We’re delighted to have squash legend ‘The Wolf’ Nick Matthew back on the site this week to bring us his latest coaching playlist, this time taking an in-depth look at the foundations of moving on and off the ball.
One of the very best British players of all time, Nick had a hugely successful career spent at the very top of the sport. He won every major accolade in the game – most notably the World Open title (3 times), and Commonwealth Games gold (3 times). Now working as a highly successful coach as part of the England Squash elite performance team, he’s put together for us an exclusive playlist revealing some of his best movement-based tips.
Movement plays a key role in the sport of squash, and any player wishing to enhance their standard needs to approach it with the same practice and focus as they do their hitting technique. Nick was a fabulous mover in his prime, swooping around the court and dominating the T like few others – you won’t find many better minds to turn to for advice on how to optimise your on-court movement, regardless of the level you play at.
One of the main pillars of Nick’s approach to this topic is to work on bringing hitting and movement together into one fluid technique. Rather than teaching them as two separate elements, Nick talks about considering them together as one entity. Doing this will better help propel you around the court into your shots, allowing you to move more powerfully yet also more efficiently.
The aim of this blog is to introduce Nick’s video series, along with the related solo and pairs sessions that we’ve created to help you put it into practice. We’ve also included links to some of the other content we have here on the site on similar topics, to help you gain a more comprehensive understanding of the whole subject area of effective on-court movement. Being a better mover will make you a better player, and taking the time to drill down into the nuts and bolts of it can really pay swift dividends in terms of tangible improvements.
Watch through the videos from the playlist and then click through the links to the sessions below to check them out, and learn how to enhance your movement directly from one of the very best the sport has seen!
Put it into practice
This solo session is designed to get you started off with some of the technical fundamentals of moving on and off the ball.
Use this pairs session to practice some of the elements introduced by Nick.
Getting faster and more agile will help with your court coverage, giving you a better physical base to build Nick’s movement tips upon. Try out this great speed circuit created by SquashSkills Fitness Director Gary Nisbet.
Related content
Movement to the ball with Adrian Grant
In this series, Adrian Grant explains how to move efficiently to the ball whilst conserving as much energy as possible.
Movement off the ball with Adrian Grant
Following on from focusing on movement to the ball, Adrian Grant explains how to move out of the shot and return to the T.
French movement with Thierry Lincou
In this series former World Champion and World Number One Thierry Lincou takes charge to discuss why the French style of movement is so effective.
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 series, one of the games best athletes, Nick Matthew reveals the secrets to his incredible movement and explains some simple tricks that will help you to improve your speed and efficiency around the court.
Watch now