I have definitely talked about mental confidence before but wanted to discuss from a little different perspective this time. I am sure we have all played against someone that is young, new to the game and really fit and can seemingly chase down any ball. Even when they can't quite get it they often exclaim how close they were to getting the ball. They run all over the court and have a smile on their face while doing it. They look like they are actually having fun chasing the ball around the court. Why do they look this way? The obvious answer is more often than not the right one. They are having fun!
Playing squash is supposed to be fun. That sometimes get lost in a the desire to win or from playing too much. Speaking from personal experience I get pretty focused on technical stuff when playing squash. I am always trying to work on something so that I can improve my squash game. I do sometimes get frustrated with the game when I perceive that my hard work has not translated in to a win. I was talking with my club pro yesterday and we discussed this very topic. He was discussing a young guy at my club that is a very talented squash player and extremely fast but could sometimes get down on himself and his play would suffer. He remember talking to him between games in a match where he was down on himself and simply said something like you are the fastest player in the club, you can get anything! The young guy went from being despondent on court to being on the ball really fast, making incredible gets when under pressure and really having fun again. The match completely turned around simply because he was enjoying playing squash again.
We all want to win our squash matches but try to remember to enjoy playing the game as well. You will often find that positive outcomes on the court follow the positive outlook while playing the game.
