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.

​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 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!

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.

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.

​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!

How would you like to join Australia’s leading Squash Academy and pass on your skills and experience in the field of squash to our next generation of Champions? At the East Coast Squash Academy we currently have the perfect opportunity for an exceptional professional female coach to do just that.

As Australia’s elite professional squash academy, we’re looking for an individual with coaching experience to fill this role. This is a unique opportunity, as East Coast Squash Academy is a peak performance centre of excellence that is re-defining the way squash is developed in the community. With over 2,000 squash players spread across multiple locations in Sydney Australia, you’ll have the opportunity to work with various levels of players ranging from grass roots/beginner to the high performance and elite.
 
Our mission is to grow the game of squash throughout all ages and implement a strong structure across our business. We want to give opportunities to rising stars in Australia to play squash full time and have an Academy model in place so that the young generation can have role models and structure to achieve their full potential. 
 
We are looking for a female squash coach with the following attributes:

• Squash Coaching experience with beginner players (both children and adults)
• Experience in organising and running squash camps, exhibitions and member packages; (Commonwealth Games Packages, kids campsand adult squash camps). 
• Experience in coaching sales, retention & building customer base
• Outgoing personality
• Open minded to learning skills that are required
• Open to coach development from Australia’s most successful coaches
• Driven and motivated
• Flexible working hours (be available for lesson’s at 6am in the morning. Be able to coach lessons until 9pm at night)
• Long-term vision vs. short-term vision

We invite you to visit East Coast Squash Academy’s website where you’ll get a sense of what we’re about, how we operate. You will also find information about our team.
 
Our hiring process is based on best practices methodology. The first step is submission of your interest by way of an email with your current CV or short bio. Tell us why you think you’re the right person for this opportunity. Simply be yourself – don’t try to be funny or creative – we just want to get to know you as a person. We know you can play/coach squash, what we’re looking for is an individual with the personality that fits our approach.
 
If your introductory email is successful and it ‘ticks all the necessary boxes’, we’ll send you a personality profile test to further determine if you’ll fit into our team structure. If you make it past that hurdle and you have what we are looking for, we’ll connect with you on the phone or via Skype.
 
In an effort to avoid wasting your time or ours, we’ll be taking a very systemised and deliberate process – to make the best decision to hire the right person and at the same time making sure that you’re 100% committed to following through.

Last weekend, director Aaron Frankcomb successfully competed in the 24thMAASH Open. Following his success, Aaron has shared some of his best warm up tips to help you get on top of your opponent from the word go. 

​In a game of squash you only have 5 minutes to establish how you are going to approach the game… that’s only 2 and a half minutes each side to figure out your opponent! In this time YOU need to do the following: 

​You Need To Identify How The Court Plays- Every court plays differently. Traditional hardback courts play different to traditional courts that have a glass backwall and an all glass court plays differently to both types of courts all-together. Other factors that effect how a court plays includes: the temperature, humidity, the quality/newness of the ball and the flooring. Identifying these factors during the warm up will allow you to adjust the weight of your shots and allow you target specific areas of the court i.e. dead floorboards in the back or front corners. To test how the court plays you need to vary your shot selection (lobs, drops, drives, boasts, cross-courts and kills).
 
You Need To Identify How The Ball Plays – There are three types of balls: a rocket Ball, a standard ball and a dead ball. A rocket ball is typically as hard as a rock and it fly’s around the court. If you identify that you are playing with a rocket ball in the warm up then you will need to adjust your game plan to use the pace of the ball and be really aggressive to the back of the court. A dead ball is typically really soft and spongy, which causes the ball to die quite easily. If you identify that you are playing with a dead ball ball in the warm then you will need to adjust your game plan to use the pace of the ball and be really aggressive to the front of the court. If the ball is neither a rocket ball nor a dead ball and it is playing quite neutral, then you should adjust your weight of shot according to how the court plays.
 
You Need To Identify Your Opponents Weaknesses – The warm up is a perfect opportunity to test your opponent’s skill. Varying both the weight of shot and the height is a good way to see if there are any chinks in their armour. 
 
You Need To Win The Warm Up
Aaron was fortunate to play some of the best players in the world (Greg Gaultier, David Palmer, Thierry Lincou, Mohammed El Shorbagy and Nick Matthew), some of which had an INSTANT presence on court. For Aaron, this was “intimidating” due to the nature that these players would hold themselves.  “Each player followed their presence up with very accurate hitting whilst taking the ball extremely early. This causes the warm up to become very intense and nearly game like, as some players would appear to be so competitive that they look as if they are trying to WIN the warm up by trying to get the ball past you. By holding themselves this way, this causes in many cases their opponents to be psychologically beat before the game has even started”

So, overall what are the lessons that these pro’s taught Aaron during a warm up?
“These lessons for me over the years has taught me to not lower my bar for anyone, as I should play at the level I want to play. This places me in the right mind set from the word go allowing me to varying my shots, take the ball early whilst reacting and responding like a game situation”.

Below are Aaron’s final results from the 24th MAASH Open.

• 1st Round – Aaron Frankcomb vs. Matthew Durda - 3 – 0
• Quarter Final - Aaron Frankcomb vs. Paul Smith- 3 – 0
• Semi Final - Aaron Frankcomb vs. Branighan Swan- 3 – 0
• Final - Aaron Frankcomb vs. Alex Crouch- 3 – 0

 
The East Coast Squash Academy would like to thank and congratulate Jason on running another great event!

Winter is fast approaching and that means its becoming a little harder to warm up the ball! With this in mind, we have provided you with this video to give you a little motivation the next time you step on court for your warm up!

Ps. Make sure you don't forget to warm your body up with some dynamic stretching before trying this!

It’s the 4th of May that means it is International Star Wars Day. To celebrate we thought we would give you a sneak peak of Yoda wielding his new Prince TeXtreme Pro Airstick Lite 550 Squash Racket in our small group classes this morning! LOL!

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, May 05, 2018. In the interest of helping players get the most benefit from their practice sessions and to minimise the risk of injury, The East Coast Squash Academy is proud to release an infographic illustrating the etiquette and practice principles which elite squash players routinely observe.

The Squash Practice Etiquette Infographic encapsulates the Dos and Don’ts professional squash players have developed to get the most benefit from their practice sessions and prevent avoidable injuries.
Practice sessions for all ball games begin with players warming up. What many beginners may not know is that in squash, even the ball has to be warmed up. The infographic explains the correct way to warm up the ball and the extent to which an opponent or practice partner should be involved in the warm-up process.

The infographic goes on to explain the procedure to be followed during drills and practice routines. Fundamentals such as what players should do if they cannot get to the ball after the first bounce or miss-hit a ball are dwelled upon.

Beginners incorrectly pick up a squash ball, which is not in play with their hands, when the correct technique, as explained in the infographic, is to use the racquet. The technique for picking up the ball without damaging it or breaking the racquet is clearly demonstrated with the help of sequential illustrations.

​​Several safety tips, whether practising with just one player or multiple players, have also been included. Subtle nuances of the game such as the right way to hold a racquet when practicing with multiple players, and the grip former tennis players need to get accustomed to when holding a squash racquet have been touched upon.

Sports persons are quite familiar with the phrase, “Practice makes perfect”. The infographic highlights the difference between, ordinary practice, and perfect practice, implying that “Perfect Practice Makes Perfect.”

The infographic concludes with a strong message about safety and the importance of keeping anger in check, indicating that it’s better not to practice when upset or in a bad mood, adding that it ruins the enjoyment of others practicing on the court.
​
This infographic was created for public distribution to help enhance the enjoyment of aspiring squash players and their partners during a practice session. Please feel free to share it on social media with a backlink to the Academy’s website where more than 100 original references are listed.
 
To view the Squash Practice Etiquette Infographic, click HERE.

​For more information, please contact:
The East Coast Squash Academy
Founded in 2013 when Aaron Frankcomb retired from the Professional Squash Tour, the East Coast Squash Academy set out to create a business model to expand the presence of squash within local communities surrounding squash centres.
 
The Academy’s first location was at Willoughby Squash Club where Aaron Frankcomb was hired as the club’s resident squash pro. The Academy produced some stellar results including: Attracting a handful of junior players with aspirations of going on the professional (PSA) tour. Its junior program had the biggest contingent of players on the NSW Squash Junior ranking list, with players on the NSW junior state teams, Australian junior teams and Australian senior players. The Academy has developed several NSW and Australian Junior Champions. At its peak, the junior squash program boasted (pun intended!) over 500 children participating in weekly squads and training sessions. Memberships and participation in squads increased by 100% and 300% respectively and tournament registrations reached at an all-time high.
 
The Academy has been the home base to two full time senior players that reached careers highs of the top 240 in the world on the Men’s PSA Tour. Its best female professional reached a top world ranking of 106.
 
The Bondi Waverley Squash Club was the Academy’s second location, with over 30 hours of coaching services per week were provided to increase court utilization and grow profits by leveraging unused off-peak times.

In 2016, The Academy expanded its reach with the following locations: SUSF – Sports & Aquatic Centre, Energize Health and Fitness, Norths Fitness, Sydney CBD Squash Club, Elanora Squash Club and Manly Squash Club.

Contact details: Tel: 0424 474 001
Email: Aaron@EastCoastSquashAcademy.com.au
Website: www.EastCoastSquashAcademy.com.au
Facebook: East Coast Squash Academy

​Aaron Frankcomb:

Aaron Frankcomb was ranked in the top 100 professional squash players for 8 years, and for 4 of those years he was in the top 50, winning 4 PSA titles. He represented Australia at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, was a Junior Champion in all age groups including 2 times in the Under 19 category and holder of scholarships in the Tasmanian and Australian Institute Of Sport. He now coaches professionally and remains Sydney’s top ranked squash player and is still considered as one of the top 5 players in Australia.

Contact details: Tel: 0424 474 001
Email: Aaron@EastCoastSquashAcademy.com.au
Website: www.AaronFrankcomb.com
Facebook: Aaron Frankcomb  

Check out this article written in the New York Times about Marina Stefanoni, a young U.S prodigy who is coming through the Junior ranks and set to dominate the international squash scene. Make sure to keep an eye out for her in the coming years!

Sydney, NSW, Australia - April 16, 2018. The East Coast Squash Academy Commonwealth Games Squash Extravaganza saw more than a dozen people attend the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

The Extravaganza had a packed itinerary, running from Friday 6th April to Wednesday 11th April 2018. Participants had unparalleled access to players and witnessed behind-the-scenes doubles training from the Australian and English teams. 

Attendees enjoyed the rare privilege of meeting former World Number 1, Nick Matthew, and current top 20 player, Daryl Selby.
​
They also had some of the best seats in the house for various matches, including the quarterfinals, semi-finals, bronze medal playoffs and gold medal matches. 

Throughout the games, Academy director, Aaron Frankcomb, offered valuable insights on tactics, strategies, coaching and training techniques to all participants of the Extravaganza. Dr Marc Dussault also shared amazing insights into mental toughness, which has seen top players emerge triumphant from a position of certain defeat.

​Lynda Kay, a gold package attendee, said, “For me, it was exactly what I wanted. The opportunity to sit with a pro and have clearly explained how the players are constructing a point, game and match. It gave me a whole new insight into the game.”

Participants played in an intra-club squash tournament with Labrador Squash Club. The East Coast Squash Academy won 4 matches to Labrador’s 1. The matches were played in a very friendly but competitive spirit. The crowd was enthralled by Aaron Frankcomb’s match against Jeff Osborne, both former PSA players.
​
​Participants were glued to their seats on the movie night, which saw a screening of the Hashim Khan movie, ‘Keep Eye on Ball: The Hashim Khan Story’. Khan, one of the all-time best players, has an incredible story to tell, one which sparked several discussions at the wonderfully catered dinner event that followed the movie. 

​The event concluded with the East Coast Squash Academy golf day, which saw the players visit the lovely Lakelands Golf Club for some enjoyable and entertaining golf.

Jack Goodman, a fellow gold package attendee, said, “East Coast Squash Academy did a great job organising accommodation, transport and food, and we wouldn’t have changed a thing.” Lynda Kay also said, “Everything from food and drink to accommodation to the stretch classes was amazing. The attention to detail went far beyond my expectations and the benefits to my squash game are immeasurable. Loved it, recommend it, want to repeat it!”

The East Coast Squash Academy:
 
Founded in 2013 when Aaron Frankcomb retired from the Professional Squash Tour, the East Coast Squash Academy set out to create a business model to expand the presence of squash within local communities surrounding squash centres.
 
The Academy’s first location was at Willoughby Squash Club where Aaron Frankcomb was hired as the club’s resident squash pro. The Academy produced some stellar results including: Attracting a handful of junior players with aspirations of going on the professional (PSA) tour. Its junior program had the biggest contingent of players on the NSW Squash Junior ranking list, with players on the NSW junior state teams, Australian junior teams and Australian senior players. The Academy has developed NSW and Australian Junior Champions. At its peak, the junior squash program boasted (pun intended!) over 500 children participating in weekly squads and training sessions. Memberships and participation in squads increased by 100% and 300% respectively and tournament registrations reached at an all-time high.
 
The Academy has been the home base to two full time senior players that reached careers highs of top 240 in the world on the Men’s PSA Tour. Its best female professional reached a top world ranking of 106.
 
The Bondi Waverley Squash Club was the Academy’s second location, with over 30 hours of coaching services per week were provided to increase court utilization and grow profits by leveraging unused off-peak times.
​
In 2016, The Academy expanded its reach with the following locations: Energize Health and Fitness, Norths Fitness, Sydney CBD Squash Club, Elanora Squash Club and Manly Squash Club.
 
Contact details: Tel: 0424 474 001
Email: Aaron@EastCoastSquashAcademy.com.au
Website: www.EastCoastSquashAcademy.com.au
Facebook: East Coast Squash Academy

Aaron Frankcomb:

Aaron Frankcomb was ranked in the top 100 professional squash players for 8 years, and for 4 of those years he was in the top 50, winning 4 PSA titles. He represented Australia at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, was a Junior Champion in all age groups including 2 times in the Under 19 category and holder of scholarships in the Tasmanian and Australian Institutes Of Sport. He now coaches professionally and remains Sydney’s top ranked squash player and is still considered within the top 5 players in Australia.
Contact details: Tel: 0424 474 001

Email: Aaron@EastCoastSquashAcademy.com.au
Website: www.AaronFrankcomb.com
Facebook: Aaron Frankcomb