Squash With David Palmer

“I do a lot of lunging on the stability ball (half Swiss ball with a solid, flat base)". Image: Warren Clarke

Mind Muscle

“I’ve done a lot of work over the years trying to build my mental strength. A lot of this strength, of course, comes from my training. But there’s also a lot of off-court work you can do to keep you relaxed, because in those long rallies you have to stay relaxed and calm, let your game flow, hit the shots you want to hit. “I listen to relaxation tapes given to me by a psychologist. I normally listen to them at night or in the morning. I’m always writing affirmation cards – positive little messages which I read at night or in the morning. Stuff like: ‘I am the best player’, ‘I am the fittest player’, ‘I am going to be number one.’ It’s the sort of stuff you don’t tell people because they’ll laugh at you, but it’s all about getting the message into the subconscious. You know, the conscious is black and white, but the subconscious can be fooled into believing things if it’s told over and over, and that’s a big part of squash. Because it’s so fast you don’t have time to think, so you have to do this work off-court. It’s a mental version of muscle memory.”

Go Fast

“In recent times the game’s become faster. We used to play to 15 points, now it’s 11 (if it gets to ten-all you’ve got to win by two). The other factor is, when we play the big tournaments on the four-wall glass courts, the tin is lowered from 48cm to 43cm. It doesn’t sound much, but being able to hit the ball lower at the front effectively makes the court longer because you have to lunge further forward. So these things have made the game a lot faster, a lot more explosive. In the past, back in the Geoff Hunt [Aussie world number one 1975-80] days, there was a lot of up-and-down-the-wall, up-and-down-the-wall, but that doesn’t happen anymore. We’re playing more aggressively, more of a shootout.“I do a lot of lunging on the stability ball (half Swiss ball with a solid, flat base), holding my balance, keeping my core tight. For me it’s one of the best things in my program, because squash is not just about speed, being fast at the front of the court, it’s also about control, and if you can’t control your body you’re in strife. I see it when I coach juniors: they’re incredibly fast to the front of the court, but when they get there their body is out of control. So you need a lot of core strength, a lot of leg strength, glut strength, back strength. If those muscle groups aren’t controlled when you hit the ball, then you can’t control the ball.“I have about 15 different exercises I do on thework. I’ll do straight one-step lunging, then I’ll do sideways lunging. I’ll do a three-step running lunge where I land on the ball, pause, and then push back. I’ll do static lunges where I hold the position for a minute and try to fight the balance. I do 20 seconds of quick-foot step-on, step-off movements. “Basically, all the movements I do on the ball are replicating what I do on the court – going to the front two corners, going sideways, going halfway back, going all the way to the back corners.“I also get thera-bands, tie them around a pole, wrap them around my waist, then run three steps into the resistance of the band, before it pulls me back. I also do a lot of static holds where I’ll hold a medicine ball and then squat down on a single leg and hold it for a minute or two. Where I am now – 32 years old and getting near the end of my career – my biggest challenge is speed. I’m playing 22-year-olds – the days where I’m fast around the court, I go with them, the days where I’m slow, I’m in trouble. I see my speed on the court as the key to my success over the next few years.”

Go Long

“The main endurance work I do is on the track, running 800s. I sprint 600m then jog 200m. I run the 600 in two minutes, jog the 200 in one minute. Then I start again, with no break in between. At the moment I’m trying to build up to eight-to-ten sets nonstop.“Another typical training department is court sprints: running from the back wall to the front, up and down. I can normally do the length of the court in five-to-six steps, so I run a length, lunge, then push off without touching the wall or the floor with my hands. I normally run 20 sprints in a set. At an explosive pace that takes around 50 seconds. I’ll then do 20 sets.“Sometimes I turn it into an endurance exercise and do 300 lengths in 15 minutes. That’s a real mental drill – one of those drills you dread. But knowing you can do 300 court sprints in 15 minutes is a real confidence builder.“Recently I’ve started using the beep test as a training tool. I’ll do five tests in a row with a three-minute break between each test. My goal is to get over 15 on the first one and top 12 on the last one. It’s a killer, but that’s what squash is about – trying to max-out your opponent’s heart rate. If I can get you to your max as quickly as possible, then you’re in trouble; you start making mistakes and you can’t cover the court. The game’s about how many times you can max-out, then recover. Perhaps the guy who’s 50th in the world can do it twice, the top ten guys can do it continually.”