How to deal with a grinder

Total Squash - 22 Jun 2009

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A grinder's game plan is to wear you down, make no errors, (probably hit few winners too), and work you around the court until you start to tire. Relentless usually sums them up in one word. They are usually very fit, and mentally very disciplined.

Plan A for you against these people, is to be steady. If you can play tight steady squash, slightly better than they can, they usually have no plan b. Their range of shots is usually limited to what they do over and over, and if this isn't working then they can be in trouble. They rely on defending well, and slowly grinding down their opponent until they are tired enough to be there for the taking. Take this away from them, and they are left with nothing.

This is easier said than done though, and you may not be able to beat them at their own game. Here's a plan b for you.

Take them out of their rhythm. they like to play in patterns, work you in patterns, and to play to set sequences of shots. They hate improvising, and hate more open broken rallies because they are far harder to defend, and don't fit into their book of plays. To do this you must

  1. Vary the pace. There's nothing better to break rhythm than varying the pace. Use lobs and hard low cross courts to challenge their movement.
  2. Hold the ball. Use disguise to mess up their movement patterns. Hold and delay your shots. Grinders are always good movers, but they are not always lightning fast, so if you can send them the wrong way, this will give them a few headaches.
  3. Play at pace. Grinders will be good up to the pace at which they are comforatble. beyond that, they will not have the waepons to deal with fast pace. Step forward, take the ball early and hit with some pace. This takes some extra physical effort, but if you are winning the rallies, then it's worth it.
  4. Take pace off! Using the opposite tactic can sometimes tempt your grinder into trying to dominate you. Perhaps a slightly risky strategy, but certainly one to be used occasionally, and good to give yourself a bit of a breather when needed.

Note: 3 and 4 seemingly contradict ecahother! Use both and you'll quickly find out which works in your set of circumstances. A variety of both will often be useful, and will keep your grinder off balance! 

Matches against grinders can change on the basis of one rally. Get on the end of one of their gruellers, and you can lose energy, then control, and then end up doing a whole lot of running.

Therefore, it's imperative that you focus on every shot.

Following from this, it's one of the only times that you might consider not giving your all for any given rally or period of a match. You might wish to conserve, or regain energy, by sacrificing a rally or two, to avoid falling into their web.

As you've probably worked out by reading this far, it can be a tricky conumdrum trying to find your ideal strategy. You'll find you need to stay one step ahead. Some trial and error might be involved as you try to fit the peices togther, but this can be one of the most enjoyable aspects of playing squash - solving a puzzle.

If this still isn't working then there is a simple answer to your problem. Get on the court/bike/track, get youself fitter. Now you'll last longer in the rallies and you'll be able to let your superior racket skills do the talking.


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