Now under new management Elite Squash Middle East, affiliated with EliteSquash UK and spearheaded by world-renowned coach Hadrian Stiff, is tailoring bespoke squash lessons for groups and individuals. In the next of a series of exclusive interviews with the coaches, Sport360 speaks to Salman Hasmi.
We coach beginners and professionals. If it’s someone’s first time on the court I teach basics like how to hold the racket with the correct grip and how to hit the ball. The basic shots are right hand and backhand so we teach the best positions to take up in order to hit those shots.
Squash is all about hand-eye coordination so we teach the best places to stand on the court and how to prepare for the next shot. For intermediate players it’s more a case of sorting out their technique and playing games to get practise in. If you’re a natural talent you can get to the next level in maybe a year or so, the main thing is being consistent and working hard to improve your game.
Advanced players are more about honing their skills and we push them by doing drills and playing match after match. They need to spend more time on court so we practise physical training in the morning and then specialised gym training in the afternoon. Training with a coach, then playing games is a good way to keep up the standard because if you’re taking it seriously you need to be playing constantly, always training.
Smashing: Learn how to play squash
Different players have different techniques and so you’ve got to tailor the training to each person, which is what we do at EliteSquash Middle East, there’s no magic formula to creating the perfect squash player, as a coach you have to see where each individual player needs to improve.
A lot of players, when they’re learning, often try and hit the winning shot as quickly as possible but if you hit some smaller shots to get you, and your opponent, in position you can win the point easier. If you kill the ball fast you can of course get points but it’s easier to wait and get an easy ball to hit the winning shot.
I’ve had some good students in Dubai, one girl has earned a scholarship in the United States, which is great. Other players are competing in the National Junior Championships in the UAE. I myself will be competing in upcoming competitions as well which I’m excited about.