Training has been going well lately with no injury concerns (touch wood) or complaints. I've been settling into a nice routine at the moment and am already looking forward to next season. Apart from the physical side of my sessions, I've been fixing a couple of things up in my swing. No major overhaul or anything like that, just a tweak here and there to help straighten some shots up.
I'm off to Spain on Monday to train for a week with Borja Golan which should be good. He's one of the fittest guys on tour so it'll be good to do some solid training with him. I'll be heading home at the end of June for an exciting Doubles Camp in Melbourne followed by the Australia Open, World Games and Malaysia. Until then I'm just going to be putting the body through a bit of pain!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
OFF SEASON TRAINING
My next event isn't going to be until the end of June or start of July so it's basically just training from here on in. The last few weeks I have been getting into my program and now it is pretty full on. Most days will involve 2 sessions of about 2 hours. Obviously not all on court training - it's usually 50/50 on court and off court training. I find if I do too much training on the squash court it takes it's toll on my joints and also mentally it can make me quite flat and unmotivated.
My on court training at the moment involves drills with a coach - hitting to certain areas of the court, different types of movement, and court awareness. Also just fixing up little things in my swing, whether it's with a coach or hitting by myself, you can never be content!
Off court I've been hitting the weights, trying to put on something which resembles muscle really. I've been doing upper and lower body. It's a good time of the year to get stuck into some weights because there are no tournaments, and it can slow you down a bit on court if you're not playing many matches. Also things like long runs, plyometric training, sprints, intervals... There's a lot of different training which can be done - I really like to mix things up as I find I can get bored doing the same training for weeks on end.
If you'd like to know anything else regarding my training or just squash training in general, feel free to drop me an email.
My on court training at the moment involves drills with a coach - hitting to certain areas of the court, different types of movement, and court awareness. Also just fixing up little things in my swing, whether it's with a coach or hitting by myself, you can never be content!
Off court I've been hitting the weights, trying to put on something which resembles muscle really. I've been doing upper and lower body. It's a good time of the year to get stuck into some weights because there are no tournaments, and it can slow you down a bit on court if you're not playing many matches. Also things like long runs, plyometric training, sprints, intervals... There's a lot of different training which can be done - I really like to mix things up as I find I can get bored doing the same training for weeks on end.
If you'd like to know anything else regarding my training or just squash training in general, feel free to drop me an email.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
SEASON WRAP UP
Going off the current PSA calendar, the Canary Wharf Classic was my last event for the season, unless of course something pops up at the last minute. Canary Wharf was won by Palmer who beat Willstrop in the final 3-1. It was a great tournament by the big fella who was in some special form all week.
2008/09 has been a fairly long season, my first event at the start of the season was the Dutch Open back in September. There was the Petrosport Open in June but it was basically in the middle of the players off season training period! From September to December it was really full-on with a lot of travelling. My best event was probably the Hong Kong Open where I made the Quarter Finals, beating El Hindi and Matthew then losing out to Willstrop. I also played well in Saudi Arabia, where I made the last 16, beating Tuominen before losing out to Guiltier 3-1.
January and February were not great in terms of results, though I thought I actually played quite well. My training in Australia over December and January was disrupted by an eye injury but I was happy with how I competed despite this.
We also saw a new World No.1 get crowned in Darwish. It ended the rein of Shabana which he held for about 33 months or so. On the women's side of the game, Nicol David is just dominating the game! Undefeated in 2008 and you could count the number of losses she's had in the last 3 years on one hand!
In my next blog I'll be having a look at what training I'll be doing during the upcoming months.
Cam
2008/09 has been a fairly long season, my first event at the start of the season was the Dutch Open back in September. There was the Petrosport Open in June but it was basically in the middle of the players off season training period! From September to December it was really full-on with a lot of travelling. My best event was probably the Hong Kong Open where I made the Quarter Finals, beating El Hindi and Matthew then losing out to Willstrop. I also played well in Saudi Arabia, where I made the last 16, beating Tuominen before losing out to Guiltier 3-1.
January and February were not great in terms of results, though I thought I actually played quite well. My training in Australia over December and January was disrupted by an eye injury but I was happy with how I competed despite this.
We also saw a new World No.1 get crowned in Darwish. It ended the rein of Shabana which he held for about 33 months or so. On the women's side of the game, Nicol David is just dominating the game! Undefeated in 2008 and you could count the number of losses she's had in the last 3 years on one hand!
In my next blog I'll be having a look at what training I'll be doing during the upcoming months.
Cam
Sunday, March 15, 2009
CANARY WHARF CLASSIC
Now that I base myself a lot in The Netherlands, namely Den Haag, it's great to see Tommy Berden and his team secure the rights the to 2011 Men's World Open to be staged in Amsterdam! It should be an unbelievable event which will be held in conjunction with the Womens World Open. But for now my main focus is the Canary Wharf Classic starting on the 23rd. It's a pretty strong draw this year as I've got current World No.3, Frenchie, Greg Guiltier first round. He lost first round last year and I managed to make the final so we'll see if I can continue that trend this year....
With not many big events on the calendar at the moment it seems all the top guys have chosen to play this event, with 8 of the worlds Top 10 competing. It's a split first round and I'm on the 2nd day (23rd).
With not many big events on the calendar at the moment it seems all the top guys have chosen to play this event, with 8 of the worlds Top 10 competing. It's a split first round and I'm on the 2nd day (23rd).
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Virginia
The next stop on tour is in Richmond, Virginia, USA! I arrived Friday night and the Main draw starts play on Monday with a split first round. This is a Super Series Silver event so we've got the Top 8 players in the world competing as well as a few Top 20 too. I'm playing a qualifier first round. This is another really well run tournament; the hotel is unbelievable and the glass court will be set up on the grounds of the University of Richmond.
There's not a lot of big events coming up on the calendar in the next few months which is a bit disappointing. We played quite a few events back to back towards the end of last year it's a shame it can't bit more evenly spread out over the season. My next event after this is the Canary Wharf Classic in London from the 23-27th March. I was seeded 7 last year and finished Runner Up to Willstrop. This year I am seeded 11 and playing No.2 seed Guiltier first round. It's probably the strongest 5 star event I've seen in a while and for those who are going to watch, it should be a real spectacle!
There's not a lot of big events coming up on the calendar in the next few months which is a bit disappointing. We played quite a few events back to back towards the end of last year it's a shame it can't bit more evenly spread out over the season. My next event after this is the Canary Wharf Classic in London from the 23-27th March. I was seeded 7 last year and finished Runner Up to Willstrop. This year I am seeded 11 and playing No.2 seed Guiltier first round. It's probably the strongest 5 star event I've seen in a while and for those who are going to watch, it should be a real spectacle!
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