Comberton 2nd team Match Report Sunday 26th November

Games against St Ivo and Hunts County

The junior second team was missing a top position player for its two matches last Sunday. Fortunately first team player Euan Macnamee turned out for us but his results have to be counted just as friendlies. This was a shame since he won convincingly against St Ivo number one Josh Meadows (9/1 9/0 9/6).

At second place Tom Symmons narrowly lost 2-3 to Toby Reeves (9/7 0/9 9/5 3/9 2/9) let down only by some weak returns of Toby's serves. At third position Oliver Thorne lost 0-3 against Steven Mason (0/9 6/9 4/9)- after a late start he was not able to win the second game which might have turned the match around.

Only a single player had turned out for Hunts County at second position but he gamely played not only his actual opponent Tom but also Euan. Oliver played a friendly against a St Ivo reserve (previously with Hunts County) winning 8/10 9/5 9/0 9/2.
Tom lost at second position 8/10 2/9 3/9 running out of steam after a very hard fought first game against a much bigger opponent Alex Green. Playing Alex afterwards Euan easily beat him 9/2 9/0 9/2. Maybe Tom had made him run more than he thought?

Junior Sessions Saturday 2nd December

This Saturday (2nd December) 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. This week it will be with Mike and Martyn continuing the 'targets' theme.

We also need to collect payment for the advanced session as soon as possible - that is only twelve pounds which covers the entire nine sessions. Paying soon will mean you get one of the great new squad track suits when they arrive. Thanks.

9.00 - 10.30 session
Coaches: Ray Scrivens and Nick Harris

10.30 - 12.00 session
Coaches: Mike Macnamee and Ray Scrivens

Advanced coaching
12.30 - 14.00 session
Coaches: Mike Macnamee and Martyn Symmons

Martyn and Mike are our Junior Development level II coaches. Their philosophy? Well, Descartes said: 'to do is to be'; Cervantes said: 'to be is to do'; Sinatra said: 'doo bee doo bee doo'.

Talk to your referee.

We all know that we are supposed to play to the referee's decision and that 'dissent' - that means arguing with a decision - is not allowed. Referees are allowed to apply penalty points for too much arguing - also because it could be a sneaky way to get a breather from the game.

On the other hand it is only fair that a player can ask for an explanation of a ref's decision. This is sensible because it could allow help avoid the same thing happening again. So it is perfectly ok to ask 'why was that a stroke not a let?' for example. Answer: 'because you did not make enough effort to clear the ball for your opponent.' Which makes it clear what you have to do in the future to avoid losing other points.

This is also a chance for you to send messages back. Famously when a referee denied one professional player a let saying: ' you would not have got there in time', the player replied: 'you don't know how quick I am, ref!'. So long as you accept the decision at the time you can still say things that might make the ref give a fairer chance for you the next time.

And remember that when you are refereeing that the players have a right to ask you for an explanation - you can't just hide behind the 'no arguments' rule. So make sure you do have an explanation for everything you decide.

Junior Sessions Saturday 25th November

This Saturday (25th 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. This week it will be with Andrew D'Alessandro and will of course be hard work - make sure you are rested, and have had a snack, and plenty to drink, before coming along.

We also need to collect payment for the advanced session as soon as possible - that is twelve pounds which covers the entire nine sessions. Paying soon will mean you get one of the great new squad track suits when they arrive. Thanks.

9.00 - 10.30 session
Coaches: Steve Swanton and Nick Dickens

10.30 - 12.00 session
Coaches: Martyn Symmons, Mike Macnamee, and Steve Swanton

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

Andrew D'Alessandro is our professional level II coach. He coaches many of our juniors individually and we are very pleased that he is also doing this squad training. He also coached on our recent 'Gods of Squash' summer course.

Solo practice 1.

One of the best things about squash is how easy it is to practise your shots on your own without worrying about anyone else. This is one of the quickest ways to improve your game.

We are lucky at Comberton that the lighting is free. So we can go down anytime and hit the ball around.

If you go to the courts it is still good to take a friend - but maybe start by knocking up on separate courts before trying a game together.

If you do go on your own then make sure someone knows you are there in case of an accident. And remember that there will usually be someone at the CB3 sports centre to help you if you hurt yourself.

The most important thing to practise is hitting the ball straight down each side wall.

I find the easiest way to start practicing is to just face the side wall, prepare my racquet for the stroke, and then just throw the ball onto the wall to hit. This makes me hit the ball between me and the wall - and starts me out with the correct foot forward.

I usually don't follow the ball with my eyes to see where it's gone. If I've done it right then it will re-appear on its way to the back corner. Then I can check if it is the right length - bouncing just behind the service box. I don't try to hit it again - just pick it up, and set up to throw and hit again.

I make sure I've turned my front shoulder around so I'm side-on to the wall and I keep my head still - facing the wall - through the stroke. I'm aiming to throw the ball slightly forward in the court in front of the knee I stepped forward. And I check that I don't end up looking down on the ball - that I've stretched out sideways to hit it.

If you want to try this then on the backhand side it is good to learn how to throw it under your hitting arm when you have the racquet pulled back ready to hit.

Get your brain to memorize the position just before you hit the ball - in a game you need to get your feet to this position to produce your stroke while the ball is moving a lot faster that in the practice!

Rules Quiz 4.

Question 4.

Someone you play starts their serve by running from the back corner jumping forward into the service box and doing an overhead tennis serve - is this allowed?

Answer to question 3 (racquet throwing).
For a shot to be valid, the racket must actually be in your hand at the moment you hit the ball. (It is up to the Referee to decide if the racket was in fact in your hand). So the answer to Question 3 is that you don't win, and it is not a let, but in fact you lose the rally - never mind that it was a winning 'shot'.

You must be careful not to throw your racquet in a dangerous way that might hit your opponent. The referee can give penalty points and games against you for this sort of dangerous or agressive play (Rule 17). Also, if you throw or drop your racquet when it is the other player's shot then you could lose a point if the action or noise of the racquet hitting the floor distracted them (Rule 13.1.3).

Comberton III at home tonight (20th November)

There will in fact be no match for the Comberton III team tonight. We were scheduled to play Fenland II but they have pulled out. (They have folded from the entire league - it was not that they were just too frightened to face us!)
To make use of the booked courts, all team squad members (or anyone interested in trying out for the squad) are invited to team training tonight at 19.30. This of course includes the junior members Rory, Nils, Euan, Ben, and Andy who look set to move up the team ranking for the new year.

Check our latest results at the divison 5 website
www.yoursport.net/uk/squ/401111547206sfbv051l00005.php#T00039

We are currently 3rd equal on points but Haverhill II beat us so they are above us.

Junior Sessions Saturday 18th November

This Saturday (18th 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. This week it will be with Chris Vine and will be challenging - make sure you have a rest, a snack, and hydration before coming along.

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

9.00 - 10.30 session
Coaches: David Downes and Nick Harris

10.30 - 12.00 session
Coaches: Mike Macnamee and Andy Thorne

Advanced coaching
12.30 - 14.00 session
Coach: Chris Vine

Chris Vine is a professional level IV coach with 20 years experience including working with top level professional players. Currently based in Essex he coached on two days of our recent God's of Squash summer course.
His sessions are being payed for by sponsorship from Hugh Symmons.

Rules Quiz 3.

Question 3.
Stretching to reach a ball you lose hold of your racquet and it flies out of your hand. Amazingly it hits the ball which goes up and your opponent doesn't return it. Do you win this rally? Or is it a let?


Answer to Question 2. (changing a racquet between points)

There are two things to think about here: one is to say that there should not really be a bag or any object alongside the tin. This is covered in the rules ('15.3 A player must not place within the court any object(s), clothing or equipment.'). We very often do this for our everyday games but that is for security, not so that we can have access to our bag between points.

The other thing is that changing equipment is considered to be time wasting - and when your stuff is not at the tin you will have to leave the court - which is not allowed without the referee's permission. Referees are also told that they must not allow you to change racquets (or shoes) just because you want a change and there is nothing actually wrong with the old one (I'd guess you were losing at this point!). So even if you are changing because the racquet is clearly cracked then you should explain that to the referee.

But if the racquet is there on court, I guess that changing once would be ok. But I think it would be good to ask if it's ok before doing it - some referees might not like it and even if there is no referee it is more polite. And you should ask yourself if you could maybe wait until the interval between games.

National Schools Team gets a 2nd win

The Comberton Village College U19 Squash Team recorded its second
victory yesterday evening at William de Ferrers School in Essex! This makes two wins out of two against schools with six-formers despite our squad all being under-17.

Nils Downes faced a very strong 18-year-old at #1 and could make little impact on him, while Rory Symmons, despite battling competitively at #2, eventually lost in 3 games as well. Once again, though, CVC's strength in depth told:

Euan Macnamee won his first two games, lost his way a bit to yield the next two, but came back from 4-6 down in the fifth to win 9-6. Andy Hall at #4 played a mature and intelligent game to win 3-1 against a skillful opponent, and Tom Symmons also showed great character and maturity in recovering from losing the first game against a much bigger and stronger opponent to win 3-1 as well.
James Davenport, who travelled down to Essex as our number 6 to play a friendly match, performed very well and won his match 3-0!

At the end of the evening we had won fewer games (9:10) overall but won them where they counted to give us a (3:2) win in matches.

We now require one win from our last two first-round matches to progress to the National Competition second round.

Junior 1st team result 12 November

Comberton was host to some excellent squash teams on Sunday as part of the Tucker-Gardner premier county league.

Unfortunately this made for some tough matches for our first team Rory, Euan, and Andy. The line-up for their fixture against Hunts Leisure was Rory vs Ahmed El-Refee, Euan vs Rob Dadds and Andy vs Sean Gant. Rory and Euan lost 0:3 to their strong opponents while Andy had an easier game - winning 3:0.

The other fixture was against Hunts County and this was a much better opportunity for our players to show their quality. Euan was pitted against Paul Macdonald who is slightly below him in the County Ladder - so a win was maybe expected, but Euan made no mistake: 92 96 95.

More of an upset for the Ladder ranking were the excellent performances of Rory and Andy against players currently about ten places above them in the County Ladder. Rory beat Jonathan Pittams 93 90 92 and Andy beat James Dawson 94 95 94.

Maybe it was a day for ranking upsets - in a separate fixture Rob Dadds, who plays for our adult 1st team and trains at Comberton with his coach Bob Maison, beat Daniel McGinn.

Rules Quiz 2

Question 2.
Between two points of a game your opponent goes to their bag at the tin and changes their racquet without saying anything to you or the referee - is this ok? (this actually happened to me last night in a league match)

Answer to question 1.
Yes - the server gets another go - provided they made 'no attempt' to hit the ball. Usually that means 'no forward movement of the racquet'.

(I guess the 'forward movement' bit is to cover the case that the server throws the ball up from the top of the racquet - I have never seen this but I guess if you only have one arm, for example, then that would be the way to do it.)

Here is the rule for this:
4.3 To serve, a player shall release the ball from either a hand or the racket and then strike the ball. Should the server make no attempt to strike the ball after that release, the server shall release the ball again for that service.

Junior Sessions Saturday 11th November

This Saturday (11th 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 Mike and Martyn continuing the 'Targets' theme.

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 Dickens

10.30 - 12.00 session
Coaches: Martyn Symmons and Andy Thorne

Advanced coaching
12.30 - 14.00 session
Coaches: Mike Macnamee and Martyn Symmons

2nd Team Game 5th November 2006

Red sky at night - coaches delight

There was a beautiful sunset to be seen over Abbotsley Squash Club on Sunday - probably mostly due to all the bonfires on Saturday. Inside the club the Comberton 2nd Team were fired up to play Abbotsley 1 and Hunts County 2. Our team was Rory, Andy, and Tom showing the quality of Comberton Squash. They won 3:0 against Hunts Co. and 2:1 against Abbotsley: Tom finding his older opponent James Stevens a bit too tall and powerful in his second match.

Rules Quiz 1

How well do you know the rules?

Here is a question from the 'Gods of Squash' test. Have a think about it and my answer will be posted along with the next question. You can post your answer as a comment.

1. The server throws the ball up but then loses balance and it drops to the floor without them attempting to hit it. Do they get another serve or not?

Coaching Saturday 4th November

Remember the coaching tomorrow. There is a posting below about what's happening and who's coaching.

Next National Schools match

Better late than....

The next match in the National Schools Competition looks set to be on Monday 13th November. This will be away at William deFerrers School in South Woodham Ferrers, Essex. This school has a sixth-form so could have quite a strong team. Although, this is later than the date set for the match England Squash are allowing it as a special arrangement. The squad is: Nils, Rory, Euan, Andy, Tom, and James.

Gods Of Squash in Sport@Com

The summer event for advanced Comberton Juniors (codename 'Gods of Squash') gets reported in the latest Sport@Com. Also included is a free 'Spot the Coach' competition'. Chris Vine can obvious blend into the background to observe players secretly - so make sure you keep your racquet up at all times - you never know.

See it online at:

http://www.publications.combertonvc.org/pdfs/sport_oct06_iss10.pdf

Third team training 5th November

Remember, remember....

Third team squad members are invited to squad training on Sunday (5th November) at 5pm - nothing special planned - just light the blue touch-paper....

Comberton third team match report 19th October 2006

Away at Haverhill vs Haverhill II
Team line up: Andy, Euan, Mike, Steve, Martyn.

So it was off to the very borders of the shire, guided by Steve's TomTom GPS. Things went well until it pointed us up a dark alley to a forbidding industrial estate frequented only by those selling hard drugs or walking their dog. Fortunately Haverhill Leisure centre was just the other side of the fence. Unfortunately, it was the sort of fence who'd love to get his hands on stolen TomTom GPS gear.

First up was Andy - playing one of the craftiest old boys in the leagues. His lob service delivered with a delicate skip soaring up into the high Haverhill ceiling space before dropping almost vertically into the back corner. Every possible (and some that looked impossible) dropping opportunity was exploited with Andy retrieving at full speed. He took the second game but then lost the third. The pace was counting against his opponent and tired errors started to creep in, but Andy was not able to exploit this - losing finally 1:3.

Euan had a good start in classic manner running his opponent around the court and quickly reaching game ball in the first game. However the older man just would not give up and pulled back half-a-dozen points. Claiming that he was slow after being up all night, he carried on chasing Euan's accurate attacking shots and nicely lifted lobs.

Was this the turning point? - Euan must have been hit hard by the knowledge that his opponent had stolen his own training methods. He lost the next two games and in the fifth faced an opponent running on pure adrenalin - and running and running... Euan was not able to finish him off and ended up losing 2:3.

There were mixed fortunes for the veterans at the top of the team. Martyn had an easy 3:0 win with a second game gifted to him. There were no gifts for Mike from his opponent - who quickly took it 3:0. And finally Steve fought hard to 2 games apiece but was unable to keep running in the fifth. Leaving us at the end of the night with a fair number of games but losing the 5 point for an overall win.