on the drive videos are better. The page curl on back corner retrieval is a bit obtrusive and long.
• A link to download a quicktime/wmv file would be great for future reference
• Multiple camera angles of the same shot may be helpful, particularly on the length drives so we can see where the drive ended up (full length, dying length etc.)

• Constructing a rally (tactics). To illustrate the benefit of choosing the right shots to position the opponent and build towards a winner.
• Drop shots
• Knowing where the opponent is. How to find the opponent at the right time (in order to hit away from them) without loosing track of the ball before playing a shot.
• Interference Rules demonstrations. Let/Stroke situations and why
• Volleying to length
• Returning tight lob serves

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The quality of the videos - Not bad, better lighting needed though for sure.

Volume levels - are good, nice and clear

Problems, if any, with opening/playing - open fine for me.

Our production approach - eg more text, less talk??  - slow mo is good, more explanation of technique is required I reckon though.

Length of the videos - Like to see them longer with more detail on technique.

What topics you would like to see - everything, but especially advanced shot selection and tactics.

One point :

Should not the backhand begin with a lot more shoulder turn to the back wall  ?

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