Squash training tips for the B player by Paul Lord Sabre Managing Director and nationally ranked player in England

The most important thing to keep in mind when trying to improve at squash is to keep your training specific for squash.

1. Make sure you train how you want to play. Control of the 'T' is paramount. So devise training routines which encourage you to volley and play squash from the middle of the court.

2. Always move back to the 'T' after every shot in your practises. If you are doing drive and boast, for example, make sure that you try to return to the 'T' after every shot. This not only will improve your fitness for squash, but more importantly simulates what happens in a game more.

3. Always practise harder than any match so when you come to a match the pace feels slow.

4. Its all about quality not quantity. I played my best squash when I spent less time on court but high quality. Listen to your body it will tell you when you have done enough. The quality will begin to drop and so your motivation.

5. Don't be afraid to rest. Its all about stressing your body and giving it enough time to recover stronger and then going again. I like to train hard 2 days, then have a day off, train hard 3 days and then have a day off. But sometimes your body may tell you that you are tired so have an extra rest day to recover.

6. Always have targets on the court to try and hit so it concentrates the mind otherwise there is no quality.

These are a few pointers. Remember quality not quantity. Listen to your body. If it's tired don't be afraid to rest. Train how you want to play. Train specific! Ghosting is better than running because you are exercises your squash muscles. Once I was really fit at running one summer but when I came to my tournaments I felt really unfit because running is a totally different fitness to squash.

Obviously some people are blessed with more natural talent than others. Everybodies main goal should be to maximise their potential. The only way to do that is through hard work channelled with correct practise and training.

All the pros have got to where they have though hard work. Many people have said to me that such and such a body doesn't train at all. I used to think that they were more talented because other people would train really hard and lose to them. But when people say they don't train they mean that they don't do anything else other than play squash but at the end of the day the best form of training is playing squash so they are training hard and well.

Good luck but make sure that you train hard and with thought behind it but don't be afraid to rest when you feel tired.

Hope this has helped you.