Blog

US Squash Establish National Training Center

21/9/2018

US Squash and Drexel University announced their agreement to enter into a long-term sublease allowing US Squash to invest $27 million to transform the 32nd Street Armory into a national center to serve the U.S. squash community. Check out the full article here.

Pictured: The proposed Arlen Specter US Squash Centre.

Currently, US Squash is leading the charge in terms of growth and participation in squash; showing a 66% growth overall since 2010 and is recognised as the 12th fastest growing sport in the US. This growth of the game does not stop there, the collegiate setting has also grown 61% since 2005 with 89 mens and 53 womens programs across the country.

This can only bring positive things to the game. Stay tuned and keep an eye out for some young American juniors set to come through the ranks in the near future.

"Dream Crazy"

10/9/2018

Nike's Dream Crazy has just aired and has already been viewed by over 21 million people on Youtube. The "Dream Crazy" campaign contains a series of clips of those who many consider now as sporting icons. The ad shows them overcoming adversity and striving to become the best ever in their sport or to even become bigger than their sport.

"If you don’t dare to try and chase your dreams, you'll rob yourself the joy of doing it. Don't just dream it". - Serena Williams
“Today’s dreams are the foundation of tomorrow’s reality” – Dr Marc Dussault

Free Match Friday! Women's Special!

31/8/2018

To celebrate all the women in our game, we have compiled a selection of some of the best female matches in the modern era! Check it out below!

For those that enjoyed these videos make sure to check out and subscribe to SQUASHTV as they are the premium provider of squash broadcasting. If you would like a discount on your SQUASHTV subscription, click this link and type in "eastcoast10" for 10% off.

Free Match Friday!

17/8/2018

You know what time it is? Thats right! FREE MATCH FRIDAY! Below we have compiled another selection of free matches that you can have access to RIGHT HERE! If you missed our first Free Match Friday click here.

For those that enjoyed these videos make sure to check out and subscribe to SQUASHTV as they are the premium provider of squash broadcasting. If you would like a discount on your SQUASHTV subscription, click this link and type in "eastcoast10" for 10% off.

A Day In The Life

13/8/2018

Have you ever wondered what its like being a professional squash player? Well your in luck! PSA Squash TV along with some independent short film makers have documented the training and day-to-day activities of some current squash professionals. View them below.

For those that enjoyed these videos make sure to check out and subscribe to SQUASHTV as they are the premium provider of squash broadcasting. If you would like a discount on your SQUASHTV subscription, click this link and type in "eastcoast10" for 10% off.

Free Match Friday!

27/7/2018

To celebrate free match friday we have compiled a selection of free matches that you can have access to RIGHT HERE!

For those that enjoyed these matches make sure to check out and subscribe to SQUASHTV as they are the premium provider of squash broadcasting, covering all major competitions.

David Palmer Inducted into Hall of Fame

21/7/2018

David Palmer, also known as “The Marine” due to his insatiable work ethic and never die attitude has recently being inducted into the Australian Commonwealth Games Hall of Fame.

Pictured: David Palmer (Source: Commonwealth Games 2018)

Palmer is the most successful Australian player in squash history at the Commonwealth Games recording a total of 9 medals (4 Bronze medals, 2 Silver medals and 3 Gold medals). Palmer’s most recent success came at the 2018 Commonwealth Games where he won a Gold medal with partner Zac Alexander in the men’s doubles.

A full article detailing Palmer’s induction can be found here. For more information about past Commonwealth Games results and history, check out our infographic.

Below is a replay of Palmer's Gold medal match against Peter Nicol and a tribute that was created once Palmer announced his retirement from the game in 2012.

Tips To Improve Your Service Game

18/6/2018

In our previous serve and return of serve blog, we discussed how the serve is one of the most underutilised shots in a match. We even gave you some expert tips from 3x World Champion, Nick Matthew (If you missed it, click this link). In this article we will give you a few tips to help in choosing the right serve.

Pictured: Nick Matthew making the most of his serve at the Canary Wharf Squash Classic.

Identify the type of court and how the court plays. Some courts play quite fast and may be suited to the occasional body serve, others have extremely high roofs which may favour the lob serve. Identifying how the courts play should be done in the warm up (check out our blog to see how you can most of your warm up), which can be done by hitting a variety of shots such as lobs, hard cross-courts, softer cross-courts etc.
Identify the conditions. In winter where the courts are colder, a serve has to be hit a little harder to get the ball to carry through to the side and backwall. The opposite is true in summer, you have to be careful not to overhit the ball and may even need to apply some extra cut.
Check where your opponent is standing. If your opponent is standing really high up on the court, a lob serve will be better suited. On the contrary, if the opponent is standing right at the back of the court, a hard serve directed at the corner or a serve that hits the sidewall deep in the court could be a really effective tool as it will jam the opponent up in the corner.
Slow down. Too many people rush the serve! Slow yourself down so you are set up to execute the serve to the best of your ability.
Choose a target to serve the ball at. Do not serve the ball unless you have chosen a specific target. Choosing a target will help you in limiting your opponent’s options when returning the serve (if they return it) and therefore narrow the possibilities that you will have to prepare for.
Commit the serve! It’s the only way you will get the most out of your serve!

Pictured: Cameron Pilley serving at the Commonwealth Games.

If you enjoyed these tips and are looking for more ways to improve your service game or your return of serve, then we highly recommend joining us for our serveand return of serveclinics! Using deliberate practice principles, you will learn in minute detail what you need to plan to do, what to be thinking and then what to do to remove the serve and/or the return of serve as a disadvantage and turn it into an advantage!

Some of the topics covered in the 2 hour clinics are as follows:

The Serve:

How to prepare for your serve
The difference between the FH and BH serve
Learn the service targets
Determine your service style and stroke
Should you serve to a left-hander’s backhand?
Where should you go once you’ve “served’?
When should you serve?
The mental aspect of the serve
The #1 thing to avoid when serving

The Return Of Serve:

Where you should stand
Your ROS target hierarchy in order of preference
Where you should go once you complete your ROS
Your approach to the ROS
The mental aspect of the ROS
How to practice the ROS
Why the ROS is so “hard”

To book your place in the serve clinic click here.

To book your place in the return of serve clinic click here.

Please note there are only a limited number of clinics that are going to be run, so get in quick!

The Value of the Serve and Return of Serve

11/6/2018

The serve and the return of serve can dictate the outcome of the whole rally, though many people do not take the opportunity to use this to their advantage. This is a crazy thought since the serve is the only time during a match that you can hit the ball wherever you would like... and you feed yourself the ball!

Pictured: Ramy Ashour serving to start the rally.

In the professional game, studies have shown that the serve hits the side wall prior to the player receiving the ball 83% and 72% of the time on the forehand and backhand sides, respectively. The received ball was returned to the back of the court 80% of the time, 54% of these returns were a straight drive, 46% were cross-court drives, and the ball was more often directed to the opponent’s backhand side (61%). Below, Nick Matthew discusses the his views on the importance of the serve and return of serve.

At East Coast Squash Academy, we agree with Nick! For that reason, we will be running two 2-hour clinics focused solely on the serve and the return of serve using deliberate practice principles. Join us to understand how to take your serve and return of serve to the next level and make them both as effective as possible!

For more information about how the serve and return of serve clinics can help you, click on the links above or contact us here.

Balgowlah Impress at CHS Competition

4/6/2018

Earlier in May, the combined high schools competition was held at Thornleigh. For the first time in over a decade, a team of 6 boys from Balgowlah Boy's High School entered the competition.

Pictured L-R: James, Jonah, Mitchell, Liam and Aaron. (Missing: Tom and Seb).

Under the tutelage of director Aaron Frankcomb, the boys were able to make it to the semi-finals of the competition. Balgowlah eventually lost out to the eventual winners in a 3 match tie that was decided by a games count back.

East Coast Squash Academy would like to congratulate all of the boys involved! This is a great result for a team that has only been playing since October 2017! Keep your eyes peeled as there will be big things to come from this group!