Cheeky Drop Shot
- A Hacker’s Account Of A Weeklong Squash Camp That Gives Back
When I was in my late twenties to early thirties, I ran a lot. I ran 5Ks, 10Ks, 5 milers, Turkey Trotruns, half-marathons, and marathons. For a back-of-the-packer, I had a 5K PR of 21:21. I’m told that’s not too shabby. In a single mile rub, I pulled off a 6:50. Another thing I heard a lot when I was a ‘serious amateur’ (an issue of Runner’s Worldthat came out sometime around 1998 or 1999 had an article about running identities and I fell in the ‘serious amateur’ classification) was that one of the glories of running a marathon, especially one of the big ones, is that you get to say you’ve competed against and with some of the world’s best on the the exact same course in the same conditions.
In the course of one’s life, it’s not likely that you’ll ever play with or against your favourite athlete or any other top athlete unless you’ve won a lottery or, through some kind of corporate connection for charity, find yourself in a fundraising game or something of the like. That changed for me on a few nights ago on 24 June 2019.
I’ve been playing squash on-and-off since I was first introduced to it in the early 1980s. I was still living in Hong Kong and I was attending Island School. Next to the school was a squash facility that, at the time, might have been the base of the Hong Kong Squash Racquets Association. Squash was part of our Physical Education program and I started playing after school and at break times with my friends. When I moved to the United States, there weren’t courts around so I stopped playing for a couple of years until I went to university at Rutgers. There, I made friends with one of my Economics students, fellow Asian from Singapore. He introduced me to the Rutgers Squash Club. The club met every Friday and we played. At one point, a team was formed and we played a hardball match against Steven’s Tech. I don’t recall the outcome of the match (I think we won) but I did horribly. In my defense, it was the first and only time I’ve played a hardball match. Moving ahead twenty-five years, I discovered Lifetime Fitness, a nationwide facility that its squash friendly. The two locations near where I live have four courts each and it was the sound of a softball squash ball hitting the front wall that convinced me to join. Since then, I’ve been playing regularly and I’ve introduced my son to the sport. He wants to go pro and that has brought my story back around to the present.
As part of the squash programming at Lifetime, where my son takes group and private lessons and competes as a member of the Lifetime Squash Team, there was a weeklong camp with James Willstrop coaching the first two days and Miguel Angel Rodriguez leading the rest of the week. Willstrop is a former world number one and is currently ranked at nineteen. Rodriguez is currently ranked at number nine and both have won some of the sport’s most coveted titles. My son is enrolled in the camp but there were also adult clinics being run.
On the first night, Willstrop ran an intense 90-minute session. There were twelve adults and we were split into groups of three based on our skill level. We did game-like drills that forced us to focus on specific skills or situations and Willstrop rotated between the courts and assessed and gave pointers. I’ve met and spoken with some squash pros before this and I mean more than “Can I have your autograph?” or “Can we get a picture?” I’ve had chats with Tarek Momen (world number three) and his wife, Raneem El Wellily, (current world number one).
I’ve had several chats with Nick Matthew (former world number one and three time world champion). My son has taken Nick’s camp and he will do so again this summer, this time for two weeks. One of those weeks, the camp’s guest head coaches will be Laura Massaro (former world number one and former world champion) and her husband, Danny, with whom I had lunch at last January’s Tournament of Champions at the Nick Matthew Academy reception in New York City. My son and I also had lessons at The Charing Cross Sports Centre in London with Abid Khan, also a PSA-ranked squash pro. The session on 24 June, however, was the first time I had coaching - okay, maybe coaching is pushing it but I can at least say instruction – from a PSA-squash player who had reached the top of the ranking. Reminder, Willstrop is a former number one.
As the evening went on, jumping from one paired or group drill to another, I visibly noticed some improvements in my technique and I felt myself getting better. I grew more consistent with my backhand, remembering to cock my wrist and keep my racquet head up. Willstrop went around and corrected, suggested, and encouraged and it was absolutely brilliant. I could almost feel the new crevices of knowledge and muscle memory forming in my brain. I help coach my son on the squash court and I coach or have coached other sports, I have a Master’s Degree in Coaching and Sports Administration, and I am a Health and Physical Education teacher so grasping sports skills and concepts has always been fairly easy for me and during this clinic it was like Willstrop translated a foreign language into one I can understand. That’s how amazing he is and how simple yet enlightening the drills were. Moreover, with Willstrop being patient, generous, and a gentleman, it wasn’t hard to open my eyes. While my own game was improving, however, it’s really because of my son why all of this is important. He wants to be a pro and he wants to be world champion. Anything I can do to help him achieve that, well, it’s the minimum a father can do. That’s why I signed up for this clinic and the one to follow with Rodriguez.
Towards the end of the Willstrop session, I was moved up a court/level and played ‘King of the Court’ with two higher-level players. I was so inspired that I dare say I held my own. When Willstrop joined us, I served from the left box and he hit me with a perfect high and deep rail that I had no chance on. In plopped perfectly into the back right corner and all I could do was swing at it, clipping the glass back wall on my stroke. The next cycle, again from the left box, I went with a high and deep lob serve. Even though Willstrop is 6’4”, I felt it was a better option than serving something that he’d just blast into the corner for a trickle boast winner. Willstrop was kind and returned with a high pancake that I pounced on and countered with a drop shot. If I may say so, it was a really good drop but, in real life, I’d never have had the chance to take it and, if I would, I’d never have won it because Willstrop would’ve come up and hit me with crosscourt winner or lob or another drop and make look like the hacker I am. On paper, though, I won a point off a former world number one. Ha ha! There’s no proof, however, except for the eyewitness accounts of the two other guys on the court, Willstrop himself, and my son’s coach. If they don’t corroborate my point, it’ll forever be my Loch Ness. All kidding aside, though, just being on court with Willstrop made me feel like a squash player.
In my fifty years on this planet, I’ve lived on two continents and three countries. I’ve visited numerous other countries and I’ve had a lot of really cool experiences and met some really amazing people. This clinic, however, as a squash player, an amateur squash coach, the father of a squash player, and human being has been one of the best and most meaningful and one of those I will remember vividly however many years I have left on this earth. Most places mainly offer squash programs for kids. Lifetime and its squash staff, Andy and Phil, and Willstrop for his generosity of knowledge, time, and spirit – stepping in for former world number one and former world champion, Gregory Gaultier, who had to withdraw due to injury – and Rodriguez have made it possible for hackers like me and, of course, the elite players at our club, to get this unique experience. For some of us, it may be a once in a lifetime experience. For others, perhaps it opens doors to more and bigger experiences on the squash court. For me, it made me feel like I can be a better player and a better coach to my son.
On the second night, Willstrop had another ninety-minute session in which those who signed up got to play against him. I didn’t stay to watch that but the camp coaches told me all about it the next day and how much of a blast the participants had playing against a former world number one and one of the best to ever play the game. I could only imagine it, looking ahead to night three when I was slated to have a run around with Rodriguez on night three. Rodriguez, nicknamed ‘The Colombian Cannonball,’ had two hours set for the run around. The first hour was reserved for the top players, of which there were three, and the second hour for those a little below. I was in the second group, naturally, and looking at them warm up and having watched some of them play in tournaments and casual club play, I wondered if they ought to be in group one.
As group one played, games to seven in rotation with Rodriguez staying on, I was inspired, amazed at the competitiveness of our club players, and scared as hell. All sorts of scary thought took me over – I’m going to embarrass myself and get laughed off the court, I’m going to have a heart attack, I’m going to blow my knee out again or re-aggravate my ankle. After moments of dread, I resorted to my black belt training and began to breathe. I got on an empty court with my son and hit.
Then it was my turn. I was the last in my group in rotation and, as a result, was the last to play Rodriguez that night, which was probably fitting since I was definitely the weakest of all eight players. As soon as I got on court, all my fears vanished. Rodriguez is a gentleman. He greeted me with a firm handshake, a friendly smile, introduced himself and said “Mui bien.” We did a short knock up then we played. He was gracious and played challenging shots for me and played to my level. I felt like I was my son and he was son’s coach when I watch them on the court. He gave me a let ball when in real life it was a winner. He coached me as we played; telling me when I hit a good shot and when I could still get the ball. On the let, I ran into him –one of my fears of the night; that I would be the one to injure him. Instead, my 5’11” much heavier person was stopped in his tracks by this 5’5” brick wall. In the end, I had two games with him to nine points and, looking back on the videos, both went 9-4. He was kind and made me look better than I am and didn’t make me feel like I didn’t belong.
These two up close experiences with Willstrop and Rodriguez are two I will never forget. As much as I have to thank Lifetime, the coaches, Willstrop, and Rodriguez, I have to thank my son. If he weren’t serious about squash and didn’t want to be a pro, we probably wouldn’t have enrolled in these events. To share these moments with him are priceless. Hearing his voice in the videos cheering me on, the voice of God in a father’s ears. What’s more is to see these pros in a different light. Seeing them on Squash TV or live at the Tournament of Champions is one thing. To see them up close as people is another. Willstrop is open and generous with his time and knowledge. Rodriguez lives in the moment. In the sessions I saw him run on his first day, he was the one who started taking pictures. He pulled out his camera before any us, relishing the experience as much as the campers and adult players did. At two different photo opportunities, both my son and I got to take pictures with his phone. How crazy is that? Would you ever imagine it? I’m an Arsenal fan but can’t ever imagine being in a position to hold, say, Hector Bellerin’s or Alexandre Lacazette’s mobile phone to take pictures of him with his fans and at his request no less.
On night four, Rodriguez played against Faraz Khan, the 122ndranked PSA player, and Ayush Menon, the number one U19 US boy in exhibition matches. Top-level squash, basically, in my backyard. Can’t beat it. In the first match, Rodriguez bested Menon 2-0 (11-3, 11-3) although Menon showed some good play and was as much an inspiration to the juniors who were watching as Rodriguez was. The next match was an all-pro affair, again played to best-out-of-three, with Khan taking on The Colombian Cannonball. With Menon having already lost, it was up to Khan to try to restore some American and New Jersey pride (both Menon and Khan are from New Jersey). It was tight going in the first game, with both players showing the quality of their professional training and experience, but in the end Rodriguez won the first game 11-7. In the second, Rodriguez was up 10-7 with match ball in hand but Khan regained his poise pulled back to 10-all. With both players exchanging rails on the left wall, Khan attempted to change pace and pulled off a crosscourt drop that hit the tin giving Rodriguez an 11-10 lead and another attempt to serve or the match. He prevailed and won 12-10.
Lifetime and its squash program, it should be noted, didn’t just run these events as an option for parents to send their children in the summer or to boost its squash profile and program. As part of the evening’s festivities, a silent auction was held for an autographed James Willstrop racquet made by Unsquashable and currently unavailable in the United States. A lottery raffle, for $10 a ticket, was also held. The prize was the racquet Willstrop used for the camp. All proceeds, with no money going to any of the players, goes to Street Squash. Street Squash is an organization whose mission is to provide support to inner youth, particularly in Harlem (NY) and Newark (NJ), with resources to succeed. One of those resources is to expose them to as many new experiences as possible and squash is one of those experiences.
Shortly after his arrival, I got to take a picture of Khan with my son and chat with him. He asked about my son and how long he’s been playing. He also asked about my own squash experience. At the end of the event, just as we were leaving, Khan wished my son good luck with his squash pursuits. Just another example of the generosity of spirit and class of the pros Lifetime brings to its members. The coaches have told me that more exciting programs are schedule in the near future with other top players and coaches (I’m not at liberty to say whom they’re trying to bring in) coming in as the featured guests but from the names that were mentioned this squash-playing writer is very excited. Personally, I’d love to see them bring in Nick Matthew, Tarek Momen, Saurav Ghosal, Max Lee, Camille, Serme, Laura Massaro, Amanda Sobhy, and Nicol David; favourites of mine, great players and, from the interactions and conversations I’ve had with some of them, top class individuals.
Whatever the effects – immediate or long lasting - this week will have on my son and I, only time will tell. In the meantime, I say thank you. Thank you, Lifetime. Thank you, Andy and Phil. Thank you, James. Thank you, Miguel. At the start of the week, watching the others warm up, I felt like I shouldn’t be there. For the most part, I play in the safe confines of my club early in the morning. I spend some time training my son, duplicating drills he does with Andy and adding some from websites like squashskills.com, then playing a match or two to end the session. Sometimes we play with the scoring rules I grew up with – nine points, you have to serve to score. I like doing this because I believe it teaches my son how to earn a point as opposed to winning points off his opponent’s errors. So, enrolling in adult clinics like the ones with Willstrop and Rodriguez was something out of my usual modus operandi. Filled with excitement and equal amounts of trepidation, at the end of the first night, I felt I’d held my own. I’m no way, suddenly, any kind of top player at my club but I feel more a member of the squash community than I did before and that’s because quality human beings like James, Andy, Phil, and Miguel nurture that community and welcome aging and injured and out-of-shape hackers like me.
