Blogging on blocking

Don't be a blocker.

Once you have hit the ball in squash the rules say you have to make every effort to clear the way for your opponent to have access to make a return.

In a recent tournament match I saw a penalty stroke awarded against a Comberton Junior when the referee thought they had not made enough effort to clear the ball and let their opponent through. In that case the referee thought that the Comberton player had also contributed to the problem by playing the ball back towards themselves.

On the other hand I thought that the opponent had contributed by being out of position so that the Comberton lad was unsure which way they would be coming in - and so didn't know which way to move.

I thought it was harsh refereeing but after reading about the tactic of some players in 'blocking' their opponents*, I maybe think we have to expect to be penalized if we don't make every effort to clear the ball.

This is sometimes not much help: last week I played a drop shot and then cleared towards the centre of the court expecting my opponent to come in along the wall - and barged right into him as he came around the other way! So a penalty stroke against me in any case.

This is an especially difficult problem because the rules now force your opponent to make every effort to get to the ball and play on. So I think referees have to watch out for 'blocking' tactics designed to gain the advantage when this happens. We are all guilty sometimes of not moving far enough because we don't want to get too far out of position to cover the return. But the plain fact is that its our own fault if our shot was so loose that we lose control of the T and the rally. We can and should do better. And when you are refereeing watch out for the blocker!

* read about blocking in
http://www.squashmagazine.com/vcm/squashmagazine/RULES/Rules_of_Game/BlockingAsArt.html

Coaching Saturday 4th November 2006

This Saturday (4th November) we will be running all three sessions.

The first session is for beginners. The second is more advanced. And the third session is currently by invitation to those in the School Squad. It will be with our Level II coach Andrew D'Alessandro and will be challenging - make sure you are rested, get a reasonable carbohydrate intake, and enough hydration before we start.

We also need to collect your subs for the third session as soon as possible - that is twelve pounds which covers the entire nine sessions. Thanks.

9.00 - 10.30 session
Coaches: Ray Scrivens and Nick Harris

10.30 - 12.00 session
Coaches: Steve Swanton and Martyn Symmons

Advanced coaching
12.30 - 14.00 session
Coach: Andrew D'Alessandro

Practice makes perfect with Chris Vine

The School Squad training on Saturday was a hard session with Level IV professional coach Chris Vine.

His big idea was getting accuracy into every shot. Know where you want the ball to go and think about how you're going to get it there.

*Where should I put it? Glad you asked!

Drop shots should be angled low into the front corner. Straight drives should be 'faded' - meaning they are also angled slightly in towards the wall on their way to back corner. Cross-courts should generally be deep into the back corner too.

*Anything but routine!

If you get some time with a training partner then try the following two routines:

1. Player A at the back straight drops; player B at the front (slightly forward of the T) plays straight fading drive.

2. Player A at the back boasts; player B at the front plays deep cross-court trying to beat them in the back corner.

Keep scores in both (say 5 point-a-rally points) and then swap around. Then swap sides on the court.

Chris says:

*Racquet up!
Remember to keep your racquet high as you prepare for each shot.

*Play it early!
On the cross-court, hit the ball while it's in front of you - to drive the ball deep. Don't let it pass you and then flick at it.

*Watch to the end of the shot!
Look at your opponent's racquet when the ball is leaving it. That'll tell you not just which shot but also what quality to expect.

And Sponsorship for Comberton Junior teams shirts

But what colour should they be?

Redmayne, Arnold, and Harris (Chartered Surveyors and Estate Agents) are sponsoring the Comberton Junior Teams this season. Team players can look forward to playing in new T-shirts provided from this generous support. Find out more about our sponsors at www.rah.co.uk.

Thanks go especially to Nick Harris who helps with the Saturday morning sessions and whose boys are in our junior squads. Comberton have four teams in the Tucker-Gardner junior leagues this season - watch this space for news of their results.

New Sponsorship for School Squad

The School Squad is to receive sponsorship from Hugh Allen Symmons. This will pay for the Level IV coaching from Chris Vine to prepare them for their games in the first round of the National Schools Competition. H. A. Symmons is the grandfather of two of the team members and a veteran squash player in Aberdeenshire - living close to the birthplace of Peter Nicol.

Comberton III at home 30th October

Trick or Treat?

Comberton Development Team play Crown Lodge III at Comberton on Monday. The team will be Andy, Ben, Neil, Steve, and Martyn. Starting 7.30-ish.

Coaching Saturday 28th October 2006

This Saturday (28th October) we will be runnning all three sessions.

The first session is for beginners. The second is more advanced. And the third session is currently by invitation to those in the School Squad. It will be with Level IV professional coach Chris Vine and so will be challenging - it might be best not to attend the earlier session as well!

9.00 - 10.30 session
Coaches: Ray Scrivens, Steve Swanton, and David Downes

10.30 - 12.00 session
Coaches: Mike Macnamee and Martyn Symmons

Advanced coaching
12.30 - 14.00 session
Coach: Chris Vine

Comberton III match report 9th October

Comberton III is the Junior Development Team that plays in the Cambridgeshire Adult Leagues fifth division.
It is drawn from a squad made up from the Junior Coaches and the older Juniors with some Dads helping out as well. Steve Swanton is the Captain.

We will post reports on all our matches here and so, a little delayed, here is the gen on our first match a few weeks ago:

Team line-up: Rory, Neil, Mike, Steve, Martyn

Fresh-faced Comberton III met the (almost) all new Ely Leisure II for the first match of the leagues. Ely Leisure have been out of the leagues for several years but now are back.

Rory at fifth string started first but this turned out to be a marathon match as he challenged the veteran Ely player with long, long rallies. But it wasn't a case of talk among yourselves for the other players - they had their own axes to grind on the next-door court. Neil worked hard against the number 4 - even trying the old trick of tripping them up in the back corner. But unfortuately this was too late in the bout to turn his fortunes around.

Mike looked unsettled against a rather unorthodox left hander - coaching comments from clubmates advocating a more orthodox approach for our canny number three were, perhaps, badly judged as he tried to get into a rhythm. However even the rhymical chants of saint Frank of Snatra (patron saint of tight balls) were in vain and Mike fell by the wayside 3:0. Meanwhile Rory was still only at 5-all in the third...

Things were about to turn around for Comberton - and not just on that end court with Rory. Although Steve started a bit slow against the number two, he was soon fired up by a contentious call from the referee. He never looked back after this (except to watch his shots into the back corners of course - thank you, Bob) and powered through to a convincing victory. Reached, as Rory rallied in the fifth on the end court to pull back from 4:7 down to clinch a 3:2 victory.

Contentious calls also played a part in Martyn's 3:1 win at first string. His opponent worn down not, just by the rallies, but also by the rarer-than-rocking-horse-poo approach to lets from referee Mike.

At the end of the evening the games points were all square at 10:10 but Comberton gained the extra points for winning in matches. So that work from Rory on the end court really paid off.

School Team wins first match

A gentle start for the School Team in the England Squash Under-19 National Schools Championship.

Stage 1 of the competion is regional league in which Comberton as the only Cambridgeshire entry play in a group that is mainly drawn from Essex.

On 17th October they played their first match against Davenant Foundation High School at Comberton. Each team member won easily 3 games to zero - except Nils who dropped a single game to the Davenant number one player. Well done everyone.

The team for this match was: Nils Downes, Euan Macnamee, Rory Symmons, Andy Hall, and Tom Symmons.

The next match is away to William De Ferrers High School, South Woodham Ferrers, Essex.

A short guide to Comberton Juniors

Comberton Village College Junior Squash

Comberton Village College Squash Club is just to the SW of Cambridge. Our courts are shared between the club and the adjacent school. Because of this close link with the school we have a thriving junior section.

We have four dedicated level I and level II junior development coaches who run a Wednesday mini-squash session for Primary School children and three Saturday Junior sessions: 9.00 to 10.30 for beginners, 10.30 to 12.00 for intermediate, and 12.30 to 2.00 for advanced juniors. The advanced juniors have also had intensive coaching from Chris Vine (level IV professional coach) and sports psychologist Jenny Tranfield.

There are no light fees and the Club also generously supports all junior squad activities.

We have excellent individual coaches Bob Maison (level III) and Andrew D'Alessandro (level II) in the Club, and they work with many of our advanced juniors.

Comberton Junior Squash Blog

What's the Blag about this Blog?

This blog is a web-log of happenings at Comberton Village College Junior Squash. You can check here for up-to-the-minute news about our teams, our coaching, and our results. It will also remind us who's doing what, when. So watch this space....