Is Anyone Out There?

Published: 24 Aug 2007 - 22:51 by raystrach

Updated: 24 Aug 2007 - 22:51

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I am not sure whether it is age, laziness or both, but I cannot believe that it has been 4 months since my last Squash Blog. Time certainly speeds up as you get older. There is also never enough hours in the day.

But enough of my excuses...

Whilst I have been playing very little Squash but doing a few hours of coaching a week, nothing of note has happened except the constant struggle to stay a even the tiniest bit fit and the challenge of getting those set in their ways, to improve.

I have not been all the successful on the first front, but I am having some success on the coaching side of things. Mind you, I am constantly inspired, by those who have every right to be old enough to give up trying to improve, but against all odds are doing just that.

It may be harder to teach an old dog new tricks, but it is not impossible.

Now that I have been coaching regularly again for almost 12 months, some of the hard work put in by some of my students is showing up in their results. In the coaching environment, it is pretty easy to see improvement, but when they go up against tough opponents in pressure situations, all the old habits reappear until new ones have been grooved in.

Then, once they get confidence in what they are doing, they don't look back! Winning and playing well becomes a habit, but it can take some time.

The other thing I have noticed about coaching on a more regular basis, is that my own ability to communicate the things that are important, improve out of sight. Just as with any skill, the more practice you get, the better you become. It is not as if you are necessarily learning more about the game itself, although you do start to gain a better understanding of what your students barriers to learning are, it is just that through doing it on a almost daily basis, you get better at it.

Which is probably why when I play my first competitive game in 6 months tomorrow in my local club tournament, I am going to be as rusty as beached ship, or, to keep the nautical metaphors going, like a fish (or in my case a whale) out of water.

Seeing I am going to take up competitive Squash again in a couple of weeks (after getting over a number of not so niggling injuries), I thought I better do something to get me at least partially in the mood.

Wish me luck - I am going to need it!