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Ian McKenzie's Squash Skills
Ian Mckenzie’s Squash Skills provides a comprehensive, step-by-step guide for squash players who want to improve their game and benefit from advice on match tactics. Written in Ian’s thorough and practical style, it covers the basics and then develops your game to include advanced shots and matchplay. Chapters explore what makes a winning player, explaining the vital roles of tactics, temperament, and fitness. Exercises are suggested for both solo and pairs practice, and a separate section on coaching gives in-depth analysis of the different ways to improve a player’s results.
143 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2002
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March 29, 2013
This is a reasonably comprehensive book on playing squash. It's a summarised version of Ian McKenzie's "Squash Workshop", but seems to contain most of the important material - just less reading!
The book's coverage is fairly full and includes basic shots, advanced shots and techniques, how to practice both by yourself and with a training partner, skills targets, tactics, fitness, creating a training program, temperament, tactics.
Explanation of stroking techniques is strengthened by time lapse photography, showing top professional players (or the author) demonstrating the shot.
A chapter I was impressed with was the one on tactics. To me it described very well the nature of the game, and what each player should be trying to do to their opponent - the part of the game sometimes referred to as "physical chess".
The author also gave hints on how the reader should analyse a squash match they are watching. Understanding the "physical chess" unfolding in front of you. This is actually difficult to do because squash is a subtle game. Without knowing what to look for, a squash match just looks like two players hitting a ball against the front wall without any obvious rhyme or reason.
I think this is a book that a player will keep reading and re-reading as they improve. There have been a number of really good squash books over the years, for example Geoff Hunt's book and Vin Napier's "Squash the Australian Way". This is one of the few that is still in print.
The book's coverage is fairly full and includes basic shots, advanced shots and techniques, how to practice both by yourself and with a training partner, skills targets, tactics, fitness, creating a training program, temperament, tactics.
Explanation of stroking techniques is strengthened by time lapse photography, showing top professional players (or the author) demonstrating the shot.
A chapter I was impressed with was the one on tactics. To me it described very well the nature of the game, and what each player should be trying to do to their opponent - the part of the game sometimes referred to as "physical chess".
The author also gave hints on how the reader should analyse a squash match they are watching. Understanding the "physical chess" unfolding in front of you. This is actually difficult to do because squash is a subtle game. Without knowing what to look for, a squash match just looks like two players hitting a ball against the front wall without any obvious rhyme or reason.
I think this is a book that a player will keep reading and re-reading as they improve. There have been a number of really good squash books over the years, for example Geoff Hunt's book and Vin Napier's "Squash the Australian Way". This is one of the few that is still in print.
Displaying 1 of 1 review