Squash is an important sport to me and it is a sport i try to do my best at and get results, i have had a 3 year goal of getting to B grade which i am close to achieving.
I am currently C1 on 2685 points and B grade is 2800. my highest ranking is 2700. 20 points for a win against someone within 100 points of you, 25 for someone more than 200 ahead then 30 for 250 i think and 40 os the maximum but they have to be 300 ahead which is nearly impossible now once you star getting up the grades.
After an up and down summer of lack of motivation, funds, time and injury i did my best to get some summer training in which is the most important time to train in my opinion. i finished off last year with a high of winning in palmerston and coming 2nd in Te Puke snapping up some big wins for big points. A sprained ankle towards the end of the year got the best of me and really made my squash come to a halt. After a lot of questioning myself about if its worth it to keep going and get over my injury or just throw it all away, i came to find myself not giving up i have put too much in to give up now. you only get out what you put in right?
Anyways..battling through the injury which was reoccuring i got a little bit of training in here and there and finally january came around and i find myself in Taihape for my 1st tourny. Getting there and finding out i was in the top draw was not what i expected! being a lower seed having to take on one of the top players to start with was hard. Started the game off slipping all over the place and nothing was going right i couldnt even get to the ball or focus properly with the court having dark floorboards. sitting out on the street between sets getting advice from my mate made me frustrated but i got back on court to only get a hiding which i didnt mind considering the grade that my opponent was. My next game was a walk through against a guy just ranked above me. 3/0 in under half an hour and a racket with snapped strings and im finding myself in the plate final against the number 4 in the draw who is a grade above me. Excited about the game going into it with nothing to lose i was using my 2nd racket and after warming up feeling good i snapped up the 1st set with confidence. 2nd set going to him..just. 3rd set going to him making me frustrated because i know this is my game! i scrape the 4th set after being down heavily. The slipping on the court doesnt stop and my frustration builds more as i hit the ground hard in anger. I go into the 5th set and straight away my racket snaps in half and flys across the court. Out of rackets i borrow my mates, i hit some loose shots and nearly lose all confidence in winning. I want to give up but find the strength to overcome and start playing MY game. I get the lead and everything starts going my way as find myself 1 point away from winning i get there after a long battle and the relief its over is the best feeling as i snap up my biggest win ever! $60 for winning plate doesnt cover my expenses over the tourny but i am happy with my win and thats all the matters.
Next comes a doubles tourny where me and jordan clean up 3 other teams only dropping 1 set the whole tourny! $100 each for that. I have to mention that when we were waiting for prizegiving Jordan and i were throwing a rugby ball around and i threw it into a basketball hoop from about 30-35 metres away impressive huh? hahaha.
A new job opportunity comes up and i take it making it harder to find time to train but i purchase a new racket and shoes..no more slipping i hope. Casual hits during the weeks is all i have been doing leading up to the next tourny..Hamilton.
Off with my girlfriend at the time and her mate we head to Htown where i am ranked top seed which is more pressure. Not having to pay for accomodation makes the trip even better on costs! With little sleep and a long drive i face the bottom seed in the 1st game. Slipping within the 1st 5 points of the game injuring myself numourous times i get frustrated..i thought these shoes were supposed to be good! its always hard using a racket without having a decent practice with 1st. I cant adjust to the coldness of the courts which makes the ball slower and harder to judge what its going to do. Lack of sleep kicks in as i play some silly shots and dont try as much but i manage to start playing better and take the game 3/0. After a good sleep i have the semi final ahead of me. i dont normally eat in the mornings before games to avoid getting the stitch so i eat nothing. I have always hated morning games and have had some bad losses and get really hard on myself about them. About 10 mins into the game i get exhausted early, the tiredness has kicked in already and my opponent is hitting all his shots making no mistakes..he takes the 1st set. i give the 2nd set all i got to come back from being down to win the 2nd. 3rd set i am stuffed and cant do much about my opponent hes hitting all the shots i cant do much about. At the this i have already changed back to my old racket which makes little difference. 4th set comes along as i feel like i want to spew he gets a lead and never loses it. i nearly come back but no matter what i do my opponent just capitalizes. i lose in 4 and kick myself i played so crap hitting the tin too much not getting low on my shots making too many errors playing the ball to short and finish shots weak the list goes on. A really nice lunch refills the tank but i am still tired so i take a nap from which i sleep through my alarm and have to be woken by my mates dad! never ever slept through an alarm like that theres that lack of sleep catching up! in the special plate final i come up against a young dude ive never lost to and im determined for that to stay the same. I feel fresh and charged using my new racket and have a long but controlled game. I drop a set but i know i have the upper hand against him so im not worried. We had some good long rallies and i didnt win the long rallies but won most of the short and pulled out some good shots. Won the game 3/1 was good happy with it $45 for it.
Thats it for now with squash as i have to sort out important things in my life and whether or not im going to keep playing as the fitness i require is getting harder to maintain and keeping up with my job. Im not really a quitter though so look out for the next blog if this was even interesting haha.
Until next time..
Peace!
