"Before I headed to France last month, I have to admit that I genuinely had no idea what to expect. As a junior playing the European Circuit, I had travelled to Europe on countless occasions, but somehow I had never made it to France. Up until my flight, I was running almost a little frazzled. Although… that’s usually how I am before I leave for the airport for a big trip. As usual, I fought my bags to defy all sense and weigh no more than 15kgs. I mean, come on, I was off for three weeks. Doesn’t it understand that getting laundry done on the road was not easy? Does it not understand that yes, I do need a spare pair of squash shoes because, yes, it is possible to lose one of the two shoes a few hours before a match? Ask me about that story sometime. Or actually, it' s best you didn’t.
Finally four rackets, three pairs of shoes, training clothes, a few regular clothes, a foam roller and a couple jackets (to deal with Europe’s fluctuating weather situations) were all stuffed at 17kgs. When the lady at the counter at the airport made a fuss, I had it under control- I pulled out the two jackets, threw them on defiantly, and that was that.
When I got off the plane in Paris, it was to find that the little bundle of nervousness I didn’t even understand had travelled with me. But then, something absolutely wonderful happened. Some of you may have noticed that HSBC Bank seems to dominate advertisement spaces at airports, especially in jet bridges. When I travelled for tournaments at a much younger age, just a ten or twelve year old following my father through airports, I always noticed the HSBC ads. I liked them. If you aren’t familiar with them, they tend to take one or two symbols/pictures and tag them to contradict one another based on people’s differing perceptions of them. For example, there is one with three identical images of a car juxtaposed together.
Each one has a different tag: freedom, status symbol, polluter.
This time, I didn’t even fully register the images and their meaning. Back then, I’d resist my father’s steady hand to read each one and understand them. This time, as clichéd as it sounds and as silly as I might’ve looked, I couldn’t help the smile. I was just happy to see them again. I felt glad they were still around. How lucky was I? All these years later, to still be privileged enough to get off the plane, past the HSBC ads, and make my way to the baggage belt and retrieve a squash bag. So much was different… this isn’t the junior European Circuit, it’s the World Tour. My father is no longer with me, I was in a place I had never been… and yet it was one of the most familiar things in the world.
On the PSA World Tour, I’m still a newbie. I’m still learning how things work. Sure, I travelled very often as a junior playing squash and have played all my life, but professional squash is different. All of a sudden, everyone is a good player, and everyone wants to be the best. Up until very recently, I had no idea that there could possibly be so many details involved in terms of technique, tactics, movement, etc. There is so much information embedded in so many places and within so many minds. If there is one thing I really learned in France, it's that everyone has a strong foundation; it's how and what one builds on top, how much focus one gives to the details of the structure and how hard one works at it, that can set some above others. The Egyptians have a certain style of training and play, and the English have one that almost contradicts it. I always knew this, of course, but what are the little details?
France has been a squash powerhouse for a while. They have produced World Number Ones, they have many professionals doing very well on tour. When I landed in France, little did I know that a couple days later, I’d be on court with the current women’s World Number 3, Camille Serme, at the training centre in Créteil, outside Paris. I trained with her and a couple other French top 60 players. I tried to absorb as much as I possibly could during my few days there; I learned new drills, new routines. You would think that a lifetime of playing squash later, I’d know all the drills. But no one ever does. Squash is a small world but a highly competitive one- innovation and evolution are at its helm.
After my few days training in Créteil, I met one of my coaches in Paris. He is French and is extremely talented, and was a very good professional player himself. I was introduced to his training a few months ago by my coach Ritwik Bhattacharya, who himself was India’s Number 1 player and the first successful professional from India, reaching the world top 35. Stephane (my French coach) and I went to Aix-en-Provence, where he grew up and had access to a few squash clubs. We trained in a few different ones around Aix and in Marseille for a few days.
It’s funny how the world around you affects your mindset and your training in extension. I got a room in Stephane’s parents’ house in a little village outside of Aix-en-Provence called Saint Cannat. My first morning there, I woke up and went for a run. This was the happiest runs of my life. I intended to just go for a half hour to wake my muscles up but I ended up running for an hour. I ran past Tuscan-style homes, under canopies of rustling trees, past fields of beautiful red flowers, olive plantations… it started raining and that made it even better. In Mumbai, what with the traffic and the relentless heat, it’s so easy to lose one’s connect with nature. Here I ran, seeing neither person nor car, with a crisp, speckled breeze and just sheer beauty for company.
And now, to the training. It was tough. My coaches are the best, and that means they are not easy. The sessions are such that often, 20 minutes into them the thought crosses one’s mind that one might not make it to the hour mark (or whenever coach decides to end the session- that is not my business to ask). But the training is so specific, so focused on the details, that I don’t even realise the time. I’m constantly focused on my feet, their position, my knees, the position of my racket, my swing, where I’m making contact with the ball… “Turn the shoulder!” comes Stephane’s voice. “More slice!” And that has my mind constantly whirring, trying to perfect all the details and join all the dots.
The aim is this magical zone that happens, perhaps not in every session, but it happens. If you can get to the height of mental focus, and combine all the little details, its like all parts of a machine just fall into place and just move, delivering a good shot every time. I tried to get there every time, against any player I got on court with, from a French club player (all of whom are very good, by the way, with perfect technique) to the World #3, Serme. Playing with different kinds of players with various game styles is very important to anyone’s training, and this was one of the most educating parts about my trip to France. The more kinds of people I played, in different courts, the more I was pushed out of my comfort zone. It's a done thing when you train with friends in clubs you have been going to your whole life, and it's definitely different when you are in a random countryside town, playing a very good French player not knowing at all what to expect. You have no idea who the person really is, but you have to learn to train with each other, push each other and help improve each other’s games.
I played a tournament at the end of my trip, where I went in facing a tough draw but still looking forward to seeing how I did. I won the first match playing very well but lost my second match to a more seasoned player from England who is much higher ranked. And still, I learned so much from that match, because I don’t think I let it go easily and I wasn’t really far behind. If I go on to diligently work on everything I picked up in France these coming two months (the off-season before things kick off in August once again), I know I can raise my levels. The trip was, all in all, educating in the most surprising ways and in the most detailed ways."
