Wednesday, 20 June 2012
Summary of Analysis: Nick Matthew
For a minute or two, before we take a summative look at Nick's tactics, let us consider what we've been doing, and the value that could be developed from our efforts.
So we've taken some time, we've watched nearly two hours of video. We've contemplated a number of questions. And hopefully, everyone has been finishing up with essentially the same points to be taken from observing the tactics of Nick Matthew.
I realize that for some, it may have seemed tedious, but the process that you've gone through has hopefully helped to illustrate to you a method of observing a player in action, and developing a critical and usable analysis of their tactics, strategy.
Once you've started asking relevant, directed questions, then do some focused observation, the patterns (habits) of a player start to emerge. This knowledge can help the student of the game in several ways.
1. Once we recognize the general patterns of play for a particular player, it becomes easier to anticipate their shots, thus our reaction time is reduced, and this makes us 'faster' on the court. As well as allowing us to possibly start developing or adjusting our own tactics to take advantage of what we know.
2. When we are able to breakout of a player's whole game, the tactics they use in particular areas of the court, we can more readily see the effectiveness, or not of those tactics. Because we can now assess how a particular tactic is contributing to the rally in progress.
3. Upon seeing and understanding the effects of the tactics, we may be able to think about how these individual tactics might be incorporated in our own games. Thus, we could be improving our choice of what to adopt into our own tactical approach, and what maybe to discard as an option for our game.
4. As we observe, then analyze how a player is using a particular tactic, we hopefully will be able to consider how that tactic would affect us, if we were having to play against it. In fact, as we go along, we might actually start to recognize these same tactics or variations of them, in our current opponents.
5. Upon seeing, and understanding how and when certain tactics are used, we might be able to come up with our own ideas on how to respond to these, possibly actually taking advantage by finding a way to 'attack' these tactics. Or in a more sophisticated manner, some players might find ways to prevent the opponent from using these tactics, or alternatively, intentionally encouraging the player to use them ;-)
6. Upon knowing the what and when of a particular tactic, we can then start to look at how it contributes to that player's strategy, as well as fits in with their tactics in other areas of the court.
---------------------
So let's look at what we've observed, and thus learned of Nick Matthew's tactical choices:
1. From the rear court, Nick basically hits only two shots. If the ball is around knee high then he hits a relatively flat trajectory drive that returns the ball to the rear court. This is primarily straight, with cross courts occasionally thrown in. The second shot is when the ball is closer to the floor, in this case Nick lifts the ball higher on the front wall for a shot that is essentially a lob to the rear court. Nick will generally hit this straight with cross courts liberally mixed in.
2. In the mid court Nick will hit flat drives if his opponent is also in the mid court. Nick tries to volley everything possible. When the opponent is not in the mid court area, but is coming out of the rear court, then Nick will go short with his volley, either a drop shot into the corner, or a short drive aiming to bounce twice early.
3. When Nick is in the fore court, his shot selection depends on whether he is following his opponent into the area, or he is first to move in. If Nick has to follow his opponent into the fore court, then invariably he hits the ball into the rear court. If Nick has been quick to the ball, then he generally will hit a hard straight drive, front corner to back corner. When Nick is moving into the forecourt area to hit a ball that his opponent has sent from the rear court, then Nick will often keep the ball in short with some sort of drop, trickle boast, very occasional reverse angle, etc etc.
4. Whenever Nick has had to stretch to hit a ball, meaning he's needed a lunge step to get the ball, and he's in a wide stretched out position, then he most often returns the ball to the rear court with a lob. Occasionally, when at a stretch in the fore court, he will hit a cross court drop.
So to condense his tactics even further:
A. If Nick is behind his opponent, he always hits the ball to the backcourt.
B. When the opponent is near Nick in the mid court area, he drives the ball to the back.
C. Nick is always looking to hit the ball in the mid court area with a volley. Nick uses the volley to increase the pressure on the opponent. If the opponent is behind Nick, then the volley is hit short and to stay near the sidewalls. If the opponent is near Nick, then the volley is hit to drive the ball into the rear court.
D. Nick's whole tactical game is built around the volley, and using the volley to create pressure, eliciting either errors, or weak shots that can be easily put away.
To sum up Matthew's tactical approach even further:
Tactic #1. Send the ball to the back, allowing time and space to take a forward position on the T.
Tactic #2. Look for volley opportunities to attack, when the opponent has not returned to a central position, or is late getting into position.
Tactic #3. If the opponent has managed to return to a good position on the court, then revert back to Tactic #1.
-----------------------
Yes, Nick's game is that simple, and it is that good. Two World Open titles, and three British Opens, along with so many other titles attest to the efficacy of Matthew's tactical approach.
What has made this a successful approach to winning, is Nick's patience, determination to stick with the plan, high level of fitness, and extreme consistency and accuracy of shots. Even if his opponents know what Nick is going to do, he does it at such a high level of performance that there is only one player who regularly gives him any trouble (That being Ramy Ashour).
Saturday, 16 June 2012
Observation and Analysis: Nick Matthew in the Mid and Fore Court
The video that I've linked to, is the semi-final of the US Open in 2009. It is a match that Nick won over Gregory Gaultier, and was at a time that Nick was starting to climb the rankings, after a long injury layoff, towards his achieving the #1 position during 2010.
Prior to this match, Gregory had a winning record against Nick winning 7 of 10 previous matches on the PSA tour. Including this match, Nick has won 5 of the 7 head to head matches since then. And of course since then, Nick's tournament titles include the 2010 and 2011 World Opens.
In the previous article of June 11, 2012, we looked at Nick's game in the rear court. Now with this next video, we want to observe Nick's tactics in the mid court and fore court.
This particular video is more than 1.5 hours long. And the match itself is about 83 minutes long, the first game taking 36 minutes. So you may want to watch this match in segments :-)
For the first game observe, and look to answer the following question:
1. In the mid court, and fore court, when Nick is forced into a long stretch to hit the ball (usually a fairly long lunge step), what is his most common tactic to stay out or get out of trouble?
When it is time to watch the second game of the match, observe so as to find the answer to these questions:
2. What does Nick typically hit when he has a volley that is low?
3. What does he hit when the volley is between waist high and shoulder height?
4. What is the common shot when the volley is above the shoulder?
As you go into watching the third and fourth games, look for answers to the following:
5. When both players are in the mid court area, and Nick is about to hit the ball from a position that is nearly on the center line, what does Nick generally hit?
6. Alternatively, when both players are in the mid court area, but Matthew is more to one side, with Gregory in the center, what is Nick's tactical choice?
7. When Nick is in the fore court, balanced with time to choose his shot, what is his usual tactic, when Gregory is also in or near the fore court area?
8. What is different in Nick's tactics when he's on balance, in the fore court, but Greg is more to the mid court or even coming out of the rear court?
----------- The link to the video:
If the link above does not appear in your browser, then please copy and paste the link as follows, and this should take you directly to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skk9fEqwBWQ
Now, assuming that you've watched the complete match, or some portion of it, and you feel that you've got a good sense of Nick's tactics in the mid and fore court areas, here are a couple more questions to ponder for analysis.
9. In this match, where would you place Nick on the continuum of playing styles (full on attack on one end, and completely defensive on the other end)? How was Nick applying pressure on Gregory?
10. What do you think was the main factor in the winning and losing of this match? And how was this precipitated?
One thing that everyone should have noticed as they observed this match, and looked to analyze what's happening, is that answering these questions, is not as straight forward as when we looked at Matthew's rear court tactics.
Why is this so? Because when a player is in the rear court the opponent is typically somewhere in the T area. So it's relatively easy to see what a player is likely to do, the habits or tendencies are more obvious, because most of the time, the opponent is around that T area.
But when the player is about to hit the ball, in either the mid court or fore court areas, the position of the opponent is not always the same. So the variability of a good player's shot selection increases, as we see an increase in the different positions that an opponent might be in at the moment the player hits the ball. As well, we have to factor in whether the player is hitting the ball on the volley, half volley, or after a full bounce.
In watching this video, with the intent to answer these questions, there has been a purpose to it all. After watching the two videos, and contemplating all the questions, the observing, analyzing student of the game should now be able to start getting a sense of what I call 'positional play', meaning that a player chooses his shots based on the position of the ball, AND the opponent.
It is important to understand, that positional play, is not the same for any two players, as when analyzing any player, we have to take into account all of the attributes of their game: technique, speed, fitness, general tendencies (attacking vs. defensive).
The reason for initially choosing Nick Matthew, is that his game is well honed, consistent, simple, and very successful. A good place to start for squash students who are beginning to observe to learn.
Next we'll be summing up the analysis of Nick's tactics.
Prior to this match, Gregory had a winning record against Nick winning 7 of 10 previous matches on the PSA tour. Including this match, Nick has won 5 of the 7 head to head matches since then. And of course since then, Nick's tournament titles include the 2010 and 2011 World Opens.
In the previous article of June 11, 2012, we looked at Nick's game in the rear court. Now with this next video, we want to observe Nick's tactics in the mid court and fore court.
This particular video is more than 1.5 hours long. And the match itself is about 83 minutes long, the first game taking 36 minutes. So you may want to watch this match in segments :-)
For the first game observe, and look to answer the following question:
1. In the mid court, and fore court, when Nick is forced into a long stretch to hit the ball (usually a fairly long lunge step), what is his most common tactic to stay out or get out of trouble?
When it is time to watch the second game of the match, observe so as to find the answer to these questions:
2. What does Nick typically hit when he has a volley that is low?
3. What does he hit when the volley is between waist high and shoulder height?
4. What is the common shot when the volley is above the shoulder?
As you go into watching the third and fourth games, look for answers to the following:
5. When both players are in the mid court area, and Nick is about to hit the ball from a position that is nearly on the center line, what does Nick generally hit?
6. Alternatively, when both players are in the mid court area, but Matthew is more to one side, with Gregory in the center, what is Nick's tactical choice?
7. When Nick is in the fore court, balanced with time to choose his shot, what is his usual tactic, when Gregory is also in or near the fore court area?
8. What is different in Nick's tactics when he's on balance, in the fore court, but Greg is more to the mid court or even coming out of the rear court?
----------- The link to the video:
If the link above does not appear in your browser, then please copy and paste the link as follows, and this should take you directly to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skk9fEqwBWQ
Now, assuming that you've watched the complete match, or some portion of it, and you feel that you've got a good sense of Nick's tactics in the mid and fore court areas, here are a couple more questions to ponder for analysis.
9. In this match, where would you place Nick on the continuum of playing styles (full on attack on one end, and completely defensive on the other end)? How was Nick applying pressure on Gregory?
10. What do you think was the main factor in the winning and losing of this match? And how was this precipitated?
One thing that everyone should have noticed as they observed this match, and looked to analyze what's happening, is that answering these questions, is not as straight forward as when we looked at Matthew's rear court tactics.
Why is this so? Because when a player is in the rear court the opponent is typically somewhere in the T area. So it's relatively easy to see what a player is likely to do, the habits or tendencies are more obvious, because most of the time, the opponent is around that T area.
But when the player is about to hit the ball, in either the mid court or fore court areas, the position of the opponent is not always the same. So the variability of a good player's shot selection increases, as we see an increase in the different positions that an opponent might be in at the moment the player hits the ball. As well, we have to factor in whether the player is hitting the ball on the volley, half volley, or after a full bounce.
In watching this video, with the intent to answer these questions, there has been a purpose to it all. After watching the two videos, and contemplating all the questions, the observing, analyzing student of the game should now be able to start getting a sense of what I call 'positional play', meaning that a player chooses his shots based on the position of the ball, AND the opponent.
It is important to understand, that positional play, is not the same for any two players, as when analyzing any player, we have to take into account all of the attributes of their game: technique, speed, fitness, general tendencies (attacking vs. defensive).
The reason for initially choosing Nick Matthew, is that his game is well honed, consistent, simple, and very successful. A good place to start for squash students who are beginning to observe to learn.
Next we'll be summing up the analysis of Nick's tactics.
Thursday, 14 June 2012
Reply to Delphi's recent comments on the post of 21 March
Dear Delphi,
As you noted in your third sentence, the point is that a player must find a happy medium somewhere around the T.
The happy medium being a position in the central area, that allows a player to effectively cover both the front and the back. Most players move forward better than towards the back, thus can play further away from the front wall. However, if a player really struggles to get to the front, then a central position that is closer to the front is appropriate. But this will put that player at a disadvantage possibly, when they meet an opponent who can hit drives (lengths) for good depth with accuracy.
Generally for most players running forward is easier, than turning and running back to a corner, and then adjusting to a good hitting stance, compared to a more simple run forward.
If you wish to read the new article published on June 11, then you will see specific reference to Nick Matthew and his rear court tactics. His rear court tactics (shot selection) is significantly related to why he positions himself so far forward on the T.
At the same time, while Nick is always trying to be forward on the T, this restricts his options in the rear court. If Nick wanted to have a full range of shots available to him in the rear court, then he would not be able to take such a forward position during the rallies. Nick's positioning, is a result of his preference to use the volley to attack his opponents, but then this preferential tactic for attacking, has ramifications for what he can do in other areas of the court. Nick Matthew is more the exception than the rule at the professional level, when looking at his court positioning. But, he makes it work for his game, because he understands the limitations versus opportunities.
Every player has strengths and weaknesses: physical, as well as technical, and he or she must take these into consideration when figuring out what strategy suits them, and thus deciding what tactics make for an optimal combination to impose these on the game or match at hand.
As you noted in your third sentence, the point is that a player must find a happy medium somewhere around the T.
The happy medium being a position in the central area, that allows a player to effectively cover both the front and the back. Most players move forward better than towards the back, thus can play further away from the front wall. However, if a player really struggles to get to the front, then a central position that is closer to the front is appropriate. But this will put that player at a disadvantage possibly, when they meet an opponent who can hit drives (lengths) for good depth with accuracy.
Generally for most players running forward is easier, than turning and running back to a corner, and then adjusting to a good hitting stance, compared to a more simple run forward.
If you wish to read the new article published on June 11, then you will see specific reference to Nick Matthew and his rear court tactics. His rear court tactics (shot selection) is significantly related to why he positions himself so far forward on the T.
At the same time, while Nick is always trying to be forward on the T, this restricts his options in the rear court. If Nick wanted to have a full range of shots available to him in the rear court, then he would not be able to take such a forward position during the rallies. Nick's positioning, is a result of his preference to use the volley to attack his opponents, but then this preferential tactic for attacking, has ramifications for what he can do in other areas of the court. Nick Matthew is more the exception than the rule at the professional level, when looking at his court positioning. But, he makes it work for his game, because he understands the limitations versus opportunities.
Every player has strengths and weaknesses: physical, as well as technical, and he or she must take these into consideration when figuring out what strategy suits them, and thus deciding what tactics make for an optimal combination to impose these on the game or match at hand.
Reply to Cory's comments for 11 June Article :-)
Dear Cory,
You've done a great job, picking up the pertinent points. The only thing that I'd add to your comments would be that when Nick hits a ball in the rear court, that is at knee height or higher, he still returns that ball to the rear court, although with a flatter trajectory.
As a coach, my approach is to challenge my students to become as independent as possible. And this means getting players to observe, analyze and then gradually incorporate what they're learning into their own game, where and when appropriate.
So now that you've made your initial observations, and they were correct, the next steps are to analyze:
1. What does Nick accomplish with his rear court tactics?
2. How does this coalesce with his attacking tactics?
Please note though, that to answer the second question, it's important to go onwards and make observations about Nick's mid court, and fore court tactics.
I'm currently looking at a couple of other, longer videos of Nick that will be better for looking at his mid to fore court tactics. I'll be adding a new article to the blog in a couple of days with a link to the next video, with further discussion, and questions ;-)
You've done a great job, picking up the pertinent points. The only thing that I'd add to your comments would be that when Nick hits a ball in the rear court, that is at knee height or higher, he still returns that ball to the rear court, although with a flatter trajectory.
As a coach, my approach is to challenge my students to become as independent as possible. And this means getting players to observe, analyze and then gradually incorporate what they're learning into their own game, where and when appropriate.
So now that you've made your initial observations, and they were correct, the next steps are to analyze:
1. What does Nick accomplish with his rear court tactics?
2. How does this coalesce with his attacking tactics?
Please note though, that to answer the second question, it's important to go onwards and make observations about Nick's mid court, and fore court tactics.
I'm currently looking at a couple of other, longer videos of Nick that will be better for looking at his mid to fore court tactics. I'll be adding a new article to the blog in a couple of days with a link to the next video, with further discussion, and questions ;-)
Monday, 11 June 2012
Observation and Analysis: Nick Matthew in the Rear Court
As as been mentioned previously on this coaching blog, any aspiring player needs to study the game, and that means watching video of top players. Improving as a player is not just about drills and techniques. Nor is it only about strategy. It is very much about what tactics you use to impose your strategy on the ball and the opponent.
If all players could be placed on a continuum, that continuum would have a pure attacker on one end, and a strict defensive player on the other end. In a game like squash it is rare to find a player who succeeds at one extreme or the other. There are the exceptions, however most top players would fall near the middle, but leaning to one side or the other.
For example Peter Nicol was definitely a defensive player, near the extreme, who kept the rally going until the opponent either made an error, or hit a really loose shot that made for an easy easy winner. In Peter's waning years, and now on the Legend's Tour, he's incorporating more attacking strategy, which aids in keeping rallies shorter. Whereas Jonathon Power was considered a consummate attacking player, willing to shoot for a winner from anywhere on the court. (Although in times of fitness he was willing to rally a bit.)
Anyway, where you are on this continuum, is part of determining what your game philosophy is. Whether you're an attacker, a defensive rally player, or somewhere in the middle.
Tactics are the specifics of how you implement your philosophical style while playing and working the opponent around the court.
Below is a link to a youtube video of Nick Matthew playing Peter Barker. Now as some may or may not know, Nick has won the past two World Opens, and just recently won his 3rd British Open. So he's certainly a good player to be looking at, and breaking down his game, looking for facets that one can incorporate in their own game.
As you watch this video, I've chosen this one in particular because the tactical area to be observed is very well illustrated here.
When I say 'tactical area', I'm referring to a particular area of the court, and I generally refer to three areas: Fore Court, Mid Court, and Rear Court.
And for everyone to understand my coaching intention, I look at one of these areas in isolation, and analyze what tactics (shot choices the player makes) the player uses that support his or her overall strategy.
As mentioned in this article's title, we want to look exclusively at the rear court, and what does Nick Matthew do from this area.
So set aside 15 minutes or so to watch this video. And you should be looking to answer the following questions:
1. What is the basic tactical approach of Nick when he is hitting a ball that is in the rear court (meaning behind the service box)?
2. What does Nick typically hit when he's retrieving the ball that is nearer to the floor, below knee height?
3. What is Nick more likely to hit when the ball is bouncing up, near knee high?
4. How does Nick's tactic in the rear court impact the opponent?
---------------------
In case the link does not show properly above, then just copy the webaddress as follows and paste it into your web browser, this should take you directly to the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrSed3CbSac
----------------------
Now, hopefully you've been diligent in watching the video, and answering those four questions.
The first thing I'd like to note, is that the answer to the first three questions should be fairly straight forward for everyone. There's not a lot grey area for those questions and answers.
In answering question #4 there could be differing opinions, and certainly if we looked at video of Nick playing with different opponents the answer would change.
However, interestingly, Nick's rear court tactics are quite stable and consistent across opponents and years.
It would be good for those who are truly interested, to try and view a number of videos available on YouTube that show Nick playing. What one will find is that from years back until the present day, Nick essentially plays the same tactics from the rear court, and who the opponent is doesn't matter either.
As mentioned, with two World Opens, and three British Opens on his resume, Nick is one of the premier players on the international scene. It is true that he does have his nemesis in Ramy Ashour. And to find out why, will be another video observation and analysis for the future.
But in the meantime, let's sum up what we can say about the game of a two-time PSA World Champion, three-time British Open Champion.
First is that Nick is extremely consistent with his strokes out of the rear court. He's very accurate, and he has a very low error rate.
Consistency: Accurate, Low-Error rate
Second is that Nick is very disciplined. He never wavers from his rear court tactics. As you would or should have noticed in your video analysis, is that Nick does not attack from the rear court. What his rear court tactics do, is to give him the time and space to return to the T, and hunt for the volley opportunities that he uses, to very effectively attack his opponents.
Discipline: Adhering to Strategic Philosophy and Tactical Plan
Thirdly, Nick is supremely fit. Tactically playing as he does from the rear court, means that the rallies will naturally be longer, against most top opponents, as unless they are attacking, Nick will keep the rally going until he gets hits chance at an attacking volley.
Fitness: Being able to play as a relatively fast pace for a long time.
If all players could be placed on a continuum, that continuum would have a pure attacker on one end, and a strict defensive player on the other end. In a game like squash it is rare to find a player who succeeds at one extreme or the other. There are the exceptions, however most top players would fall near the middle, but leaning to one side or the other.
For example Peter Nicol was definitely a defensive player, near the extreme, who kept the rally going until the opponent either made an error, or hit a really loose shot that made for an easy easy winner. In Peter's waning years, and now on the Legend's Tour, he's incorporating more attacking strategy, which aids in keeping rallies shorter. Whereas Jonathon Power was considered a consummate attacking player, willing to shoot for a winner from anywhere on the court. (Although in times of fitness he was willing to rally a bit.)
Anyway, where you are on this continuum, is part of determining what your game philosophy is. Whether you're an attacker, a defensive rally player, or somewhere in the middle.
Tactics are the specifics of how you implement your philosophical style while playing and working the opponent around the court.
Below is a link to a youtube video of Nick Matthew playing Peter Barker. Now as some may or may not know, Nick has won the past two World Opens, and just recently won his 3rd British Open. So he's certainly a good player to be looking at, and breaking down his game, looking for facets that one can incorporate in their own game.
As you watch this video, I've chosen this one in particular because the tactical area to be observed is very well illustrated here.
When I say 'tactical area', I'm referring to a particular area of the court, and I generally refer to three areas: Fore Court, Mid Court, and Rear Court.
And for everyone to understand my coaching intention, I look at one of these areas in isolation, and analyze what tactics (shot choices the player makes) the player uses that support his or her overall strategy.
As mentioned in this article's title, we want to look exclusively at the rear court, and what does Nick Matthew do from this area.
So set aside 15 minutes or so to watch this video. And you should be looking to answer the following questions:
1. What is the basic tactical approach of Nick when he is hitting a ball that is in the rear court (meaning behind the service box)?
2. What does Nick typically hit when he's retrieving the ball that is nearer to the floor, below knee height?
3. What is Nick more likely to hit when the ball is bouncing up, near knee high?
4. How does Nick's tactic in the rear court impact the opponent?
---------------------
In case the link does not show properly above, then just copy the webaddress as follows and paste it into your web browser, this should take you directly to the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrSed3CbSac
----------------------
Now, hopefully you've been diligent in watching the video, and answering those four questions.
The first thing I'd like to note, is that the answer to the first three questions should be fairly straight forward for everyone. There's not a lot grey area for those questions and answers.
In answering question #4 there could be differing opinions, and certainly if we looked at video of Nick playing with different opponents the answer would change.
However, interestingly, Nick's rear court tactics are quite stable and consistent across opponents and years.
It would be good for those who are truly interested, to try and view a number of videos available on YouTube that show Nick playing. What one will find is that from years back until the present day, Nick essentially plays the same tactics from the rear court, and who the opponent is doesn't matter either.
As mentioned, with two World Opens, and three British Opens on his resume, Nick is one of the premier players on the international scene. It is true that he does have his nemesis in Ramy Ashour. And to find out why, will be another video observation and analysis for the future.
But in the meantime, let's sum up what we can say about the game of a two-time PSA World Champion, three-time British Open Champion.
First is that Nick is extremely consistent with his strokes out of the rear court. He's very accurate, and he has a very low error rate.
Consistency: Accurate, Low-Error rate
Second is that Nick is very disciplined. He never wavers from his rear court tactics. As you would or should have noticed in your video analysis, is that Nick does not attack from the rear court. What his rear court tactics do, is to give him the time and space to return to the T, and hunt for the volley opportunities that he uses, to very effectively attack his opponents.
Discipline: Adhering to Strategic Philosophy and Tactical Plan
Thirdly, Nick is supremely fit. Tactically playing as he does from the rear court, means that the rallies will naturally be longer, against most top opponents, as unless they are attacking, Nick will keep the rally going until he gets hits chance at an attacking volley.
Fitness: Being able to play as a relatively fast pace for a long time.
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