Coaching and Development

British Open picture special by Patrick Lauson By Alan Thatcher, Squash Mad Editor Lunging is a big part of a squash player’s workload. The fact that most players take it for granted shows what phenomenal athletes they are. The lunge is often used as a player moves in to keep the ball in play when [...]

One Health sponsor world champion’s Sheffield academy By FAYE ANDREWS   Squash superstar Nick Matthew has taken the first steps to securing a lasting legacy in the sport by teaming up his own academy with One Health Group, the Apex Squash and Racketball Programme and the Hallamshire Squash Club in a unique partnership. The Sheffield-based three-time [...]

Taking a new, in-depth look at the warm-up By DAVE IRESON   We all hear people discussing “warming up” and “cooling down”, and many of us choose to ignore these elements of sport, more than likely because the science or benefit behind it has never been explained to us, or indeed how these things impact [...]

Parents, teachers and coaches show they care when pushing pupils to succeed By DANNY MASSARO – Squash Mad Guest Editor   The phrase “pushy parent” is mostly used in derogatory terms. It insinuates a controlling parent being overbearing on the poor victim child, who would do much better if their mum or dad backed off. What [...]

Changing pace is the key to greatness By JOSH TAYLOR – Squash Mad Coaching Columnist What do Mo Farah, Barcelona FC, and Amr Shabana all have in common? Obviously they are multiple-time champions of their disciplines and they are all loved by their fans. But why do we love them and why are they so successful? What [...]

Squash? Mad for it in Manchester as growth of top-class strategy and academy delivers results By CHRIS LENGTHORN (2008-2015 Manchester Head Coach)   Manchester has been named the “home of squash” since the Commonwealth Games took place here in 2002. The programme since that day has grown in participation, structure, performance and engagement. The last [...]

A female-only environment can help nervous women to get to grips with squash By LAUREN SELBY – Off The Wall Squash Academy   My first coaching session today is ladies’ morning, a mixture of different characters, abilities and ages. All the ladies are a pleasure to coach, eager to learn, but nothing is taken too [...]

Top coach Brad Hindle leads summer squash camps in St Petersburg Leading squash coach Bradley Hindle arrives in Russia in July. There will be squash camps under his leadership. The venue will be the RC CLUB, a recently opened sports centre in the heart of Saint Petersburg. Hindle is moving into coaching after a successful playing [...]

Sports culture in South Africa brings hundreds of children to the squash courts  By JOSH TAYLOR – Squash Mad Coaching Correspondent   As squash in England is reeling from the publication of the latest set of participation figures, there are plenty of lessons to be learned from a sports-mad country like South Africa. Let’s begin [...]

Spirit of Squash urban programme grows in London’s east end By Alan Thatcher, Squash Mad Editor Insert Urban squash programmes are firmly established in the USA. We may be a little slow to catch up here in the UK but the Spirit of Squash Academy in London is continuing to set the pace.  In a [...]

If we learn from Gregory Gaultier, maybe we should start calling it the GG-Spot By TONY GRIFFIN – Squash Mad Coaching Correspondent and Author of G-Spot Squash Let’s talk this week about a scientific question that has been around ever since the game was invented: Where is the G-Spot in squash? One of the cleanest hitters in the [...]

Ramy Ashour reluctantly retired, but don’t take anything away from the Big Man Omar Mosaad  By ANDY WHIPP – Squash Mad Special Correspondent. Pictures by IRENA VANISOVA    Squash Mad invited Andy Whipp (right), the former world No.64 and a member of the Benz Bavarian Duffield squad in the Premier Squash League, to take an [...]

  Getting the racket back as well as up is key to a clean, effective swing By TONY GRIFFIN – Author of G-Spot Squash   I have always been fascinated by what makes a good swing. Watch the truly great players, like Amr Shabana, and everything seems to flow so smoothly as he strikes the ball. Wherever he is [...]

A more structured approach to your training improves your match-play By JOSH TAYLOR – Squash Mad Coaching Correspondent   How many times do you come off court having played a match not really knowing what went on? How many times do you come off court having played a match not really knowing what went on? Are [...]

Fares has flair and fire in abundance as he rockets up the rankings By NEAL BROOKER – Squash Mad Coaching Columnist   I think its fair to say over the last year or so; anyone who follows squash will have heard the name Fares Dessouki. Fares hails from Alexandria, in Egypt, and has enjoyed an [...]