Runa Reta - WISPA Squash Pro on Tour on www.squashtalk.com

A Precarious Balance ...

When I first started out on the tour, I felt continually plagued by two alternating dispositions: when I was in training, I felt a deep urge to be competing, and when I was finally on the road playing events, all I seemed to want was to be back at home training. What was the reason for this? Clearly, I was having problems figuring out the right balance between training and competition, and in a sport that now runs year-round, finding the right proportions of both has become an ever-increasing challenge for all players on the circuit.

Back in the day, squash season used to run roughly from the beginning of September through to May, thus leaving the summer months open for players to recover and train intensively for the following season. The WISPA tour was also much more predictable, in that most events were staged at the same time of the year every year, making it much easier for players to plot their tournament schedules months in advance.

Today’s tour however, reflects a very different reality. Prestigious, traditionally long-standing events such as the French Open, the JSM Open (in Japan), the Hong Kong Open and even the British Open have now been eclipsed by a multitude of events in nascent squash communities, reaching every nook and cranny of the globe (case in point: in the past three months alone, first-time events for the women have sprung up in Pakistan, Ecuador, Iran and Jamaica). These tournaments are testament to the efforts of the various squash bodies that have worked fastidiously to spread the game of squash worldwide. Although the players welcome the growing number of events on tour, a new challenge has arisen for the athletes who now have to make important individual decisions about which events to play, and when to take time off to train. This task is complicated by the fact that events are held year-round (sometimes simultaneously in different parts of the world), and with the exception of a few bigger events, tend to arise in no particular order (so that an event that ran one year in January for example, may run the following year in April, or perhaps, not at all). Often times, one cannot be sure when or if an event will be running for sure, until just over a month before the event itself is meant to start!

No Handbook Available
So how do players organize themselves in such unfixed settings? After all, there is no handbook that players can defer to in order to know when to compete and when to train.

The truth is that it is a very individualized process involving much trial and error, and an understanding of one’s own body and its responses to both training and competition. Although it is difficult to determine exactly what the right levels of training and competition are needed to optimize performance, there are certain points of reference that can help guide the competitive players among you in finding your own personal balance between the two.

The first point may seem more like common sense than any piece of great advice, but many people (including myself) have fallen prey to this pitfall: playing too many tournaments in a row. There is a fine line that exists between competing at a high level and burning out. Generally speaking, playing a few tournaments back-to-back serves well to sharpen up a player’s game, however there is a point after which every player’s performance can go from outstanding to abysmal, in the blink of an eye. After two years on tour, I have discovered that my own limit to competition is 3 tournaments in a row- after that point, I find it necessary to return home (even just for a few days) in order to recuperate, re-focus and prepare for the next event. My tournament schedule is spaced out accordingly, thus making it easier to plot out periods of training in between. In sum, knowing your own personal limits to competition will not only help you stay fresh and avoid burn-outs, but will also help dictate when to take the time to train.

Committing a specific time for training however, is much easier said than done. Nowadays, there is such a wide array of opportunities, with events continually popping up in new and exciting locations, that it can be painstakingly hard to tear oneself away from competition mode. At the end of the day, you really need to just pick a space of time where you will commit to intensive training, and stick to the schedule regardless of the tempting offers that may arise. I often compare training with taking a pit-stop in a race-car rally- the driver is always reluctant to stop (tempted to see how far he/she can take the car without having to pull over) but common sense dictates that although he/she may lose out in the short term (i.e. falling back on the leader board), stopping at some point is a necessity that every driver must accept in order to finish the race and potentially win. The same principle applies with training for any sport. You cannot expect to compete indefinitely if you are committed to improvement. In order to excel, everyone needs time away from competition to experiment and work on the aspects that will improve the overall game. So for competitors, even though you are foregoing potential ranking points from tournaments occurring while you are out training, it is generally a worthwhile trade-off if you are able to return to the game as a stronger, improved competitor.

The Tactics of the Tour Break
Although taking time to train is inevitable for all competitors, there can still be a fair bit of strategizing as to when to take a break from the competitive scene. To expand on the race-car analogy, pit-stops are generally planned very strategically by the driver and crew, based on the movements of other cars and their own standing/position in the race.

The same can be applied to athletes at the higher echelons of competition. If you are an "in-form" player making a surge up the rankings with great results in a string of events, it probably isn’t the best time to stop abruptly in order to take time off to train. Conversely, if you have been holding your position effectively in the standings and feel that you can afford to take time off without slipping too far behind in the rankings, then you should do so. Lastly, competitive players will generally look to see what players ranked around them are doing: are they playing a lot? Have they taken time off to work on their games? How much time? (you can gain this knowledge by checking tournament entry lists regularly) These are important factors to note in deciding what you yourself will do, based on your goals. If, for example, you notice several players ranked just ahead of you taking time off to train, it might be a good opportunity to play some events during that same period to try and overtake them. Alternatively, if you are in desperate need of work on your game, seeing those ranked around you take a break from competitions can signal a perfect occasion to follow suit (having the reassurance that you probably won’t be surpassed in the rankings during that time).

As you can see, there are many tactical aspects that go along with making up training and competition schedules when competing at a high level. But regardless of when you decide to train, the single most important element for all athletes- professional or amateur- is being diligent and focused with your training regiment. The time that you take away from competition is precious and therefore needs to be allocated wisely. Therefore, know what you want to work on and plan accordingly. After several weeks or months of match play, you should have a good idea of what your strengths have been and what needs immediate attention. The more specific you are, the better. Depending on what requires work (and the degree), you will know how much time is needed to complete the task at hand. Obviously, raising your level of fitness is something that necessitates a longer commitment than sharpening up a backhand volley for instance, (which may only take a few days or weeks). You will also learn through trial and error, what your training threshold is (for every player reaches a point where they get sick of training too). Some people enjoy longer bouts of training (2-3 months), while others can gain the best results from shorter periods of work (2-4 weeks).

The Elusive Perfect Balance
Despite the fickle nature of finding this balance, there is one constant that exists. In all competitive sports, there is an underlying cycle that successful athletes tend to follow: training, improvement, application/competition, evaluation, training, etc. The key is to remember that improvement stems from the time that you put into working on your game, while competition is the place to apply and showcase those improvements. You should always leave space to periodically return to the ‘drawing board’ so to speak, in order to assess your development and plot new courses of progress for yourself.

In the end, the only right formula to the balancing act between training and competition is the one that your own body responds and adapts to the best. Finding that equilibrium is a challenge that athletes of all levels across all sports struggle with- that is why we see dips in performance amongst professional athletes, and the occurrence of pervasive injuries (which are often caused by overly demanding playing schedules).

When you think about it, finding the “perfect balance” is in fact synonymous with achieving optimal performance, a state that cannot be made permanent, and will always remain elusive, even to the most talented athletes. Ask Michael Jordan why he was able to sink some 3-pointers at the buzzer and missed others, and he would not have an answer (for he certainly believed that he could make every one of those baskets when the ball left his hands). The truth is, he didn’t make those shots because he is human, and it our humanity, our imperfections, that make the pursuit of excellence in sport that much more exciting and challenging. Jordan came close to perfection, which is testament to his tireless hours of practice and play, and his dogged determination to be the best that he could be. We may not leave behind the kind of legacy that Jordan did, but we can push ourselves to our own personal limits of excellence in both realms of training and competition, through diligence and attention to detail on both fronts. That is the great challenge and joy that we should all strive to extract from sport at the end of the day.