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The match is located here: th-cam.com/video/zNZWSyr1GsQ/w-d-xo.html and begins at 3:22:38! Enjoy! Ahad

This is the semi-final match from the cannon kirk gillen markets irish squash open 2024. From the squashtv live streaming channel.

The match is located here: th-cam.com/video/zNZWSyr1GsQ/w-d-xo.html and begins at 3:22:38! Enjoy! Ahad

I will add it to the list :) All the best, and thanks for your support, - Ahad

Haha! Fair enough! I guess I need to create a video on this! - Ahad

Thank you! Hope you're well! - Ahad

Much appreciated Dan! Looking forward to seeing you on court soon 👊🏼 - Ahad

He's a stylish young man! ☺️ Appreciate the continued support! - Ahad

Thanks Krishna! Appreciate the continued support. Hope you're well, - Ahad

He needs to improve his quality, consistency, and mental focus (shot selection etc) under greater pressure, over longer periods of time. He's been working on his fitness among other things, so we were testing things out 😉 hope you're well! - Ahad

Only a handful of times for fun! Why do you ask? - Ahad

@@ARProformance As someone who switched from squash to tennis its always interesting to get perspective from people on how they compare the 2. Specially from someone who is really skilled at squash.

That's very kind of you James! Thank you. I'm sure that you'll keep putting things together. If you're keen to improve, and have time and budget allocated to this endeavor, please feel free to reach out to me at ahad@arproformance.com. wishing you the best 🙏🏼 - Ahad

Correct, definitely not a let in a PSA match. Trying not to bully the young man and go through him 😊 hope you enjoyed the rest of the game play, - Ahad

Glad you enjoyed! It feels good to be back and running around a bit! ☺️ Thanks for your support! - Ahad

Absolutely! Everything has been ingrained over years of practice with the top pros. You'll get there soon as well! - Ahad

Thank you very much. I'm glad that you found value in this! - Ahad

Haha, when stable, with time, and assuming you have the ability 😜 wishing you the best! - Ahad

Haha, indeed! Appreciate your continued support 👊🏼

@@ARProformance 🤣👊

Thank you! I'm really happy to hear that you're learning so much from these videos! All the best, - Ahad

Absolutely. There has been lots of positive feedback, and I'll keep them coming. Wishing you the best, - Ahad

Your comment put a smile on my face! Thank you 😊 I create these videos with the exact intention you have described. I hope that you continue to gain value from this and other videos I share. All the best, - Ahad

Great question. Ment fatigue is all about focus and attention to detail - being able to remain aware of what's working and what isn't. Being able to maintain purpose and intent with hitting. Not becoming passive and following into your opponent's style of play (for example), and other such ideas. I hope this helps! - Ahad

@ARProformance got it, thanks! From my personal experience, I've been putting myself under the grinder physically over the past few months, but I wasn't satisfied with how much I was improving. Will make notes and pointers from your Mentality playlist! Thanks, Ahad!

​@@lunparalleledl1004, feel free to email me at ahad@arproformance.com if you want to work together, and maximize your potential, improve efficiently, and achieve your goals. Hope to hear from you, - Ahad

Thank you so much for the kind words! I'm really happy to hear that you extracted so much value from the video. Did the commentary make sense when you rewound the footage? ☺️ All the best, - Ahad

Thanks. Glad you found value in it. Both players have a strong game 💪🏼

Awesome. Thanks for the feedback 🙏🏼 I'll keep the videos coming 👊🏼 all the best, - Ahad

Thank you!

Thank you for the kind words 😊 I'll look to create some videos on that theme soon! Ask the best, - Ahad

I'm glad you enjoyed it Hassan. How did the practice unfold? :) speak soon, - Ahad

Thanks for the information 👊🏼 do tell us more about the other deadly sins 👍🏼 all the best, - Ahad

@@ARProformance I will but first let me give a little more detail about the ''missed volley opportunity mentioned above - it is another deadly sin. If you can volley you should volley. If you don't volley and you let the ball pass you then you may only be able to play a boast and this then is a forced boast, you are in the back and your opponent is on the T = not good at all. This can happen many times even in one ralley. Advantages can be won and lost and won and lost over and over in a rally - a coach must be able to spot this happening and label the ''sin'' instantly. When both coach and player are familiar with the labels the coach can communicate quickly and effectively. Once you become familiar with the 7 deadly sins you will understand that all sins (all ways of losing an advantage) fit into one or more of these categories and you will wonder why you were not ever taught this before even though it is not rocket science.

I will tell you a story to illustrate the value of understanding the 7 deadly sins versus the way coaches are (or at least were) trained in the UK later today.

I was sitting behind two British national coaches at a regional U19 squad training session. I had worked with one of the coaches for some years, the other I knew only by reputation. After one rally these two highly qualified coaches argued about what went wrong in the rally and how to fix it. Here is what happened in the rally: The server (player A) served from the right hand box with his right arm. The receiver (player B) volleyed the serve straight down the left hand wall. Player A came across to the T but as the ball had passed him he chased it into the back corner and played a boast with the ball ending up quite tight to the front right corner. Player B then dropped the ball into the same corner. Player A ran to the ball to counter-drop but put the ball into the tin. This is basically what happened. Now, one coach argued that if player A had been fitter he would have got to the ball earlier and not been technically compromised so he would have steadied himself and got the ball up. The solution was to work on player As fitness. The second coach argued that player A had got to the ball so fitness was not the issue - the problem was the technique failing under pressure. He said the solution was to practice drop shots under pressure. Now both coaches are right in that if the player had been fitter or his technique had been better he might not have put the ball in the tin. But both coaches were wrong in that they failed to recognize the root cause of the problem and the contributing factors all of which were ‘’deadly sins’’. Here is what I saw: Player As serve was weak - (a bad serve or return of serve is one of the 7 deadly sins). If you start badly you increase the chances of finishing badly. Player B attacked the serve with a volley down the wall and player A had to let it pass him as he had been slow to the T. He could have volleyed the ball but he didn’t. (this is the second sin - a Missed Volley Opportunity). Because he had to chase the ball into the back corner it was easier to boast than straighten - he made a forced boast because it was easier (a forced boast is another sin - number 3 compounding his problems. Player B dropped the ball in the front right corner and Player A was forced to the run the diagonal - the longest line in the court and then either through not being fit enough or technically challenged (most likely a bit of both) he put the ball in the tin. BUT the cause of having to run the diagonal was the forced boast, the cause of the forced boast was the missed volley opportunity and that cause of that was a bad serve and being slow to the T. The bad serve was the root cause and that is what I would put right first. My solution would have been very different to the solution favoured by the two other coaches (both of whom were qualified to teach coaches). The root cause of their problem is that match analysis is not taught to coaches (not back then, and probably not now.) This leads to a simplistic indeed a fundamentally flawed way to teach coaches. Coaches are taught to teach stroke production but the problem is we don’t play stroke production we play squash and that is a complex mixture of mind, tactics, technique and fitness. When I taught coaches I spent a whole day on match analysis. I had to develop my own way of doing this as the English SRA had no idea about it.

It's a breath of fresh air to hear your story and perspective. I approach coaching and situations exactly as you have mentioned - root cause identification first and foremost. If you're open to it, feel free to email me at ahad@arproformance.com and we can chat further. All the best, - Ahad

Thank you. Glad you got a lot out of it 🙏🏼 - Ahad

Skill levels are definitely high! 💪🏼 All the best, - Ahad

Absolutely. I do often work on deception that way, in addition to working on movement off the shot. All the best, - Ahad

Great points - opponent position encompasses more than their physical location on court, but also their body position associated with their anticipation! Wishing you well, - Ahad

Thank you! All the best, - Ahad

Thank you. All the best, - Ahad

Thank you for sharing the wise words 👊🏼🙏🏼 hope you're well Sir! - Ahad

You don't need to bounce off the back wall, but it helps to place the ball higher, instead of hitting harder

Height is definitely your friend. You want to have your technique assessed by a coach / pro because you're likely not doing a few things that will help generate pace (without requiring a ton of strength per se). If you'd like to discuss the possibility of us working together, please email me at ahad@arproformance.com. All the best, Ahad

How did it go?! Did you remember this? - Ahad

Thank you! Did you try it out? - Ahad

Hahaha! I know the feeling...sigh - Ahad

He truly is!

Very special player! An inspiration to us all!

Thanks. It's critical to see these nuances and apply them in our own games :) All the best, - Ahad

He has improved tremendously over the last while. It's great to see. Wishing you well, - Ahad

Thank you!