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| Attack, Defend, or Changeover: Shot Selection ... | |
| .. the most signficant mistakes players make are related to shot selection... |
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| By Alistair Duncan, Scottis Squash
Rackets Club, Maryhill, Glasgow. As a coach, I feel that the most significant mistakes players make are related to their shot selection. By this, I mean that a player like Power hits his winners, not off an opponent's well-selected, well-played shots, but off shots resulting from poor shot selection. Having spent a memorable week in Aberdeen at the British Open, watching the best squash players in the world play some superb matches, I was left with the feeling that even these top players pay less than adequate attention to the importance of their opponents when deciding which shot to play. For example, their attempts at keeping their reply "tight" were often thwarted by their opponents, who would not only reach the ball, but who would also be able to put them under even more pressure with well thought out replies. Many moons ago, I played regularly against Bruce Headey (then a lecturer at Strathclyde University), who believed there were only three types of shots in squash: "attacking", "defensive" and "changeover". Also, Bruce asserted that most points were lost when either player failed to recognise that a "changeover" shot had been played. Over the years, my belief in that statement has evolved, from mild scepticism, into a wholehearted acceptance of it as the best description of what is involved in playing controlled squash that I have heard. May I describe as accurately as I can what I believe Bruce meant? Attacking Shots: When a player has total choice of shot to play. This can range from an outright winner to a shot that increases the pressure on an opponent. Or, conversely, due to poor selection or execution, a shot that allows an opponent to attack: a "changeover" shot. Defensive Shots: When a player's choice is restricted to ensuring that the opponent cannot finish the rally off his return. Top players sequence their shots. They play shots into areas where they know their opponent has a limited choice of "escape avenues", and then close down those "escape avenues". This enables them to hit the ball earlier, thus applying more pressure if the opponent hits into these areas. To enable a good defensive shot to be played, an awareness of these "escape avenues" is necessary, and an avoidance of hitting the ball through them is essential. Winners can be played from defensive shots, and, with careful selection, a "changeover" shot is always possible. Changeover Shots: When an attacking player becomes a defensive one, and vice versa. The players in Aberdeen confirmed my belief in "Bruce's Law". They are so good themselves, that they forget how good their opponents are. Time after time, players had an excellent attacking shot played against them. Instead of recognising the need to defend, they tried to attack by hitting through the "escape avenues", with the consequence, if not of losing the rally immediately, then of having an even more difficult next shot to deal with. Similarly, opportunities to attack were not recognised. At this level, any failure to seize the initiative is punished; the opponent exploits the weakness, and a rally that could have been won is lost. |
