Squash has come a long way since the days when pounding your body again and again around a 400 metres track was seen as the key to being a fit and successful player. Developments in the modern day game such as the lower tin, new racket & string technology, shorter scoring systems and the glass court have lead to a faster, more dynamic game. And training methods have had to change with the times as a result.
400m…..the stuff of legends
When I was younger, track training, and 400m running in particular, was seen as the ideal way to replicate a hard game of squash. In fact, I’d go as far as saying, at one stage it was seen as the only way to get you fit enough to reach the higher echelons of the professional game. Not only did brutal track sessions establish a solid base fitness at a young age, they also toughened you up mentally; more so than any session I have ever done. And in this sense I would still recommend them to any young player today - just perhaps not to the extremities seen in the past.
In preparation for this article, I spoke to John Williams, a former top twenty player, who during his career developed a reputation for pushing his body to the absolute limits. Speaking to John, it was clear that if it was good enough for squash legends such as Geoff Hunt and Jonah Barrington, it was good enough for him. So, he embarked on what can only be described as a murderous programme of track training, involving such sessions as 32 x 400m in less than 75 seconds with 45 seconds rest!!
So, in deference to such legends of the past, pound the track I did. And it certainly paid off. I was fitter, and stronger. But, at what cost?
Well, first of all, there’s the effect this constant pounding has on your body. Squash is a hard enough game on your body without adding to it. There are examples of many ex-professionals who have had to retire early because of chronic knee, hip and back problems, some of whom are still plagued by such problems in later life. Nowadays, with increased awareness in areas of sports science, a lot of professionals substitute track work with non-impact workouts such as swimming, biking or rowing, without affecting the training gains involved.
There are also examples of more health related problems such as chronic fatigue syndrome, which ultimately led to the early retirement of such obsessive trainers as Peter Marshall and John Williams himself.
Secondly, there’s the question of whether your training could be more specific to the challenges of the modern game.
The Modern Game
As stated above, the game of squash has undergone major changes in recent years. A match is on average shorter than in days gone by, but certainly more attacking, and as a result faster and more explosive. So, how has this affected training methods?
Personally speaking, over the last few years, my training has certainly shifted from having more of an aerobic emphasis to one with a heavy focus on strength, power and local muscular endurance. Gone are the track sessions, being replaced with circuit training, power based weights or plyometrics and repetitive speed sessions.
Circuit Training
Circuit training, or ‘Rumbles’ as they have become known in our gym in Sheffield are one of the most specific forms of training for modern day squash. They are incredibly hard, but enjoyable at the same time due to the variety of different exercises involved.
‘Rumbles’ are a full body work-out, lasting anything up to an hour, an average length of a game of squash, and consisting of literally any exercise you can think of. For example, a set of press-ups, might be followed by 10 x 100m on the rower, followed by 100m of lunges, followed by some core, followed by some boxing, followed by a sprint round the building, followed by a rope climb and some chin-ups, up and down some stairs, then 5km on the bike as fast as you can etc. etc. The idea is that you never stop and work all the muscle groups, with the only rest involving moving from one station to the next, therefore replicating one hard rally after another in a game of squash.
‘Rumbles’ are particularly effective in between tournaments, when the emphasis is certainly on quality of training rather than quantity.
Repetitive Speed Sessions
These sessions are brutally hard and replicate the same sense of trepidation beforehand that a 400m session used to. A repetitive speed session is basically a session involving multiple shuttle sprints with very little rest in between each set of sprints. Each sprint is started on a certain time, so if you are running 10 x 50m on 20 seconds and you finish each sprint after 13 seconds, you would get 7 seconds rest each time. A typical session is as follows: 10 x 75m on 30 seconds, 2 minutes rest, 10 x 50m on 20 seconds, 2 minutes rest, 5 x 100m on 40 seconds, 2 minutes rest, 15 x 25m on 10 seconds. Each sprint is over 25 metres, so a 100m sprint would involve 3 turns, again, so it is more specific to squash.
These types of sessions are designed to improve local muscular endurance, but during the season you can shorten the sprints and increase the rest to make it more of a speed session.
Ghosting
Ghosting will always remain the most specific form of squash training without actually hitting the ball.
When I have had a period of time off or am a few weeks away from a tournament, I will do longer, more aerobic ghosting, for example sets of 10 sets of 1 min on at 75% max, with 30seconds off, to establish movement patterns and good technical quality. Then in the build up to a tournament I will shorten these to sets of 10 sets of 15 seconds on flat out to increase speed and sharpness. If you want to do this as a hard session, it is wise to do sets of 15 seconds on, 15 seconds off, but if you want to focus on speed then 15 seconds on, 30 or 45 seconds off may be more appropriate.
Every ghosting session should be done with a specific goal in mind; whether it’s to improve your speed from the ‘T’, balance on the ball, or overall squash specific fitness.
Although these changes have undoubtedly improved me as a player, and helped me adapt to the demands of the modern game, they have not happened overnight and improvements have been the result of many years’ concerted effort. I feel it’s also important to emphasise that these changes have come on the back of an aerobic base having already been developed as a young player. And for the positive reasons stated above I would still advocate track training for any aspiring young player. Just perhaps not to the John Williams extreme!