Focus on the game- by Ron Beck « Tommy's

This column will talk about getting your mind focused inside the court, on the game.

Let's walk around a squash tournament and instead of watching the matches going on inside the court, let's observe the players who have matches coming up later in the evening. What are they doing to get their "head into the game" – to get themselves totally focused on the match?

Talk to any squash player – in fact any athlete – and they will tell you that this is one of the most critical, and one of the most elusive aspects of being successful in competition. No player can tell you for sure how they will play the next day, or an hour from now, or five minutes from now. The most successful athletes have worked out a routine and approach that works most successfully for them. And its a surprisingly individual exercise. To succeed you need to intellectualize a few key elements:

Peak performance doesn't just happens, you have to prepare for it mentally. You need to have an individual method that works for you, that you understand, that is repeatable, that is not dependent on another certain person (for example a coach, partner, parent) being present. Preparation begins sometimes weeks in advance – your mental state on the day of the match may depend on your self confidence about your preparations. You can control this by maximizing those preparations. The environment (crowd, court conditions, time of day, temperature) can impact your performance; do everything you can to mentally prepare for the environment in advance. Prepare for a specific opponent. Scout how your opponent will act on court, and mentally prepare for his tactics, gamesmanship, approach. You can impact your opponent's mental focus. Be aware of this, and also of your opponent's ability to impact your mental focus.

Now let's go back to that walk around the squash tournament. First let's go to a pro tournament. Jonathon Power is up next. What's he doing? First of all, he's alone. That's an important ingredient for success for many (BUT NOT ALL) players. Jonathon want it all internal. Second of all, he's under the grandstand. That's Power's favorite place – under the stands. I think it accomplishes a few things for him. First, noone will think to look for him under the stands. So he gets the solitude he wants to concentrate. Second, he can't see the court from under the stands. So he won't get distracted by what's happening on court. Third he's stretching. Most top players go through an extensive set of warmups, from stretching to jogging to sprinting, to make sure they're ready for peak performance at the opening bell.

Now here's Peter Nicol. He's got a different approach — Peter is up in the stands. He's already done all his stretching and warmups in the locker room. So its invisible to his opponents and the fans. Now he's in the stands talking to well wishers and watching the previous match. Evidently, he's looking for a different preparation experience — by chatting with fans he relaxes from the pressure and tension to come. By watching the court, he gets mentally in tune with the flight of the ball, the tempo on court. He takes in the audience, the environment.

Lets go to a junior tournament. There are a lot of different strategies going on here. The most popular one is the headphones and the CD player. Many players find that the music can psych them up and tune out distractions.

The junior players coaches are anxious to speak to their charges before they play. Is that the right thing? Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on the player.

OK now we have a few observations to work from.

You need to develop your own personal approach. It might be taking a shower before your match. It might be a walk outside. It might be a very repetitive routine. It might be arriving a specific amount of time before your match. It might be warming up on the court an hour in advance. It might be talking to your opponent. It might be staying away from your opponent. It might be putting your clothes on in a particular order.

Try different approaches until you discover how to empty your mind of everything except the match upcoming.

Beyond such a routine, lets go through a few essential elements in YOU developing your PERSONAL methodology for focusing on squash.

Get enough Sleep. This may seem like a strange one to start with. But absolutely this is critical. Without sleep your mental focus can't be at its best during your game or match. Especially if you have traveled to a tournament — you are out of your normal routine; it's especially easy to miss the sleep you need. Prepare in advance. If your mental confidence depends on fitness, for example, do the preparation weeks ahead and imprint those in your mind. Whatever your training entails – windsprints, court sprints, mile runs, pressure drills. Do them. And think about your upcoming game. Then when you are preparing for the match; run this through your mind. One successful strategy I often used was to compare my current situation with my training. It works both ways. When training, I would visualize playing against a key opponent, telling myself, for example, "run this stretch harder now, I'm in the fifth game against ___ it's 8-8…". When in the match, "I can't really be tired now, I've run a mile a day for three weeks, this is nothing…" Fitness is just one example. Maybe it's practicing your serve so you feel confident using a particular serve for variety in a critical moment. Prepare for your environment. The courts, the temperature the crowd. If you know you are going to be playing in front of a crowd rooting for your opponent, prepare for that in advance. Think about it. Focus on knowing it. Focus on overcoming it. If the courts are playing a particular way – for example very lively, think that through in advance. What elements of your game will work well on a lively court? Which won't? What about your opponent's game? If you can get access to the court you will be playing on ahead of time, absolutely get onto the court and get used to exactly how it plays in advance. Prepare for your opponent. Do you know your opponent? Have you played him/her before? Did you win or lose last time? Why? Focus on three things: (1) What will your opponent do to beat you (shots, pace, tactics), (2) What can you do to take your opponents strengths away from him (control pace, control use of the court, tactics), (3) What are your strengths and how can you impose those? If you can, watch your opponent in a previous match. Analyze his/her tendancies. Does she always hit a cross court off of a forehand drop, etc. etc. Rehearse your game plan. Keep your game plan simple. Go over it again and again. Have a specific plan for the situation when you want to close out a game and for the situation when you stand way behind in a game. Impact your opponent's mental preparation. Your own body-language, mental focus and mental self confidence can put a dent in your opponent's confidence. The best way to put doubt in your opponent's mind is to put all doubt out of yours. Always believe that you can and will win. Anyone can win on any given day. All the best preparations (outlined above) can maximize your chances. I really fail to understand any player who steps on court not believing they can win.

 

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

Squash articleNo TitleInside Mirka's mind when she is watching Federer in a close match.A classic masterpiece…………………….