Being put on Hold

All

It's important to diligently practice the technical aspects of the game properly and regularly with care.

We all have room for improvement. Here's something:

In order to keep your opponent guessing, a player's stroke technique needs to be based on sets of two-fold shots. 

Two-fold shots? Yes. The possibility of having two choices whenever you strike the ball. 

If you're a type of player whose balance and footwork are grossly flawed resulting in you bouncing off the walls in full pursuit of the ball, you will not have any choices whatsoever. You'll be playing the game as if you're a pinball in an arcade game. Consequently, you or your team's fortunes, if you're playing doubles, will suffer for not being able to create winning opportunities. You'll miss 100% of your shots if you can’t take them.

The key to unlocking this two-fold shots ploy is to have good footwork and balance.  

The more balanced and capable your movement is around the court, the more time will be garnered giving you choices of shots at the ready. The less balanced and rushed you are: the fewer the choices. 

Having these qualities allows a player to move quickly and nimbly to set up; thereby enabling him to strike the ball in a neutral, uncommitted, and pre-conceived fashion.  

What do I mean by this?

Neutral in this case is setting up the strike of the ball without giving your adversary tell-tale signs of what you are planning to execute. 

Having developed this attribute, a player will soon be able to establish THE HOLD - a ball striking technique of pausing the stroke ever so slightly while staying balanced, thereby forcing your opponent to commit to the WRONG alternate shot.

Imagine what your foe is thinking if he is not provided with any hint of what you intend to strike. By getting to the ball early as a result of good footwork and balance and "holding", your set-pose will be paused just long enough before the strike of the ball. And with time dwindling, your opponent will have no other choice but to commit to a shot based on a guess.  

The striker should then instantly take this fleeting opportunity to hit the CONTRARY shot after the opposing player commits prematurely to the alternate shot - a drive down the wall if the adversary is intent to move forward to chase a roll corner, or a drop shot if he is moving back for a drive.

Available shot choices:

Shots to the front court: straight-drop, three-wall boast, double-boast, roll corner shot, reverse corner shot

Shots to the back court: lob, rail, cross-court, skid-boast, Philadelphia

Of these choices, which shot would elegantly contrast with another?

Shots that would compel your opponent to think about how he should pursue the next shot; whether to go left or right, lift the racket up or down, weight forward or back. If the protagonist can delay composing and framing the shot, the opponent must guess and commit to that guess - sealing his fate.

It's worthwhile spending the time to develop good footwork doing court drills to enable this ploy. By doing so you will have a subtle but very powerful technique and the joyful satisfaction of discovering the broad range of skills that make squash, particularly Doubles, a very compelling and enjoyable game to play. 

Holding the ball is the ultimate disguise in squash.

John

FUTURE TOPICS THAT I AM CONSIDERING:

Picking the right partner/making the mistake of choosing the wrong partner 

Playing left wall or right wall

Playing with an agressive or passive partner