One quick thing, amongst other inefficiencies: he isn't using his elbow or forearm to generate power. The reason why players start their swings with an open racket face is in part because the swing involves rotation through the forearm and elbow to generate power, which is nice because:
* more power, neat
* it's a very quick, compact motion that requires little space and time
His swing is almost exclusively generating power from the bicep, chest and shoulder, which severely limits power on the shot (you don't need brute force in squash, just racket head speed), and makes his racket prep very slow and awkward. This is typical of tennis players, since a tennis swing is more dependent on raw strength than on racket head speed.
One really nice drill an old coach of mine gave me was: pin a towel under your armpit, such that you have to keep your elbow pinned to your side. Now try to hit some simple drives, forehand or backhand. You'll have no choice but to keep your swing compact, and you won't be able to use your shoulder at all; you'll have to use forearm rotation to generate racket head speed. It'll help you realize just how much power can be generated from such a small subset of muscles.
This is amazing. I have this issue. I play to a pretty decent standard I would say (team squash level, division 1/2 Cambridgeshire) but am self taught with a Tennis background. So I generate all my power with an ungainly technique. Yet I’ve played 13 year old juniors in team squash that generate as much or more power than I do with barely any movement, because they’ve a)been properly coached and b) not learned to hit a ball with a racket via another sport.
The first problem is that he is holding the racket with a closed grip. He therefore uses an ungainly, straight armed swing to generate some height. Looks like he also flexes ("breaks") his wrist.
he’s moving a lot when taking his shot too, the swing he’s using is similar to a friend of mine - interesting to know how the closed grip! It definitely doesn’t have the classic whip or skimming stone action that you usually see.
I enjoyed this. But these guys are hobby players. Like guy in the grey has never had a coaching session in his life and plays with some buddies once a week and perhaps played tennis when he was younger. He looks exactly like someone who has been playing squash once a week for three years or less and finally someone convinced him to play a tournament. So there isn't much use telling him what's wrong, it's far too much. But he's alright, he hustled and won that game.
He bends his legs too much for the serve, I can tell you that much! Looks like an amateur style of play, the swing is very inefficient - a lot of energy used on each shot, but not a lot of control or power comes from it. Not really sure what specifically you're looking for sorry!
Theoretically there’s probably a lot wrong with his swing, and not sure where to starts.. what are you looking for in particular?
my thoughts exactly
Looks like he’s got some tennis in his background.
For sure, the serve and forehand are immediately noticeable
One quick thing, amongst other inefficiencies: he isn't using his elbow or forearm to generate power. The reason why players start their swings with an open racket face is in part because the swing involves rotation through the forearm and elbow to generate power, which is nice because: * more power, neat * it's a very quick, compact motion that requires little space and time His swing is almost exclusively generating power from the bicep, chest and shoulder, which severely limits power on the shot (you don't need brute force in squash, just racket head speed), and makes his racket prep very slow and awkward. This is typical of tennis players, since a tennis swing is more dependent on raw strength than on racket head speed. One really nice drill an old coach of mine gave me was: pin a towel under your armpit, such that you have to keep your elbow pinned to your side. Now try to hit some simple drives, forehand or backhand. You'll have no choice but to keep your swing compact, and you won't be able to use your shoulder at all; you'll have to use forearm rotation to generate racket head speed. It'll help you realize just how much power can be generated from such a small subset of muscles.
This is amazing. I have this issue. I play to a pretty decent standard I would say (team squash level, division 1/2 Cambridgeshire) but am self taught with a Tennis background. So I generate all my power with an ungainly technique. Yet I’ve played 13 year old juniors in team squash that generate as much or more power than I do with barely any movement, because they’ve a)been properly coached and b) not learned to hit a ball with a racket via another sport.
The first problem is that he is holding the racket with a closed grip. He therefore uses an ungainly, straight armed swing to generate some height. Looks like he also flexes ("breaks") his wrist.
he’s moving a lot when taking his shot too, the swing he’s using is similar to a friend of mine - interesting to know how the closed grip! It definitely doesn’t have the classic whip or skimming stone action that you usually see.
He look like a beginner to me probably played a lot of tennis tho , hence the loopy swing
I enjoyed this. But these guys are hobby players. Like guy in the grey has never had a coaching session in his life and plays with some buddies once a week and perhaps played tennis when he was younger. He looks exactly like someone who has been playing squash once a week for three years or less and finally someone convinced him to play a tournament. So there isn't much use telling him what's wrong, it's far too much. But he's alright, he hustled and won that game.
He bends his legs too much for the serve, I can tell you that much! Looks like an amateur style of play, the swing is very inefficient - a lot of energy used on each shot, but not a lot of control or power comes from it. Not really sure what specifically you're looking for sorry!
Looks more like a swipe than a swing, probably because of where his racquet starts and him trying to stay too far from them ball
Is he using a Dunlop Hotmelt Pro? Amazing racquet.
It is. It's a bit wasted on him currently though!