On court movement

Move badly and you will probably play badly too. Court movement is one of the most important elements in the making of a champion. Good footwork and movement are necessary to enable a player to approach the ball to position himself correctly to hit the ball.

Movement consists of footwork, balance, weight transference and even rhythm. Proper footwork should be learned because a player moving correctly will rarely find himself in a bad position for hitting the ball. Moving incorrectly causes the player to put him self under pressure, he will often hit from an incorrect position which reduces control, consistency and his recovery.

When moving to the ball the player should remember the following:

-Watch the ball and make eye contact with the ball always
-Make the first movement (balanced quick step) quickly from the T
-Take long balanced strides rather than short, quick strides
-From a ready position the first foot to move in the normal turn must be the foot opposite to the side of the intended stroke. E.g. Forehand shot by right handed player - move left - right- left. Opposite for backhand
-Turn with hips and feet keeping the upper body passive
-Always keep the racket head up for an early preparation of the backswing before approaching the ball

Signs of bad movement
=Players take a series of short steps to the ball, giving them no firm grounding to hit the ball. Too many steps take the player too far from the T and there is no time to recover the T in order to cover the next shot.
=The player is too close to the ball and no space is created to allow early racket preparation and correct choice of shot. Technique is restricted causing errors to occur under pressure.
=When players fail to stretch to the shot when clearing the ball, they can not clear to the T fast enough. They will be busy trying to get away from the line of the ball, often moving back to the T via the wrong route.
=Incorrect movement affects breathing, resulting in short shallow breaths which accelerate tiredness.
=No flow to the game, resulting in a rushed frantic style with little time to consider tactics.
=Players feel rigid and tense with no feeling of freedom as they play, affecting RHYTHM which is fundamental to the game of squash.

How should I improve my movement?

Shadow training - Repeated movement as if to play an imaginary shot, from the T to the different corners of the squash court in a sequence. These are done with the racket but without the ball.

-Starting from the T, you move towards the forehand front wall as if to play a drive with a complete swing.
-Move backward to the T and stay in a ready position
-Move to the opposite side (backhand) as if to play a backhand drive and move back to the T
This can be repeated 10 times on each side, which should take 1 min.

Once you are satisfied with your forward movement, move to the other parts of the court - side, behind on the straight, backhand and forehand sides. Another variation is to stand at the "T" and to move to various corners of the court called randomly by a colleague.