Squash Memory Skills & Practise, by david jarvis, Winter day 2, 2022.

For a long time I’ve been interested in memorising stuff, there is a certain sense of great satisfaction to memorise a poem entirely, or a list, or peoples names, or directions to a location and be able to recall those things instantly, or perhaps not quite instantly, instead with just a bit of time spent on the process that facilitates doing so.

I recently discovered this blog and website of the author Anthony Metivier.

12 Brain Warm Up Exercises That Actually Work

And Mr Metivier has been generous to reply email and correspond with me, and presents many useful techniques for free upon his website and blog.

Please if you are inclined, discover the below practise I have undertaken using some of the techniques presented at magneticmemorymethod.

I’m a sports coach and have played with visualisation techniques for a long time.
I combine a brain warm up with my morning physical warm up.
I am in my back yard lifting a 4kg medicine ball, using a m.b. engages the abdominals steadily due to the two handed grip we have to use. The longer the muscles engage the better for our core region. I do “woodchoppers” and imagine a squash ball is coming towards me that I need to hit. I do twists to the right side and visualise the squash ball coming to my forehand side, then same on left side/backhand side. I am calm, focused, just expelling the stiffness from sleeping.

a is for the abs i engage with the medicine ball work out.
b is for the backhand boast I play to get out of trouble in the rear left court.
c is to cut the ball with a little slice.
d is to hit the ball deep when building a rally.
e is an energy system that I work on specifically.
f is fast movements around the squash court.
g is how great I feel playing squash.
h is how hard i hit the ball for correctly weighted tight shots.
i is the intelligently selected shot for the pattern of play unique to this on court situation.
j is to just keep the ball in!
k are the kill shots I practice when I haven’t got covid. (sigh).
l is for love all, the opening call of a squash match.
m is for match ball, the scorekeepers call when someone is only one point away from winning the match.
n is for the no let call the referee makes when they believe the player shouldn’t have a let.
o is to take the opportunity presented off the weak shot.
p is the perfectly placed shot for this patterned play.
q is to be quick to volley across the mid court.
r is for respecting the referee’s decisions.
s are for the silly shots I play only in training just for fun.
t is for the T, the central position of all squash courts.
u is because I am unstoppable and unsquashable.
v is the veracity component of my sportsmanship.
w is the wonderful sensation i experience when i see a team mate do something amazing.
x is the shape of my body that I work on, that’s an arnold shwarzneggar thing.
z is for zig zagging around an opponent whom keeps getting in the way by hitting the ball back to themselves.

List 10 alternative uses for a squash racket (or other object).

1. I use a squash racket as a nose for a piece of artwork in my backyard.
2. I could use a squash racket as a weapon.
3. I could use a squash racket like a rock to stone a wombat for tucker.
4. I could use a squash racket as a fly swat.
5. I could use a squash racket to stir a really big pot of soup.
6. I could use a squash racket for playing badminton.
7. I could use a squash racket for a door wedge.
8. I could use a squash racket as a measuring device.
9. I could use a squash racket as a stress reliever, by smashing it in half.
10. An individual might want to use a squash racket as a microphone.
11. I could destring a squash racket and wear it like a necklace.
12. A porn star could use a squash racket as a dildo.
13. I could use a squash racket shaft to beat a drum.
14. I could use a squash racket like a frisby.
15. I could use a squash racket’s grip as a digging implement.

Recalling ones life. To align my squash memories with Mr Metivier idea about Reading recall.

I recall the first time I can remember playing squash. It was at Craigmore YMCA around about 1988. My two best friends of the time were Bruce and Tim, and we decided we’d try out playing squash. The ymca had four squash courts. Bruce was a state level ten pin bowler, Tim was a footballer and cricketer, and I was a soccer player. Of course we did other things too, but you get the gist, squash was not our preferred sport back then. We played casual squash and just had some fun.

In 1988 I almost died from blood loss due to a tonsilectomny, and i discovered I have a bleeding disorder and was informed by my local doctor to cease playing soccer. So I took up playing squash properly, consistently at the Craigmore YMCA and was welcomed into the squash community by the adult men whom trained. I started regularly attending training with those guys and my squash skills developed. Tim and Bruce eventually stopped playing with me, due to my thrashing them! But I kept at playing squash and loved it. Squash became MY sport, and still is. My first graphite racket was a pro kennex, and it was a vast improvement over the wooden racket I was borrowing.

Some time later I undertook a level 1 squash coaching course and my game improved again, along the way I discovered that my favourite place on the planet was squash court 2 at craigmore ymca. It was a place of joy for me, felt like a holiday just to be on that court.

I trained so much I had blisters so often my dad was worried about me, massive blisters that made me hobble around, and eventually they became thick hard calluses and my body adapted to the training I undertook.

These days I take great care of my feet and don’t get blisters any more.

An army travels only so well as its feet can walk. Same with an athlete, your feet are highly necessary for playing squash. Wash yours with as much care as Jesus washed his disciples feet.