After going through 8 years of junior squash and 4 years of college squash, I consider myself somewhat of an expert on how US juniors train, play, and develop as squash players. 

The reality is that none of these themes happen to a great enough extent with US juniors.  There is a lot of talk about why US juniors consistently are outperformed by foreign counterparts, and a lot of it stems from simply not playing or training as much as there counterparts across the pond. 

Here are a few guidelines that I will argue if followed will indisputably improve the standard of play in this country. 

1. Play 4-5 times a week consistently year round. 
   
   
2. Do at least 1 hour of focused solo hitting each week
   
   
3. US juniors are tremendously over coached….This one I think needs an explanation, so this list may get a little bit messy.  Although everyone needs coaching so they can improve technique, players also need to play matches and hit solo so they can practice what they have learned and figure out what works and what doesn’t work. 
   
   As a general guideline, I would say no more than 2 private lessons per week.  (Coaches around the United States are putting me on their hit lists right now).  Kids need to figure out some things on their own, so they learn to think for themselves and not just always be told exactly what is right and what is not right. 
   
   Another caveat on this point is that if you are getting lessons with many coaches, kids can be told many different things, which inevitably aren’t exactly the same.  This confuses kids to no end.  I would say try to stick to a couple main coaches and try not to hop around too much.
    
4. Play more matches.  You should have at least a couple matches per week.  And I’m not talking about with your coach.  Players need to compete on a consistent basis to improve.  You should also try your best to play with a range of players, especially when you are young.  Play the old lady who has an awesome lob serve, figure out how to return it.  Play the 40 year old man who just started and can hit the ball hard but has no idea where he is hitting it; learn how to deal with it.  What you don’t want to do is get into a habit of only playing against juniors your own age, or playing only against your coach.  Branch out, it keeps the game fresh. 
   
   
5. Think when you play squash.  Always be thinking of where you’re hitting the ball and why.  One way to improve this is the play simple condition games with only a couple shots, so you really have to think about which shot you play in every instance and what its doing for you.  Many US juniors look great in the warm up, and then everything falls apart the minute they start playing an actual point because they simply don’t think and just hit the ball and run.  You have to think in squash, that’s why it’s not called racquetball. 
   
   
6. Lastly, bring quality to each and every session.  Just being aware of what your doing and why means that your are “switched on” as a player, focus on practicing the right things, which will in turn improve your overall game. 

This is just my 2 cents on US junior development, and some general guidelines I think could go a long way to improving the standard of junior play in this country.  In the end, there is no secret formula.  It boils down to putting in the hard work, and consistently training in a disciplined and smart way. 

Best of luck to all the American juniors out there, check out my new website at www.julianillingworth.com , and if anyone has questions about anything I have said you can reach me at Julian@julianillingworth.com.   Please feel free to contact me about anything you have read here.