We’re delighted to have British number 1, Joel Makin, back with us on SquashSkills this week, with the ‘Golden Tiger’ joining us for a great new playlist sharing his insights on how to add intensity to your game.
Joel has firmly established himself at the very top of the men’s game, with his combination of outstanding athleticism and excellent technical fundamentals making him an extremely tough opponent for anyone on the tour. We’ve had some really enthusiastic feedback from our members on Joel’s previous SquashSkills series, so we’re super excited to be able to share another great video series from him.
In the playlist, Joel gives us his insights on adding intensity to your game – intensity being a quality that the Welshman brings to the sport to a higher degree than just about anybody. One of the key takeaways from the video series is the idea that there are certain things you can bring to your game that do not require any particular inherent skill or talent – just preparation, focus, and determination. This is most certainly an area in which many amateurs can make some real tangible improvements in their own games, and there are few better to learn this from than Joel.
A variety of topics are covered in the playlist, with tips to improve your approach in areas including the knock-up, movement, and racket head speed all discussed. Joel also shares some of his insights into how to bring increased physical and mental intensity into your training, and how this can then cross over into your on-court performance.
The aim of this blog is to give you some ideas of the best drills and practises you can use to start working on adding increased pace and intensity to your game and help you start to really impose yourself on your opponent. Once you start implementing some of the aspects that Joel discusses, you should start to see some immediate results in the effectiveness of your play.
We’ve put together a selection of brand new solo and pairs sessions for you to try, built around these main tips that Joel introduces. Watch through the videos from the playlist and then click through the links to the integrated sessions below to check them out and discover the benefits of switching up your approach and add some increased intensity to your game!
Put it into practice
Try this sample solo session, constructed around some of the themes discussed by Joel in the playlist.
Use this pairs session to practice some of the main elements introduced by Joel, within a more realistic rally specific environment.
Joel’s incredible physicality is a key part of his on-court intensity. Check out this challenging repeat-sprint endurance workout to help push your conditioning to the next level.
Related content
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Building pressure with Nick Matthew
In this series, three-time World Champion Nick Matthew highlights the importance of building and applying pressure throughout a match to wear your opponent down.
Let us know how you get on with the sessions, we’d love to hear your feedback!
Haven't seen the full series yet?
In this brand new playlist, Joel reveals how he adds intensity through a variety of means to his training, which then naturally bleeds into his match play.
Watch now