This is something players take for granted but when that time comes to put on a new squash grip, we are faced with several questions.

“What am I supposed to do when taking off the old grip?”
“Why is the old grip sticking to the handle?”
“How do I remove the little sticky bits stuck on the handle?”
“What do I do with the plastic on the new grip?”
“Do I pull the plastic off or keep it on when gripping the racquet?”
“Do I start at the top of the handle and work down?”
“How much do I overlap the grip?”
“Do I use all the grip no matter how long it is?”
“How do I finish the grip off?”
“Do I need any equipment other than the racquet and the grip to change the grip?”
“I am scared what if I make a mistake?”

Below is a video demonstrating an easy step by step guide to re-gripping your squash racquet and the equipment required. Watch, learn and give it a go!

The World Squash Association has created a new #StaySafeWithSquash tag to post stories and videos during these trying times.  

​Check out the slick skills & tricks from players all around the world.

An Academy member raised the bar and took on the COVID-19 Handstand Challenge.  

Check it out below.  

Do you think you can handle the Handstand Challenge?

Please share and show us what you got!

#HandstandChallenge
#WeAreAllInThisTogether 
#MakeTheMostOfWhatWeHave
#Don'tTakeLifeTooSeriously

This is the original link:

https://www.google.com/doodles/celebrating-hashim-khan

• April 4, 2020 - Celebrating Hashim Khan

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• Google honoured and celebrated legendary Pakistani squash player Hashim Khan, widely revered as one of the sport’s all-time greatest players on his birthday, April 4th.

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• On this day in 1951, Khan won the British Open Squash Championships propelling him from relative obscurity to the status of an international icon.  
  Born in 1914, Khan was raised in Peshawar, a small village in what was then India. His father worked at a British officers’ club with squash courts where Khan apprenticed as a ballboy. Learning the ropes of the sport while on his off-hours, Khan played barefoot on the club’s rough brick courts—an early testament to his tenacity. By age 28, Khan became a squash pro and soon after, a national champion of the sport. After winning three All-of-India titles, the newly independent government of Pakistan drafted him to represent the country at the 1951 British Open.
  Khan dominated during his first appearance at the British Open, considered squash’s world championship at the time, and went on to take home the grand prize. He returned to Pakistan a national hero with a million people greeting him upon his arrival. This monumental victory became the first hurrah of the Khan family’s squash dynasty. Over the next 46 years, the tournament was won 29 times by either Khan or one of his relatives, including renowned players Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan. Establishing a career that earned him a spot in the U.S. Squash Hall of Fame, Khan won seven British Opens, five British Professional Championships, three U.S. Opens, and three Canadian Opens.
  

Thank you, Hashim Khan, for proving that through hard work and determination, people from every background can achieve greatness.

What I love about the Doodle is you can see his physical progression over time… brilliant!

This is the early concept and draft of the Doodle by Alyssa Winans & Olivia When… ​

The Academy has just launched Squash In The Park sessions, but Aaron Frankcomb and Marc Dussault decided to improvise and play some “Squash In The Car Park”…

A few hundred calories were burned keeping the ball ‘in play’ without the benefit of side walls.

The Joyce family from the US built their own makeshift basement squash court so they can play squash at home!​

Check out this MEGGA RALLY on Instagram... 
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Sydney, 31st March 2020 – Australia’s leading squash academy, the East Coast Squash Academy, is pleased to announce the arrival of Mike Dickens to join its coaching faculty.  
 
Dickens brings 20 years coaching experience and a fanatical passion for the sport coupled with his professional playing and coaching experience with some of the best contemporary and emerging squash superstars in the game. He will help shake up, invigorate, strengthen and support the grass roots initiatives the Academy has established within the greater Sydney area.
 
Dickens has coached professional players into the top 100 PSA World Rankings including: Stephen Coppinger (Highest PSA World Ranking, #14), Alister Walker (Highest PSA World Ranking, #12), Adam Murrills (Highest PSA World Ranking, #76) and female player, Carrie Ramsey (Highest PSA World Ranking, #59) by refining and developing their technical, strategic and physical skills.
 
Less well known, but more importantly for the Academy are Mike’s other coaching accomplishments with younger, up-and-coming players along the young player development pathway. Notable players include four Welsh National Junior Champions:  Lewis Poole (Welsh Boys Under 19), Lucy Jones (Welsh Girls Under 17) and two-time champion Eve Griffiths (Welsh Girls Under 13 and Girls Under 15 #3).
 
“We’ve been talking to Mike for over a year and had him come scope out the Sydney market a year ago. He’s going to focus on young player development. As a father of two, he intimately understands how important it is to nurture young minds and bodies to keep the game fun, challenging and rewarding,” says Aaron Frankcomb, Founding Director of the East Coast Squash Academy and former PSA World #38 and current #1 in NSW. “Mike will work to continue to develop school programs and to attract new players to the sport, including students and female players across all age groups,” adds Frankcomb.
 
Mike Dickens’ accomplishments as a squash player include:

• Ranking in the top 20 England Junior rankings
• European Over 35 top ranking of #30 
• 3rd place result in the Welsh Open European Masters events in 2017 
• 5th place result in the Welsh Open European Masters events in 2018 
• Welsh National Racketball Champion 2018
• Welsh Over 35 Runner Up in 2019.

 
The Academy has been an innovator within the squash community, facilitating corporate team building events and workshops to improve teamwork in organisations enhance health, wellness and wellbeing in the workforce through squash.
 
Dickens is available for Squash in the Park Sessions, Private Group Lessons, Small Group Classes, Play to Win Feedback Sessions and Training Squads on an ongoing basis.
 
Mike Dickens
Contact details: Tel: 0450 887 632
Email: Mike@EastCoastSquashAcademy.com.au

The East Coast Squash Academy is taking additional precautionary measures to ensure the health and safety of all our members, colleagues and self-employed coaches is our number one priority.

We are closely monitoring the Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation and following the advice provided by the Australian Government Department of Health (AGDH). In addition, we are working very closely with our facilities, governing bodies and other club operators throughout Australia.

The Academy is committed to providing our members with a safe and hygienic space to play squash in and we are taking this situation extremely seriously. Our colleagues have been extensively briefed on what actions they need to take, as per Government guidance, to reduce the risk of the virus spreading.

You can find out about the actions we are taking to keep our members safe, how we are responding to COVID-19 and how our members can keep themselves and others safe in the following FAQs:
 
WHAT ACTION IS THE ACADEMY TAKING TO KEEP MEMBERS AND STAFF SAFE AND WELL?
 
The health and safety of our members, colleagues and self-employed squash coaches are our top priority.

In line with AGDH guidance, our facilities have increased the level of cleaning and hygiene in our locations, including

• Increasing the frequency of cleaning and sanitisation, especially high touch areas such as pin pads, door handles, lockers, equipment, etc.

 

• Ensuring soap dispensers and hand sanitisers remain filled.

 

• Educating and reminding members and colleagues of the importance of good hygiene.

 
Within the Academy we have advised all colleagues and coaches on what to do when returning from foreign travel, in line with AGDH recommendations.

Professor Brendan Murphy is the Chief Medical Officer for the Australian Government and is the principal medical adviser to the Minister and the Department of Health. He has reinforced that it is still safe for people to go to the gym/sporting facilities and stay active. Click "HERE" to read more. 

If we are notified of any issue in our facilities, or if another member contracts the virus, we will notify you immediately and undertake a full deep clean of the clubs.

For the latest information, please refer to the FAQs on this page.

WHAT CAN OUR MEMBERS DO TO HELP?

With the efforts of everyone in The Academy, including our members, let’s work together to keep ourselves safe and healthy.

The Academy’s members are encouraged to help reduce the spread of the virus through good personal hygiene.

This includes:

• Frequent hand washing (wash your hands for 20 seconds) and hand sanitising during your visits

 

• Making full use of the soap, sanitisers and cleaning items available

 

• Covering your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and dispose of the tissue in the bin after use

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• Familiarise yourself with the latest guidance from AGDH and do not visit the clubs if you are displaying symptoms of COVID-19 and are advised to self-isolate

 

• Follow Government guidance if you are a returning traveller

 
We are monitoring the situation closely in all our facilities and hygiene is the number one priority for our Team. 

If you need personal health advice specifically in relation to Coronavirus (COVID-19), you should call the 1800 020 080 service or your GP. Please do not attend your GP or emergency department without phoning in advance.

CURRENTLY, ARE THERE ANY CONFIRMED CASES WITHIN THE ACADEMY?

No. But if we do all our members, colleagues and coaches within our clubs will be informed. 

Any further updates will be provided here.  

We understand that people are concerned about the Coronavirus (COVID-19). We are monitoring the situation closely and we will continue to provide as much advice, care and support as we can to our members.
 
IS THE ACADEMY OPEN AND OPERATING AS NORMAL?

No, our clubs are no longer operating. All members, colleagues and coaches within the clubs have been informed. 

Any further updates will be provided here.  

http://www.squash.org.au/w/blog/covid-19-important-update-for-squash-centres--pm-media-release-supporting-australian-workers-and-business

Our clubs have significantly increased the level of cleaning and hygiene in their facilities to ensure they remain safe to train in. We do understand that members are concerned about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) so please follow the instructions within the facilities on how to keep yourself and others safe.
 
CAN I TAKE MY OWN CLEANING SUPPLIES IN?

We are providing additional cleaning supplies in all the clubs to allow members to self-clean equipment before and after use and the facilities have increased the level of cleaning and hygiene, in line with AGDH guidance.

Throughout our classes there will be no human contact, we will disinfect all equipment before and after all sessions.

The Academy is committed to providing our members with a safe and hygienic space to play squash and we are taking the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) extremely seriously. Our colleagues have been extensively briefed on what actions they need to take, as per Government guidance, to reduce the risk of the virus spreading and we continue to educate and remind our members and colleagues of the importance of good hygiene in the clubs.

I HAVE CONTACTED THE 1800 HELPLINE AND HAVE BEEN ADVISED TO SELF-ISOLATE WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?

The AGDH has provided advice on self-isolation here.

If you have any queries or concerns, please email us: ursula@eastcoastsquashacademy.com.au

RESOURCES:  

Department of Health guidelines
About the coronavirus

Updated Daily
The most current medical advice and official reports

World Health Organisational
Getting workplace ready for coronavirus
 
Educational video’s
Great video's explain everything related to coronavirus

Sydney, December 16th, 2019 – The East Coast Squash Academy is happy to announce it has signed its first corporate member, Ultimate Edge Communications a local boutique media consultancy.
 
The Academy has been proactively promoting squash across both the athletic and corporate communities with a focus on grass roots efforts to introduce as many new people to the sport while also rekindling the passion within former players.
 
Today’s announcement has been possible with the strategic vision of the East Coast Squash Academy’s, founder Aaron Frankcomb. Aaron was a professional squash player on the world tour and reached a top world ranking of #38. “We’re proud to welcome Ultimate Edge Communications as the first of many corporate members we seek to attract to the sport with this unique partnership” declares Frankcomb. “This is the result of the success of past corporate events that cater to the athletic interests as well team building and professional development of employees. We thought we should take it one step further and provide a corporate membership” adds Frankcomb.
 
The corporate membership covers all the costs and provides the equipment for staff members who can attend an unlimited number of small group classes at no cost, across the Academy’s multiple locations conveniently located within the Greater Sydney area.
 
More than just a staff membership, the partnership includes staging squash events that serve as team-building opportunities. The inaugural squash tournament staged just a few months ago began with an explanation of the rules of squash followed by a high-speed exhibition match to demonstrate how elite players make it look easy. With the basics of the game covered, team members then got on court and were fed balls to practice the basic strokes: The drive, volley and boast. Once minimum proficiency was established, a round-robin competition was staged for all team members to play each other to crown the first corporate champion – Evan Bohringer who now has bragging rights in the office for the next 12 months!
 
“Off the back of the success of the tournament, we wanted to explore other opportunities to provide more value for our employees” explains Aleisha McCall, Ultimate Edge Communications founder and CEO. “Squash is a very efficient way to burn calories and with the courts conveniently located in the city, our employees were keen to give it a go. This was also the ideal time with our renewed approach to employee wellbeing and empowerment to attract and retain the best staff” states McCall.
 

The East Coast Squash Academy stages a variety of corporate events for small teams, from a fun social afternoon to specific skill-based team building right up to the deliberate practice principles that uses squash as the metaphor for striving for excellence and success for the most committed teams.
If you’re looking for a fresh, new (different) reward, team-building or professional development program for your team, contact the Academy for all the details. The Academy can cater for companies of all sizes with across multiple locations throughout the Greater Sydney area.

Ultimate Edge Communications Pty Ltd
 
Ultimate Edge Communications (UEC) was founded in Sydney in 2014, by Aleisha McCall, finalist of B&Ts “30 under 30 Entrepreneur” and a former international synchronised ice skating champion.
 
UEC is able to over-deliver on expectations by being the conductor to an orchestra of moving parts that create a symphony of results that resonate with highly targeted audiences across both B2B and B2C sectors.
 
The composition begins with expert media buying that requires establishing a key strategic proportion between traditional offline and digital media spending. Once the budget allocation is defined, it then proceeds to tactical deployment of funds across the selected channels to ensure target market optimisation to set the stage for everything that follows.
 
The second act is to create design elements specifically tailored to each of the channels to ensure optimal conversions while providing coherent maximum brand reinforcement. The collaboration and synchronisation of media and creative design is one of the reasons UEC out-performs its peers as well as internal marketing departments.
 
The third act builds on this momentum to integrate lead generation and client acquisition activities to feed into a cohesive customer journey that provides a higher conversion on their path to purchase. This is enabled with sophisticated automated workflows that create and enhance the customer experience, reducing attrition at or immediately following a purchase as well as substantially improving customer satisfaction during the consumption of the product or service. This inevitably reduces operational costs. Even though UEC is focused on media, sales and marketing, the systemisation of multiple customer journeys translates into organisational improvements that further create benefits with economies of scale. These improvements often provide the much-needed capacity to grow quickly without substantial additional and costly human resources.
 
The last act builds to a crescendo by embracing leading-edge technologies including: artificial intelligence, machine learning, heuristics, predictive modelling and data analytics to fully embrace the concept of deliberate practice principles that have created Olympic medallists and World Champions. This complex process involves creating a self-reinforcing feedback loop that automatically and systematically applies highly sophisticated mathematics and statistical techniques to optimise all the moving components, so we can manage, monitor and adjust each variable in harmony with the others to maximise profits at the minimum cost while sustaining the highest quality and brand integrity.

Level 1, Suite 117/80 Elizabeth St, Sydney NSW 2000
info@UltimateEdgeCommunications.com.au
https://www.ultimateedgecommunications.com.au/
 
https://www.facebook.com/UltimateEdgeCommunications/
https://twitter.com/UltimateEdgeAUS
https://www.linkedin.com/company/ultimate-edge-communications/
 
 
________________________
East Coast Squash Academy
The East Coast Squash Academy was 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 the Greater Sydney area squash centres.
 
Since inception, the Academy has 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 who reached career highs of top 240 in the world on the Men’s PSA Tour. Its best female professional reached a top world ranking of 130.
 
The Academy created great success building over 80 hours of services per week to grow the court utilisation and increase profits for clubs around the Greater Sydney Area. Since 2016, Energize Health and Fitness, Norths Fitness, Sydney CBD Squash Club and Manly joined the Academy followed by the Sydney Uni Sports & Fitness in 2018.
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   

Check out the great article below from The New York Times explaining the insights of how Egyptian Squash has come to dominate over the past decade.  
​

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/01/sports/a-squash-mystery-in-egypt-is-there-something-in-the-nile.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share