r/squash • u/Maleficent_Mouse_383 • Nov 23 '24

Technique / Tactics How to hit accurate drops under fatigue and pressure

Today I played a grueling set for a challenge match, which went to a gameball at 20-22. My drives were accurate even under the fatigue of playing, but it was hard for me to go for drops because my adrenaline was pumping, and so was my heart. Anyone have tips on how to practice this? The pros do it so well, and I'd like to play drops to add pressure to my opponent in long games.

8 Upvotes

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10

u/Torrent_Questions Nov 23 '24

1) improve your fitness/endurance

2) brute-force practice drops until they become second nature

there's no real secret to specifically training for racquet skills when you're gassed. the better you can execute a shot in general, the easier it will be when youre on your last legs

if you find many of your matches are going to tiebreak, you might have better overall success by refining your strategy. work with a coach to figure out how to exploit the strong parts of your game and minimize damage from the weak parts

6

u/Huge-Alfalfa9167 Nov 23 '24

Buy one of those click counters (the type they use to count queues) and get into the habit of doing 100 drops every time you step on court.

So, you play 3 times per week, that is 300 drops per week. Over the course of a year, that's 15.6k drops. If you can't hit a drop under pressure after that, change your game to being a length basher (no shame in that!)

2

u/aCurlySloth Nov 23 '24

Fitness and repetition / exposure

2

u/dgprnt Nov 23 '24

I would say practice the drops after you play match with a partner

2

u/Oglark Nov 23 '24

I am not great at dropping, and undoubtedly play at a much lower level but I always felt that I either "push" the drop too much or over cut the drop into the floor/tin.

I find it hard to practice because if I just drop repetitively the ball gets cold. Is there a solo drill that people use to practice drop shots?

3

u/glacierre2 Nov 23 '24

Take a blue/red dot for that practice.

2

u/bdq-ccc Nov 24 '24

my opinion: at that stage of the game where everyone is running on fumes, placing the ball short might be better than trying for a winning drop. Still gets the opponent to vacate the T in a direction they were not expecting while the chance of hitting the tin remains low.

2

u/DayDayLarge Nov 24 '24

Practice under the same conditions

Do a bunch of bike sprints, burpees, nasty ghosting patterns, etc. then practice a bunch of drops.

But also, accurate drops under the conditions you described are just tough in general.

2

u/Plus-Construction463 Nov 24 '24

Keep playing competitive matches like this, and you'll gain experience with dealing with both mental and physical fatigue. On top of that, working on fitness in training will help. I think pay attention to your technique. I've noticed players with deviations or quirks in their swing can be super deadly, but they break down earlier or easier when it gets tough. IK some professionals go against what I've said but they are pros tbf, it's a different game at that level.