Variation Analysis - Backhand Front Corner

Total Squash - 14 Aug 2010

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Here is a simple pen and paper analysis tool I use to show players their shot variation, or rather lack of it, from the front corners. It is common for players to hit cross-court from the front and if the opponent is sharp enough to work this out, the ball will be delivered regularly right onto their racket.

This sheet shows most of the available shot options from the front backhand corner.  Every time my player hits from this corner I mark the sheet. If it does not fit one of my shot lines then I just mark it as 'Other'. When they hit from anywhere else on the court then no mark is made. Straight drive, cross-court drive, xc lob, straight drop, cross drop, trickle boast. Here is an example of a completed sheet. Note the ratio of straight to cross-court and also long to short. So, as an opponent, when I played the ball short into that corner I would looking for a crosscourt to the back

I have used this analysis in the past to demonstrate how seldom a player defends the ball with a lob from the front corners. He couldn't always be in that good a position! I have also used it to highlight the number of times a player chooses to drop cross-court rather than straight and open up the court. If the player completes the analysis themselves using a video recording then the realisation can be even even greater!

It is not always about hitting straight but it is about getting the balance right! To a certain degree it depends on whom you are playing but generally too much of one shot will leave you vulnerable! Do you have the right balance?


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