Update!

After my last post I was ill for a couple of weeks and forgot all about the blog! Now I'm back on track and have a couple of bits of news.

I got my school squash colours on Friday - I've worked for a while to get them so it felt good walking up on stage during assembly to get them! School matches have finished for this season, but hopefully there will be more opportunities next term.

I have finally saved up enough money for a video camera that I can use to record myself, and I'm browsing around to find a model that has the right specs, such as a wide angle and reasonably good video quality. I like the look of this one http://www.cameras-cctv.com/SD20, but I'm hesitant about buying it online.

 If I haven't changed my mind after a couple of days I will buy it and get started. Although it claims to have 170 degrees of wide angle, a blog I was reading said that it didn't have that much (as is often the case apparently), so I'm slightly worried about not being able to see enough of the game! I'm debating whether to have a static camera in the front corner, or to attach it to myself somehow.

Although I've got a lot of work nowadays as my AS exams are coming near, I fit squash in where I can so will keep improving - I should have the camera going by the end of next week, although it will be Easter holidays at that point. I will get some game time in over the holidays and will be posting my first footage soon! More updates to come

~

Losing, but not as badly (i think!)

"Social squash" was today at the new club - I played the same guy as last week. We played five matches and I lost them all! The bright side is that rather than scoring a measly one or two points per game as last week, I was biting his heels with 6-8 points per game. I'll win a game one of these days!

I gave my second opponent a much closer match, winning game one, but then he came back to score three victories with me close behind on 8-10 points. He won most of his points through drop shots - I have to get to the T after every shot! I won my points by driving, so a bit of practice on making my drives tighter would go down a treat at school this week.

On the video recording side, I dropped into curry's this afternoon for ten minutes to look at video cameras, to discover that one with the video quality I'm looking for and a sufficiently wide angle lens costs about £250! That's six months of saving for me - I'll have to investigate a bit more :/

~ James

Success!

Today was a day of victory - I managed to reach the squash club on time without getting lost, recover my racket and score my first out of school victory on the courts, winning 15-11 or thereabouts. In addition, since it was my first session, I got it for free! I will be going along tomorrow as well, although the people I played last Sunday were adults and (I think) all better than me. This should be good for my play though, as I will adjust to the difficulty with any luck.

Meanwhile, I am considering the idea of getting some video footage of me playing onto the blog. I don't think I have a suitable camera at the moment; I will need one with good quality recording and a fairly wide view angle, as I will have to put the camera on the court to avoid it being nicked! I will have to research the right camera/video camera for the job - a potential Christmas present ;)

If you have any ideas, feel free to comment. I'll write again tomorrow about how the session goes, and I will also email someone about some private coaching sessions that my parents have said I can have - win!

~ James

New club - excitement!

I'm having my first session at a new club tomorrow; apparently the players there are much better than those at school so I am excited for the challenge! My racket is being restrung there too so I'll hopefully be able to grab that while I'm at it, which should boost my play by a bit.

The new club runs on saturdays and sundays, so if I go twice a week and play these better players for a while, my game should improve greatly! Usually when playing someone, I seem to adjust to their standard of play without realising it, so even matches I really ought to win by a clear margin end up being close - I hope this can work to my advantage this weekend!

I've been playing one-on-one matches more and more recently, such as my game last week (which I lost 0-3!!), some last weekend and a few over the last few days. Hopefully this is starting to get rid of my match nerves and I will soon be playing as well in matches as I do in training.

I've also set up a twitter page - @OnASquashQuest - so do follow if you're interested

I'll write back tomorrow night with how it goes!

~ James

An Intro: The Quest Begins!

I'm on a quest to revolutionise my squash play! I am writing this blog to motivate me along the way and help me to achieve my goals, and I hope to get some video footage of me playing up and involve some photos so that the blog becomes more exciting. I'll write a quick history of my squash career now so that we are on the same page.

I am now 16, but throughout my younger years I struggled to find a sport that was right for me. Being shorter than average, I was naturally disadvantaged in sports such as rugby and football. I am aware that many short players succeed in these, but I thought it was better to find a sport in which I had a fair chance. Cricket just never worked out for me, despite training at three clubs simultaneously (which isn't technically allowed, but they never knew!). At last I found squash, a sport that I could enjoy.

Initially I went to a local club once a week, but then quit for about half a year. After moving to my most recent school, I discovered that there was a small squash community and began to get involved, although I was not very good compared to the others. When I rejoined my local club, it turned out that I had become too good for the players there (although not very good relative to most), so continued at school. I have recently become more interested, and have determinedly worked my way up into the position of reserve for the school team of 5 players. I have played twice, and lost both matches 0-3.

The most recent loss was today, which has inspired me to become much better at squash. Before my lower 6th year (year 12) is finished, I aim to become a full member of the team, and will then work from there - perhaps even to compete on behalf of my region someday. I play about four times per week at the moment, but I now aim to play 6 or 7 times a week (total about 10-15hrs), as well as having lessons once per fortnight or per month, according to what I can afford!

A problem is that whenever I play a match that matters, I seem to underperform. It's not that I'm nervous at all; au contraire, I was having quite a fun time losing 0-3 today, no sarcasm intended. I cannot seem to work out the problem, but I will be working on it.

For me, the quest has begun, and I hope that I can have your support!

If you feel like saying something, do post a comment below.

~James