Second Wind

This post relates entirely to my Squash life in London. There are no pictures.

In Spring of 2010 I injured my rotator cuff doing yoga and didn't play a meaningful match for 11 months. Since then my squash game has slowly deteriorated as aging, work, and canine care degraded my fitness and racquet sharpness. I've been quite ok with the whole situation- I worry about playing well rather than winning, and am happy enough to come off court injury-free with a good sweat.

My corporate housing has squash courts in the basement and I can sometimes leave work at 8:30pm and be on court for solo hitting or fitness work by 9. My fitness and sharpness are as good as they have been in 3 years.

That's fortuitous bc London must be the best city in the world for a squash player. There are hundreds of courts and numerous leagues, tournaments, cups, and tours. It's actually quite hard to schedule casual matches ("friendlies") or challenges within my team as everyone has so many competitions.

Breaking In
I had a tough time getting matches when I first arrived
1. Everyone schedules everything way in advance.
2. British players assume all Americans are crap at squash.

I was fortunate that two English players I had hosted on tour in Boston lobbied hard to get me games.

English Players
Most of the guys I play with learned to play as children, handle the racquet elegantly, and hit the ball quite beautifully. They are gentlemanly to a fault. During the warmup it looks like I will get chopped up.

My advantages are they play predictable patterns, typically aren't willing to stay on court as long as I am, and are unused to unorthodox players (I qualify over here). They also tend to try and win by overpowering the ball.

The "Preston drop" and the "run through the ball into the front right corner and hit a straight drive" are my two most effective shots over here.

Bath Cup
Bath Cup is the oldest squash league in the world and consists of the "posh" London clubs. Participating teams include
Queens
Royal Automobile Club
Royal Air Force
Oxford & Cambridge
Hurlingham
Lansdown Club
Bath & Racquet
Cumberland
MCC
Roehampton
HAC

I play for the seconds team at the Oxford & Cambridge Club. It's 3-man squads with English scoring to 9 (only win points on serve so longer matches). We are in a tight 4th but a ways off the top 2 teams.

Middlesex League
Middlesex League might be the toughest squash league in the world. The first division is mainly professionals. A team of former Lamb's Club members and Warick University grads play out of my gym. It took some convincing but eventually they agreed to let me join and I play #2-4 for them. Matches are 5 man and games to 15 point a rally. Most clubs are YMCA-type gyms and dinner always follows.

They're more diverse (less than 50% lawyers and finance!) and I quite enjoy the team.

You can check out the league standings here. We are Dolphin Sq I.
http://www.middlesexsra.com/leagueshome/middlesex-leagues

We are in 3rd at the break and have a decent shot to win the league.

Going forward I am looking forward to the Jesters Tournament at the RAC in early February, the Super Series Professional Tournament at Queens in January, and a weekend Continental Tour at the end of March!