A good friend of mine, and a fellow squash player, mentioned recently that he thought that professional squash needed more drama, excitement, and rivalry.

For many of us, getting on the squash court may not be possible at the moment. For everyone here at Control the 'T' Sports, we're in a form of lockdown and not able to play squash at present.

2020 has been a strange year for us all. The pandemic (which I'm sure you're probably sick of hearing about) has impacted everyone's lives in ways we would have never expected. Sports, in particular, took a huge hit worldwide, and indoor sports such as squash seemed to be amongst the worst affected.

I was reading a thread on Twitter recently which discussed some really interesting points regarding power in squash. The people in the thread were debating whether or not you have to have big, strong arms to hit the ball hard in squash. Most people were in agreement that you don't, however, I've spoken to a lot of beginner level players who assume that you have to be super strong to hit a powerful shot.

The pace at which a squash game is played defines the entire match.

We all know the importance of practice. Repetition of any skill should in theory make you better at that skill. However, whether or not your practice is meaningful can have a huge impact on the speed and quality of your progression.

Full disclosure:

Something I've been struggling with a little bit recently is maintaining motivation. I know I'm not alone in this as some local squash players I've spoken to have expressed similar concerns with their training.

I think every player knows and acknowledges that height is important in squash, but I believe that it's still severely under-appreciated by beginner, intermediate, and even some advanced level players. If you look at the very top squash players, they use height consistently and effectively for both attack and defense.

I recently found myself thinking about squash's past campaigns for getting into the Olympic Games, and there's one key point that these campaigns mention which stands out as one of my favourite features of the game. The fact that an all glass squash court can be set up (fast) in almost any location is absolutely astounding.

Hopefully you all managed to watch the first PSA World Tour event to take place following the suspension of the PSA World Tour due to COVID-19. It might not have been exactly what we're used to in terms of professional squash, but the Manchester Open was, in my opinion, a great success.