I cringe when I read or hear people say that they train at 110%! Nobody trains that hard. Yes, people train very hard for short periods of time, but you can NOT train at your maximum for very long. Olympic athletes know that during the year, the amount and intensity of training MUST be varied, otherwise the athlete will become fatigued or worse, burnout and injured.
So what does this have to do with “Consistent Training” then? Well, it is better to train at 80% most training sessions for 6 months than 110% for some but then stop and take breaks. Think of it like this: You accomplish more if you build small but daily habits than if you binge work for two days and then do nothing – it’s the same with your squash training.
Start by scheduling solo and pair training sessions with somebody like-minded. You can book a court, spend 10 minutes both doing solo drills (yes, that *IS* possible), then 15 minutes doing pairs’ drills and finish with some conditioned games. Make this a weekly or every-other week session and you will have started on the path to improvement.
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Couple that with some scheduled fitness sessions, and the list for that is almost endless!, working on aspects of fitness that YOU need, for example strength and core conditioning or flexibility.
Add a practice match, plus a league match, maybe even a monthly coaching session and suddenly you have the beginnings of a well-balanced training programme that *IF* you keep going over a number of months will really bring improvements.
Over the years, I’ve trained hard for short periods of time, maybe even up to 2 months. Now 2 months might sound quite a long time and in some ways it is, but from a performance perspective it is not. The reality is that it can take months of consistent hard work to show your potential. And here is the key thing: 95% of amateur players will never commit to a path of improvement.
I fully understand that. Most amateurs just want to play squash and have fun – and that is perfectly fine. However, if you want to improve and I believe you do because you are reading this, then understanding that consistent hard work comes before success and having the willingness to do that hard work is what separates recreational players from committed players. Which are you?
Final Thoughts
Consistent squash training, means planning and sticking to a well-balanced and realistic training programme.