In squash - The Podcast

Ladies professional squash in the US is brimming with talent, and Haley Mendez is among this talented lot. Hayley grew up playing her squash in Brooklyn, New York at the iconic Heights Casino, and we look back at those days, and the first time she met her idol Nicol David. Currently, at 41 in the world, the future is nothing less than exciting given the depth of competition in the ladies game. Haley talks about this and what she needs to do to keep moving on that upward trajectory. Most importantly though, we revisit her unforgettable 2020 Thanksgiving Day. Great chat with Haley across the board!

What a refreshingly candid conversation this is. George Parker has rediscovered the form that saw him reach 31 in the world in 2019, and this includes some big wins and promising results in recent events. George talks about the progress he's made with his game of late. We also talk about the Black Ball event, his illustrious junior squash career, Mostafa Asal, and his past issues with officials and bans from the game.

Another kid in a candy store moment for the podcast, former world #7, world jr. champion, and Malaysian squash legend Ong Beng Hee spoke to the podcast a few weeks after the dust had settled at the Qatar Classic. An incredibly successful PSA event, Beng Hee talks about the huge amount of team work that went into hosting the event, and how proud he is of everyone involved. Of course, we went full on backstory though, looking back at his heyday, the good times and the challenges. What an amazing chat with Beng Hee.

Squash Mind the app rolled out a few weeks back, the brainchild of Jesse Englebrecht. Jesse has created an app that focuses solely on mental training for squash which at this degree of detail and insight is a first for the game. Jesse gives us a tour of the app, and we take several deep dives into the areas where we can up our mental game, both on and off the court. Friend of the pod, this is Jesse's 4th appearance, and it's definitely a show stopper.

Lisa Aitken's squash career was almost derailed by complications surrounding a two year struggle with dengue fever. She battled through very challenging circumstances, and has emerged to find herself playing some of the best squash of her career. Not only that, she's fresh off a successful debut in the SquashTV commentator's booth.

Ryosei Kobayashi makes a triumphant return to the podcast after winning the Swiss Open, his return event a few weeks back following the resumption of the PSA Tour. Ryosei's been training hard in Aix En Provence with Renan Lavigne and several of the top French players, and he talks about how this has helped his game of late. We also talk at length about his squash vision and what lies ahead on his unique squash roadmap.

In this the third recent episode dedicated to growing the game, Ben Thomas of the Whistler Racket Club lays out his vision, which could very well (fingers crossed) become a template, for growing the game. Whistler squash has had its sights set on adding squash to its tennis facility for some time now. Meanwhile, pickle ball has stepped in become all the rage there, but with that Ben and the WRC team have a view towards bringing squash into the fold. Ben's insight into this touches on many key aspects of what squash might want to consider in terms of growing the game.

Peter Genever was recently appointed Head Coach of Hong Kong's National Squash Team. This is a new challenge, a challenge that he's no doubt ready for after guiding Malaysia for 7 glorious years. Peter describes the new challenges the lie ahead in HK,and we look back at how he landed here, as a sought after and highly respected national team head coach after what he deemed an unfulfilled playing career. Peter leaves us with some very insightful thoughts on Egypt's dominance in the game and compares what they're doing to a traditional, perhaps outdated approach to coaching and playing the game.

Across the Pond is where we pick things up in part 2 with English great Chris Walker. Chris and I have a tremendous chat about the CIB Egyptian Open, the Mostafa Asal celebration moment in particular. Then we look back at his time as US National Team head coach as well as his foray onto the pro hardball doubles scene which saw him land at number one in the world for a time. Even more noteworthy perhaps were his years playing alongside the one and only Viktor Berg of whom he shares a few classic anecdotes. We definitely get our feet wet in this ep, "across the pond" with Chris Walker.

Jamie Abbott, the main behind the exciting new squash data analytics venture, lays out what he and his partners are bringing to the game of squash in today's 2nd of 2 World Squash Day special episodes. Jamie lays out what Cross Court Analytics is and how what they do could take your squash game to the next level.