started doing some solo drills there recently and they seem to help alright. had to have wrist fusion surgery, so thats why i could keep up running etc. the wrist is my playing wrist, and its partially fused now which left me with 50% less movement but it does not affect my play too much. it actually helps in some ways because my wrist is cocked permenantly now.  playing any squash is better than no squash at all i suppose.....

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Years ago periodisation was not really thought about and players tended to train the same most of the year and then at Christmas would have a layoff, mostly because families were away and clubs closed etc..  The long jogs, especially your 14kl  marathons are part of building up the aerobic base, and mostly done in the off-season, or holiday season. Mind you, 14kl is probably a bit excessive for squash.

You did not mention where you injury was, as I was a bit curious, that you could keep up  your aerobic base training without playing squash.  The marathon training would not have helped your squash skills, court specific movement, rhythm, tactics, but I guarantee your lungs are in good shape.  That is not much consolation when you are fit as a fiddle and get beaten in three games!

On court is where you should be spending your time now brushing up on the skills through solo drills, routines, restricted games, and matches.  When your skills are becoming consistent and accurate then focus on tactics.

Good luck; have a plan, evaluate your progress, and you cannot go wrong.

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thanks rita,

i was training for a marathon while i was out of squash due to injury actually, although i didnt actually compete because i found it very hard going on the knees once i went above 14 miles. i find that long distance running does not really benefit a squash player, although i find fartlek training quite good. i also think that leg weights dont slow you down, rather the opposite actually. ie you can take off much faster and recover from lunges with greater speed and ease. thanks for advice

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Fatness - the relevant page tags are up on the left which will also take you to the Library Training relevant section.  It is a lot of reading, but there are many points there for you to consider.  How does the sum 1 week off x 3 weeks to recover, eg 6 months off = 26 weeks x 3 - wow that is 78 weeks.  The only way to avoid such a long journey back is to keep some form of cross training going while taking time out, and in the case of illness or injury this is only a compromise.  What happens during a lay off:

• The heart rate goes back to that of a sedentry person, say 75/80bpm
• Weight gain as the calories seem to sit on our love handles!
• The game specific movements get slow, and we have trouble reading the play.
• Our match endurance falls away and takes time to build up due to lack of muscle strength.

And, of course there is more.  My suggestion is to keep a Diary, plan your training sessions, break the sessions into skills, restricted games, drills, and match play to lengthen the sessions.  Weights will make you slow but stronger, depending on the number of sessions you are doing.  Don't overtrain, but progressive overload is good, and patience.  Don't get discouraged by comparing yourself with your opponent, eg it is the lowering of your resting pulse, the increase in your speed that matters. Providing those things are improving just keep going; if they stay the same review your training schedule.

True, some people are born natural athletes.

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