By Richard Millman, Director of Squash, Kiawah Island Club
Roll on Summer! And these days even Winter and Spring! This piece is aimed at anyone who would like to spend a concentrated period of time working on their game. Traditionally juniors have been the group that have gone to squash camp, whether around the corner or away from home, although a growing number of adults have been taking time out in recent years.
I have also received several requests for adult group and parent and child joint camp programs—so pretty much everyone is getting in on the act these days, with people making time for these programs during any vacation.
In my experience, a serious camp campaign over the course of a vacation can be the catharsis that preempts a major improvement. Some campers have climbed as many as thirty places in the rankings in the season after their camp work.
So why should you go to camp? Here are some thoughts about how to get the most out of your program.
First of all: decide what is your major goal. There are lots of legitimate reasons for going to a camp, which I will outline in depth below.
Next, before you book your program, do plenty of research. Find out from people who are experienced whether the camps you are looking at offer the right mix for your goal. Begin a dialogue with Camp directors—ask them what they offer.
And talk to people who have been to the camp you are looking at. If you don’t know anyone, call the camp director—if they believe in their product they should be happy to send you contact details of past clients.
Determine your goals
If you are looking mainly for fun, make sure the timetable allows for some downtime to relax and do vacation stuff. If you are a parent sending a child away for a mix of fun and squash, make sure the supervision is to your liking—kids will be kids and safety is the best policy to guarantee that the camp experience doesn’t end in tears.
If technical improvement is what you are looking for, make sure that a major ingredient of the program is one-on-one time with the coach(es) every day. Technical changes take 10-12 weeks from inception to incorporation and that’s only if you’ve perfected the mechanics before you start practicing. A 20 or 30 minute piece of technical coaching from a coach, once or twice in a week of mainly group coaching, or general commentary from a coach in a group clinic, will do nothing other than mess up the work your regular coach at home has been trying to work on. If you don’t have a technical coach at home, two weeks of intensive technical coaching can really help—but make sure that’s what is being offered and that you will definitely get that one on one time. Otherwise make sure what you do is going to be complimentary to what your regular coach is telling you, if you are going to continue working with them on a regular basis.
If strategic improvement is your gig, check that the coach or coaches on the program have that reputation and that you will get plenty of game situations, video coaching and discussion time with the coaches. Another great scenario is where the coach has the campers coaching each other in a group-think situation and ideas about the game are brought out in a mixture of open discussion and match play. Again create a dialogue with the Camp director—ask plenty of questions and then check it out with people who know the program.
If you are going to camp to get fit, make sure that the fitness component of the camp is scientifically based on the latest research and is undertaken by someone who is either a qualified trainer or very knowledgeable and experienced—preferably both. The last thing you want to do is go to a program and be beaten to a pulp and then be completely unable to participate after the first two days. If you do choose a program with a heavy fitness component, contact the director a good two months out and ask for some guidance as to how to prepare for the program. Then see a strength and conditioning coach and get suitably prepared.
Camp can be many things to many people, and frequently more than one thing. Next month, I’ll talk about a few more great reasons to go to camp, your post-camp follow-up and ways to get the most from your camp experience.
After Camp
by Richard Millman
Excerpted from Angles:
A Squash Anthology
Got home today from being away
And Man! We had some fun!
Got home today from being away
And Man! I’m glad I’m done!
It cost a lot, but for what you got,
It really was a deal.
The price of sense, Well! It’s intense!
We got it at a steal.
What we did – it blew my lid!
I’ll tell you later on.
But not today, I’ve got to say
Right now my head is gone!
Thank you guys for being wise,
They sure knew how to teach.
But there’s no way I’m going to play.
Until I’ve hit the beach.
But when I’ve done with soaking sun,
In a week or maybe two.
You wait and see how good I’ll be!
You’ll see what camp can do!
