The Sincerest Form of Flattery

When I was a junior — before streaming, and when the only artificial intelligence was the family Ouija board — there was a bunch of us who played and trained together nearly every day. Eventually, we knew each other well enough to get some laughs out of doing impressions of each other. There was a guy named Nick, who, quite rightly could announce which nick he was about to hit. There was a girl named Shelley who had an absolute whirlwind of a backhand. And there was a guy named David (no, not me) who just refused to let the ball bounce twice. His diving, scraping, lunging style was so dramatic we couldn’t resist teasing him about it. He took it very well. Never changed. Just got stronger.

For me, imitating other players became a way of trying new things to see if there was a better way than what I was already doing. Little grip changes, stance, racquet path, timing, shot selection. Everyone did these in their own way, and many of them did things much better than I could. So why not try their way?

Back then, I had the luxury of playing every day. I had scads of time to mess around with top spin reverse corner boasts, centrifugal swings and so on. I don’t have that opportunity these days (although I am still trying to figure out Isabella Bersani’s backhand). I imagine you’re in a similar situation as far as time available, so let me suggest the following.

• Shadow swings

  • Find a mirror or glass window that’s big enough to see your whole swing in;

  • Play a video of your favorite player hitting simple forehands and backhands. Pay attention to their backswing, contact position and follow through. Look at their weight transfer, how much of their body is in the swing;

  • Do your shadow swings with the goal of imitating that player. Do forehands only, then backhands. Keep it simple.

• Ghosting

  • Ghosting is the best thing you can do for your game;

  • Imagine you are following your favorite player and repeating their shot. Start with just one or two locations (e.g. front right, back left) to help you focus;

  • This is not for speed (at least not in the beginning), it is to create new muscle memories, learn new approaches to the ball, new ways to balance yourself while you swing, new ways to recover from your shot and get back to a strong position.

• Matches

  • You may have one player whose swing you like, and a different player who plays the game the way you like. Envision one while ghosting and shadow-swinging, and emulate the other in practice matches — their shot selection, their pace, their position on court. All that good stuff.

Hope this helps. Maybe summer will be a little quieter for you and you’ll be able to get on court (or stand outside Macy’s) and work on these. It can be fun, it might feel weird, but it will open your eyes to some new possibilities.

That’s all for now. Peace out. Love all. Play squash.

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