John Musto Squash

We arrived in Hong Kong late last night. Only 24 hours door to door! I was a bit concerned after seeing my airline, China Eastern, come in at #7 on the World’s 10 Worst Airlines, but I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t that bad at all. And I got a lot of Delta SkyMiles for the flight, which in the end is all that matters!

There are over 700 masters players here from all around the world for the World Masters Squash Championships, and we met a few at the airport last night. The squash bag kind of gives us away. Some of the greatest players ever to play are here: Sarah Fitgerald, Brett Martin, Geoff Davenport and Natalie Grainger to name a few.

The 45+ draw (my draw) is very, very tough. I got a very decent draw as the 10th seed, but in events like this you can never be sure how good someone is just because they are not seeded or you have never heard of them. There are a couple of players in my section of the draw that I saw at the British Open, and I very much hope I have the opportunity to go up against them.

Hong Kong has more squash courts than any city in the world, so even though all the tournament courts are booked for practice sessions, I am going to head over to a public sports center near my hotel to practice a bit before heading over to a great dim sum restaurant that my bud Neil recommended. (With all the great recommendations I got from students and friends every meal is set here for the next 10 days!)

I am very excited for the tournament to start.  I have worked very hard on my game over the last 5 weeks since the British Open, and am excited to put it all into competitive action. That being said, however much I enjoy the competition (and I like it a lot!), as I sit here in my hotel room in Hong Kong, I am reminded that the greatest thing about squash is that you can travel the world and meet all sorts of great new people who also carry a squash bag.

My run at the British Open has ended in the semifinals against a strong player, the #2 seeded Rick Weatherall. Rick played good, all-around squash and while there was a potential path to victory for me, it required me to make my straight drops and volley drops in order to open up the court, and I was unable to consistently do this. The result was that Rick controlled the play for the most part. As much as I dislike losing, there is a lot that I will take away from this experience, and I look forward to getting back on court and working to become a better player and sharing my insights with my students.

As I write this, Hull City is up 2-1 against Arsenal, so if there is any consolation to losing today, it is that I can finally enjoy a real, English hand-pulled ale, and if Hull City can hang in there, be a part of the biggest celebration this little town has ever had.

There is a picture of Nicol David that I have that was taken after she lost in 5 to Nour El Sherbini at the World Open held in Nicol’s home country. She is profoundly, profoundly sad. She puts everything she has into being a great player, tries to conduct her life like a champion, and gives every bit of herself every time she plays. It is stunning to watch her. But when she loses, you see the other side – how much it hurts to put everything you have into going for something and come up short. No matter how much it hurts to come up short, it is always the right path to give it everything you have. You just let yourself be sad no matter how long it takes, then think through what happened, figure out how to do better the next time, then pick up your racquet and get back to work.

I woke up early today and took a stroll around old town Hull before most anybody was up. The pubs in Hull start serving pints at 9, and there are plenty of takers at that early hour. So as I was walking about well before then, the town was very, very quiet, and I found myself very calm and focused for what I knew would be a real battle ahead of me.

I arrived at the Hull squash center about an hour early, and met my opponent, the 3rd seeded David Youngs, as I was getting ready. What a nice guy. He happens to know two Americans who happen to be two of my favorite people in squash – Richard Millman and Andre Maur. Two very, very different people, but two true squash players through and through.

There is something about the way a good player talks which tells you that they are good. The better the player, the more they downplay their squash. 10 minutes chatting it up with David told me that this guy would be good.

Game 1 starts – He serves, I return down the wall, he hits a boast winner. So this is what it is going to be like. He attacks at every chance, and is always deceptive. He runs up the score to 5-1, but I feel good – he is attacking too soon, and under pressure he keeps trying to be deceptive which is putting pressure on his shots. If I can just mix it up with good deep rails and cross courts, and attack straight, I know I can do this. I pull back into the game, forcing errors and winning with my straight volley drop. I win the first game 11-9.

David comes out on fire in the second, takes the ball early and shoots well. Second game to David 11-5.

After the 2nd game I reminded myself to attack to the back two corners to set up my attacks to the front. It was just the advice I needed, and I took the initiative early and had David back on his heels while he still continued to go short. I started countering his short shots with counter drops and they were effective which to me is a sign that my opponent is working hard. 3rd game to me 11-4.

David was huddled with his mates from Norwich after the 3rd, and they must have given him good advice, as he came into the 4th working the ball high to the back corners, especially using a beautiful, high backhand crosscourt. This shot put more pressure on me than I liked, and he used my subsequent shot to set up his attack. He was looking very, very good. 4th game to David 11-4.

I had a simple piece of advice for myself after the 4th: Play to win. Attack to the back to set up the attack to the front.

The 5th started with a beautiful backhand straight drop winner from David, then a almost-perfect backhand cross-court that was just out: 1-1. Then I took over. Attacked, attacked and attacked some more to the back, then attacked to the front straight – straight drops and straight volley drops. If David did get my drops, I attacked to the back. 5-1, 7-1, 7-2, 9-2, 9-3, 10-3, 10-4, 10-5, 11-5.  Game, match. I am into the semis.

At the University of Hull squash center

Turns out Hull is a very charming town. Yesterday when we walked around we clearly missed the nice part. The old town down by the water is filled with beautiful old pubs, churches, cobbled streets, museums and little squares. Looking forward to going back down there tonight for dinner.

My match today was tougher, and for the most part I played well. He is a feisty player, and got feistier as the match went on. However, I played accurate, strategic squash and was in control most of the time. I seldom pay attention to the score – I am much more focused on my strategic positioning and the physical damage I am inflicting on my opponent. From this standpoint the match was never in doubt, and the final score was 11-2, 11-5, 11-9.

I am happy to be in the quarters, but feel I have a full level better in me and have the ability to go further in this tournament. Tomorrow’s match will be a real test against the 3/4 seed. I can’t wait to get back on court.

The British Open is the grand tournament of squash. The greatest players in history are judged in two ways – number of World Open titles and number of British Open titles. Despite a few recent years of apparent mismanagement, including a year in which the tournament was not even held, the British Open appears to be back to its rightful place in the squash world.

The Masters draws of the British Open are year-in year-out the toughest Masters draws around.  This is partially because Masters events are very well organized in England and many great players stay active playing tournaments, and partially because so many outsiders want to be part of this great tournament.

I have been seeded 5-8 for the tournament.  My first match was against a player from Munich, Germany.  One of the differences with playing abroad is that you often have no idea how strong your 1st opponent will be. In this case, I was a much stronger player. Although I was pleased to get a relatively easy 1st match, the concern is always to play good squash so that your are truly preparing yourself for the rest of the tournament. In this case I played good squash, and was sure to go through my repertoire of shots and strategies to take them for a test drive.  I won 11-1, 11-2, 11-1 and feel that I got a good warm-up for tomorrow’s match which is sure to be much tougher.

You can follow the 45+ draw here.

How do we get more adult squash players to play tournaments? The small draws in both national and local tournaments are well documented. It doesn’t have to be this way. There is an art to running a successful tournament that used to be the norm – but, with some notable exceptions, the skill has been largely lost or just ignored over the past 20-25 years.  But the mistakes that are being made can be corrected. There are plenty of players out there that could and would be playing in tournaments and the key is to get them engaged and psyched to play. Here are 10 thoughts on how to get them playing.

1. Do not assume that just because a tournament is put up on a calendar that people will sign up. In the old days people felt a sense of obligation to institutions that people today for the most part no longer feel. People today have many, many options for using their valuable free time and do not feel guilty about pursuing their other choices.

2. Don’t run a tournament by committee. Have a single tournament director (with the support of a committee) who cares passionately about the success of a tournament. Let them “own” the tournament. For every great tournament I have ever played I can tell you exactly who the tournament director was – going back to my junior squash days. It was their passion that made the tournament great.

3. Reach out to those who entered last year. I have been amazed that I am seldom contacted by tournament directors to play even when I was in the draw the year before. When I ran my (fully-subscribed) tournament for 7 years, the first group I contacted for the upcoming tournament was everyone who had played in the past. The draws were 80% filled after that.

4. Reach out individually to those who haven’t yet entered. Make it your goal to fill every draw. Reach out individually to players in the city who didn’t sign up and sell them on why they should be in the tournament. Promise them a great time – and deliver.

5. Make the tournament special and memorable. Have a special shirt. Have a great Saturday night party. Have a great pro exhibition. Do something special that makes people excited to come back next year.

6. Get the logistics right. Be thoughtful about giving enough time between matches. Get entrants their starting time by Wednesday noon before a tournament. Arrange courts so that you don’t have huge delays even if there are lots of 5-game matches. Have towels and water handy. Enter match results instantly.

7. Walk around the tournament. Don’t just sit behind the desk assuming everything is going ok. There will be confusion and the sooner you resolve it the better. There will be bad referees. Poorly behaved players. Injuries. Confusion about who plays on what court. Nip it in the bud by having someone else be behind the desk and get out and about.

8. Think of it as hosting a big party. Make sure people are happy. Find out what they are thinking. Get suggestions for next year. Encourage people to come to the Saturday night party. Show them that you care deeply about their experience at the tournament.

9. Follow up with players after the tournament. Get their feedback and suggestions for next year. Share the tournament highlights with all competitors. Make them glad they were part of such a great event.

10. Publicize the success of your tournament. Get it onto the association’s website and into the newsletter; email it to association members and post pictures – social and competitive – on social media. Make sure everyone who didn’t play knows that they missed a great event that they won’t want to miss next year.

Canadian 45+ Champ with finalist Trent Haase

Before talking about the match, I just want to say that here in Edmonton, in May, it is snowing outside. Ok – the match. My opponent, Trent Haase, put up a great fight. I won the 1st 11-3 playing very good, purposeful squash. Into the 2nd game, Trent changed up his game and started shooting – and he wasn’t missing. When someone suddenly starts shooting effectively there are several possible reactions – 1) keep playing steady waiting for your chances to shoot and be prepared to counter-punch off his shots; 2) beat him to the punch by shooting first; or 3) get very conservative and play to the back. I think the 1st option is usually best, but in this case I chose the 2nd option.  Suddenly Trent was right back in it, and he was very effectively counter-punching on my premature attacks. He was up most of the game and had one or two game points. However, I luckily realized the errors of my ways and went back to playing purposeful squash. I won the second game 14-12, and then held a solid lead throughout the 3rd to win it 11-8. Trent was gracious throughout the match and had several family members who joined the rather large Canadian crowd to watch the match.

With my semi-final and quarterfinal opponents, Eric Raynor and Philip Bringloe

My Canadian adventure has been very satisfying but also eye-opening. It was a pleasure to see the Canadian Squash association and its membership in action. Aside from the point I have mentioned about flawless execution of the matches, I’d like to make several other observations. The squash center was packed with squash fans and family supporters – every court had a healthy and vocal crowd behind it. The Saturday evening banquet was packed – two large, full dining rooms. There was genuine camaraderie. When pro division 3rd place finisher Shawn Delierre went to receive his prize, he took a moment to say a few words, and simply said how much he enjoys these opportunities for the Canadian squash family to get together. There were nods of agreement throughout the room. And the socializing continued until well past the (rather late!) hour that I left.  I appreciate the friendship extended to an American at this tournament, and I very much look forward to returning to Canada next year for these championships.

Squash courts at the Royal Glenora Club in Edmonton

A couple of impressions of my trip so far: 1) Squash Canada does a great job running a tournament; 2) The Royal Glenora Club is one of my favorite Clubs I’ve been to (on top of all of their offerings that I have already mentioned, I found the bowling alley today); 3) Canadians really do eat, sleep and breathe hockey. A coach getting fired has been national news for 3 days.

I played well today in the 45+ semi against Eric Raynor, a fellow American who made the trip up here.  Eric and I have played several times before, and I felt that if I kept the pressure on him and kept him moving that I would do well. I warmed up well and  started the match with a few extremely long points that set the tone that I would not be in a rush to end the point, but would impose tremendous pressure and make him work very, very hard.  I am happy to say that I won in 3 games and I am looking forward to the finals tomorrow.  I play a tricky player from Toronto who I played at the US 45+ Nationals.  Although I did well in our last match, I am well aware that he had me going the wrong way several times and he was very effective if he got an opening. I look forward to the finals.

It is very hard to win if you don’t believe in yourself. I think most people would generally agree with that statement. What is harder is to understand how to believe in yourself.

People go down many paths to achieve self-belief, but most of these paths don’t achieve the objective. Many people misunderstand what belief is and where it comes from, and in their efforts to conjure it, trick themselves into it, or to emulate those who do have it they can create only short bursts of motivation or sometimes even end up creating more self-doubt. It is important to understand the underpinnings of self-belief as it is probably the most important factor in achieving victory.

Belief is not mystical. Belief is the result of doing very concrete things so well that you create a logic that convinces you beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can and will accomplish your goal. There is a myth that certain people just magically have this self-belief, and others are just unfortunate that they were not gifted with it. However, on deeper inspection, those people with the incredible belief just happen to be the people who get to practice earlier, stay later, and work harder and smarter in between. Belief is not self-delusion – it is a knowing. It is based on a logic that convinces you that you have what it takes to win the match in front of you.

For squash, the underpinnings of belief are:

1)   Physical: knowing that you have the strength, quickness, flexibility and endurance to win the match ahead of you.

2)   Technical: knowing that you have good enough court movement, strokes that you can rely on, and have the ability to hit the shots that it will take to win.

3)   Strategic: knowing that you have a plan of attack (or defense!) that will be effective against your opponent.

4)   Desire: knowing that you will do whatever it takes (within the rules!) to persevere and win.

When one or more of these four elements is insufficient to beat your opponent, you must find a combination between the four to still win or be relegated to “doing your best and hoping it works out.” If you can come up with a plan that can work, then you have something to believe in. If you cannot, you can (and should!) try your best and never give up, but that is different from belief. When you try and try but just can’t find a logic that you can believe in, sometimes a coach or fellow player can be helpful and provide the logic that you need but are unable to construct. And it is an opportunity to see what your game needs in order to win at the level at which you are trying to compete.

There are times when all of these four elements are in place and players still do not believe in themselves. This is where psychology comes into play.  For some people, and all the more power to them, this does not seem to be an issue.  But for the other 99% of us, self-doubt can creep into the mind in all sorts of ways.  Maybe you have never beaten this person and deep down have convinced yourself that you will always lose.  Maybe you have never before won a final and “here you go again.” Maybe the opponent just seems to want it more. Maybe you have never thought of yourself as someone who wins when it counts.  Whatever the thought that goes through your mind, they all have one thing in common.  They are just thoughts, and are not reality.  They are just phantoms from the past that disguise themselves as reality.  If they can convince you that they are reality, then they control you.  However, if you can see them for what they are, they dissolve. A good coach or sports psychologist can be helpful in walking you through the process of letting go of limiting thoughts, however it is possible to do it on your own. The most important thing is to not be possessive of your thoughts, but to let them go so you can see them for what they really are.

An interesting thing is that it is not just negative thoughts that have the power to undermine your self-belief. Positive thoughts can do the same thing, and they are more insidious because they seem like such a good thing.  Just as negative thoughts get you down on yourself and distract you from the logic that underpins belief, positive thoughts create a “euphoria” that can lead to abandonment of the logic. This is often called arrogance or hubris. I consider it much more dangerous because it appears to be nothing but good and so many people tell you to think positively that it must be a good thing. But any thought that distracts you from the logic that drives your self-belief is detrimental. A clear mind is the objective – not free from thought, as that is impossible (thoughts are involuntary), but free from paying attention to extraneous thoughts.

It is a beautiful feeling to walk into a match with the necessary physical ability, technical skills, strategic plan, desire and to have a calm, clear mind. This is you operating at your highest potential, and self-belief will flow through you and you will become an unstoppable force.

I arrived in Edmonton yesterday for the Canadian National Championships. I’ve been playing pretty well lately, am in good shape and am excited to play. The tournament is at the Royal Glenora Club in downtown Edmonton (http://www.royalglenora.com). This Club is spectacular: indoor and outdoor tennis, swimming, badminton, squash, gymnastics, skating and martial arts – and great food too. This is my first time playing the Canadian Nationals and it is interesting seeing how different associations run these events. Canada Squash is very professional with certified refs for every match, upcoming matches displayed on a large LED display, racquet companies with booths, and lots of seating for the show courts. I have a feeling this is going to be a very well-run event.