Back On The Blink

So the last few weeks haven't gone quite as I would have planned, in my last blog I was preparing for World Open qualifying, I sadly had to withdraw from this event after injuring my back a few days before I was meant to play. A hard call to make but the right one, I weighed up all the pros and cons of playing as well as testing my back on the day of the match before making the final decision.

I've suffered with back issues for a while now and its a constant battle to keep on top of it as well as any other problem areas where I struggle with injury. Thankful to help speed up the recovery process I have teamed up with Jason Ford at Stroud Sports Injury Clinic (http://www.stroudsportsclinic.com/) who has been helping the injury heal quicker and prevent it from reoccurring. Physio's are of great importance to squash players as well as other athletes helping cope with the effects training has on the body, so I would like to say a big thank you to Jason and his team!

What was the race to be fit for the worlds is now the race for Egypt, hoping to leave on the 17th of this month. After more treatment this week it still looks possible I will be on the plane in just over a week. I just have to listen to the advice of the people around me, although sometimes the hardest thing for an athlete to do is nothing even if its good for you. For me that’s because of the fear I might stand still or even worse go backwards while I'm injured so I am constantly looking at areas I can improve in while I'm out. Whether that be doing static hitting or doing physical sessions in the pool, every little helps. I have also been reading one or two sporting books while I've been injured including Jonah Barrington’s 'Murder in the Squash Court' which I cannot recommend highly enough!

So that’s about it my life is not that eventful at the minute and that cringey quote ‘you don’t know what you've got till it’s gone’ is ringing true!

Valencia

Last week I was in Valencia for another $10,000 dollar event which are the same as the two events I played in America at the end of last month. It wasn't a great run, I lost first round to a Frenchman (never enjoyable) called Geoffrey Demont who is of similar age and ranking to myself.

What was disappointing about the match was that I was leading 2/0 in games and 7/2 in the third as well as having a match ball in the fourth eventually losing 11/9 11/2 10/12 10/12 7/11. I think it fair to say that it was a bad day, one of my worst on tour, to have got so close in the third and in the fourth was devastating. Spain is officially my least favourite place and that is purely because I haven't won a match there in several years. The venue itself was fantastic with big crowds turning out from the first rounds right through to the final.

How did I lose you might say, well it wasn't complacency but more nerves having not won a match for a while I felt the pressure more than I normally would. The important thing however as boring and philosophical as it might sound is that I learn from that situation and let it never happen again! After the event I had a couple of days off after a long run of travelling and events it also gave me a chance to cheer up a bit!

With the World Open qualifying next week it was important to get back to work. I always find that first session back the hardest but after that you feel a lot better and it becomes easier to motivate yourself and push through. World Open qualifying begins next weekend in Manchester and I encourage you to come watch, qualifying is free to get in and you can find out more details by looking at the website www.mensworldsquashchampionship2013.com/

America Tour

So Monday I arrived back from just under two weeks away in America, first in Charlottesville Virginia and then Madison Wisconsin. In the first event I was drawn to play Dane Sharp of Canada ranked 80 in the world. I lost 9/11 11/6 2/11 4/11 not what I was hoping for as I looked at this match as being winnable despite him being ranked above me. There were some big lessons to be learnt from that match, the first of which was to not just think about the outcome (winning the match) but thinking about how I do this and what I need to do to achieve the outcome I want. By just thinking about the outcome I put myself under more pressure than normal and as a result hit a lot errors and just ran out of steam after being so nervous and pumped up before hand.

After the match I took a bit of time to cool down and relax as I find I need to be in a good frame of mind to analyse a match. Especially a loss as emotions can be high and you can end up just beating yourself up. So by giving yourself a bit of time you get a more true and realistic evaluation, looking at the positives as well as the negatives.

In between the two events I stayed in Charlottesville with the Foshay family who took great care of me throughout the week. On top of this they helped me get rid of some frustration from my match by taking me 'Clay Pigeon Shooting'. Although its fair to say that route into the Olympics seems unlikely!

So onto Madison which was just a short flight away, I sneaked into this event at the last minute which was a bonus. I was drawn to play Martin Knight ranked 48 in the world, trying to learn from the previous weeks mistakes I went into the match with a clear game plan with a lot of help from my coach Rob Owen. I lost 11/5 3/11 5/11 10/12 a much better performance that the week before although still plenty of things to work on!

Next up I have an event in Valencia and then the World Open in Manchester at the end of the month!

Top 100 and Olympic Rejection

So at the start of this month I reached a huge goal of mine as I broke into the top 100 in the world, at 98. The next question people normally ask is 'How?' and it was mainly down to my result in Nottingham were I reached the semi finals. After Nottingham I was in Rotterdam for a 15 thousand dollar event. This event was bigger than the one in Nottingham meaning I had to qualify.

Qualifying was a straight knock out and each player needed to win two matches to qualify for the main draw. My first match was against Jan Van Den Herrewegen of Belgium, thankfully I managed to get through unscathed winning 11-5 11-3 11-7 in 30minutes. A perfect start as I didn't spent to long on court and still felt fresh and sharp. Next I played Adam Auckland of England, we played countless times as juniors nearly always going the distance, and shock horror we did it again thankfully with me coming out the victor 9-11, 6-11, 11-2, 11-2, 11-3. I was obviously pleased to come through especially from two games down showing that all my hard work over the summer was paying off!

The following day I was drawn to play Steve Finitsis of Australia a player currently ranked 59 in the world. It seemed as though my 3/2 win the previous day had taken it out of me and on top of that my opponent didn't make it easy, I struggled after the first game to get into it losing 11-8, 11-2, 11-4. I was disappointed with my last match however 24 hours earlier at 2-0 down I probably would have taken it, another set of good ranking points on the board!

It would be criminal of me not to mention the Olympics rejection, where Wrestling was chosen above Squash and Baseball/Softball to be entered into the 2020 Tokyo games after having been only taken out a short time ago. The result was obviously heartbreaking for myself and the whole squash community but it has not all been to waste, the sport continues to grow across the world and become a more spectator friendly sport, hopefully its just a matter of time before the IOC see that.

I leave for my next events this coming Tuesday, the first of hopefully two in America. The first in Charlottesville and then onto Madison. I will also be on BBC Radio Glos from 4pm today talking about my career and the Olympics rejection!

Off and Running

So after a summer of hard work it was time to start a new season, this year kicking of in Nottingham for a $5000 event. I was unseeded for the this event but having done a good summer of work with my new coach Rob Owen I wanted to see where I was at.

However hard you train you cant replicate that tournament environment the nerves or pressures you experience are never the same.  The first event back is like your first day back at school when you were younger your excited to see fellow players and ask how their summers have been but you are equally nervous of what is to come.

First up I played Jerome Dadot a qualifier form France, it was our first meeting on PSA (Profesional Squash Association) and I was looking forward to my first game back. I managed to win 3/0 in just over 30mins happy to  get the first round out the way.

Next up was my Gloucestershire team mate Tom
Ford who I often train with and play against in training at East Glos. Just the day before Tom had beaten the number 1 seed and former 39 in the world 3/2. Taking this into account I had a game plan of how I wanted to play and it seemed to work as I won 12/10 11/3 11/8 which put me through to my first semi final!

There I meet Declan James who I have played against all through juniors, the match lasted for 1hr 20mins and I sadly came out on the wrong side losing 15/13 11/9 6/11 16/14. I lost a lead of 8/4 in the second which proved to be crucial but he played the big points better on the day. All in all I am pleased with my performance and I am already looking forward to my next event in Rotterdam!

You can watch my semi final match online by following the link below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KA9Vf1m3iU

Nutrition X

Having just started a new season and with a good summers training behind me I thought now would be a good time to talk about one of my key sponsors. Nutrition X, a local based company working all over the world support some elite sporting teams including Yorkshire CCC and not to mention Gloucester Rugby!

I have been using there products for a year now and have found their products to have a massive benefit to my training. Firstly I know all of their products are HFL Tested which means I have no concerns or worries if I were to be tested. Secondly it allows me to maximise every session I put in and recover in time for the next one.

The main products I use are MRM (Maximum Recovery Matrix), Hydra 10 and Hypnos. I take Hydra 10 before and during tough sessions as I find it keeps me hydrated especially when I am playing abroad in places where it can be very humid. Also mentally it gives me the confidence I am constantly topping up the fuel I need to carry on playing at the intensity I want.

MRM is what I would take after most session to help my body recover quickly especially if I have another match or session later that day. Again its handy when I am away and I know I can have something straight after a game that works and I trust.

By far my favourite Nutrition X product has to be the Butterscotch Hypnos which is just like drinking milkshake and to top it off its good for you. I would normally take this just before bed if I have had a weights session or tough match during the day. This continues to help my body recover.

Nutrition X have been a massive help to the development of my squash over the last 12 months and I hope to continue that into the coming season!

Season End

I think its fair to say blogging isn't my strongest point but here we go, my season has just come to an end with my last two events being the British Open (The Wimbledon of Squash) and the Sekusui Open in Switzerland. 


I received a last minute call up for the British Open to play as a local, England Squash are given 8 places into the qualification draw to hand to whoever they see fit. I was over the moon to be given one of these spots as the British Open is arguable the greatest event in Squash! Although I would be lying if I said I wasn't slightly daunted to come up against one of the worlds best. I was drawn against Marwan El Shorbagy the current world junior champion and No.30 in the world! Not the easiest of draws but in some ways it was better than it could have been as I had played him before and performed well, so I knew what to expect and was looking forward to it. Sadly I went down 11/8, 11/7, 13/15, 11/2 (53m), although I wasn't happy to lose I was pleased with the performance and proved to myself that I can compete with those top guys if I perform at my best. I have put a link up to the match report  for those interested. http://bit.ly/15OTiyY

After this it was down to Surrey for the first of two weekends where I will be hoping to qualify as a level two coach come July, who knew coaching was such hard work! 

From there it was almost straight off to Switzerland for the last event of my season, first up I had a local and the wildcard for the event Patrick Miescher a tricky opponent especially on such warm courts. I somehow managed to squeeze through in four games not my greatest performance but very happy to get the win. Next up was the American No.1 Julian Illingworth who has a highest ranking of 24 from this time last year. Sadly Julian was to good on the day but another decent performance against a high ranked opponent.

All in all I am happy with my progress this year moving up 62 places to a career high of 101. I have also changed coach and tried some new training methods which have begun to help my game. But for now I am looking forward to some time off before getting stuck in to a good summers training!

Also as the selection process to which sports gets into the 2020 Olympic games approaches, I did a piece on BBC Radio Gloucestershire with Steve Kitchen all about squash in the county. Which you can listen to by following the link below, enjoy!
http://bit.ly/15EGMS1

Christmas and New Year

Festive greetings to you all, hope you had a nice Christmas and new year and aren't feeling to guilty after a few weeks of indulgence and are back into the swing of things now! No rest for the wicked as they say though and I ploughed through with training over the festive period with my next event coming up in Atlanta, America. The idea of training over Christmas doesn't sound to enjoyable but recently I am enjoying my squash a lot more and it stops my waistline increasing!

I leave Sunday in search of some wins and much needed sunlight, hope your not to jealous. Training has gone well, there has been a large emphasis on trying to get quicker and more powerful, but with just a few more sessions before I leave I am starting to feel the benefits. I am currently in qualifying and seeded to reach the main draw however it will not be easy with a number of strong English players also playing the event. This event is the start of a busy period for myself as soon after I get back from one event I am off to another, I leave for Finland with current temperatures around -25, before going onto the British Closed! Wish me luck and I will keep you posted on how I am getting on!

An Idiot Abroad- Asia

Its been a while since my last blog but here is the first of hopefully many! This years season has started well I have hit a good run of form and my ranking is now up to 117 in the world compared to 232 this time last year, and I have travelled to Japan, Malaysia and the Czech Republic for events.

After my summers training this year I decided to go away for a couple of events at a time as I found this worked well last season and it also helps spread the costs. So at the start of October I left for Japan which is probable one of the best places I have ever visited and somewhere I would love to go back to. The squash went well out there to I got through my first round and lost to Leo Au ranked around 60 in the world 3/1, I was happy with how I played and it gave me a real believe I could compete with those players well inside the top 100.

But no rest for the wicked though the next day I was up early to catch a flight to Malaysia which I have been to a few times before. This event was slightly different for me as I had to qualify and I was in for a shock as the courts we played on had no air conditioning whatsoever which meant slogging it out at around 30 degrees! For some reason though it seemed to help me as I beat a player of  similar ranking to myself in qualifying finals (Bart Ravelli) 3/0 and then bit a local player Elvin Keo who was ranked 100 in the world 3/1. Now as he was a local guy you can imagine I wasn't the most popular player there. However the Malaysians had the last laugh as I lost to another Malaysian player Kamran Khan (An ex-Wycliffe pupil) 3/0 the next day in just over an hour.

A good trip overall and now its about putting in a good block of training over the Christmas period before my next event which will be toward the end of January.

If you wnat to follow the results more closely you can find most of the events on
www.squashsite.co.uk/ the BBC Sport of Squash

Catch Up Blog and Travels a Plenty

Since my last blog quite a bit has changed I am now based in Cheltenham again and my ranking is starting to steadily go in the right direction.

In March I travelled to Kish Island just off Dubai for a $10,000 dollar event where I managed to come through qualifying and eventually get through to the quarter finals losing to World number 54 Mark Krajcsak of Hungary who went on to win the event.

Then I was involved in a Closed Satellite in Chesterfield at Brampton Manor squash club in I was seeded one for the event and it a strange feeling to have the pressure on me to beat people something which I haven't felt as much since leaving the junior age groups. I managed to put in some good performances and come away with the win beating Richard Birkes 3.0 in the final WR 270.

After these events I had a bit of time back home in Cheltenham having only recently moved back from a brief time in Manchester. It was good being back and getting a few weeks of hard training in before my next events.

The season seems to have disappeared a bit to quick after some time out injured but I still have a few tournaments left to go.  Last week I was competing in the Irish Open held at Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin, the tournament had a high quality field including ex Gloucestershire man Ali Walker now ranked No.13 in the world and Borja Golan of Spain also ranked in the worlds top 20.


I managed to get through qualifying beating two players ranked higher than me, first Jaymie Haycocks ranked 102 in the world and the Steve London ranked just inside the top 150. I was massively pleased with both these results as I had only just sneak into the event and to get through qualifying was far more than I expected. In the first round I was drew to play Jonathan Kemp ranked 40 in the world its fair to say I had a baptism of fire at that level but on the whole a lot of positives to take! on top of this my ranking has now gone from 228 in March up to 163!

This Sunday I head of for a tour of the America's first I am in Atlanta and then I head off to Guatemala. Both events have a strong field and I will have to work my way through qualifying.

Also I would just like to say a big thank you and welcome to Airport Parking & Hotels Ltd (APH) who have recently agreed to sponsor me. They offer an excellent range of services for the independent traveller which include: Airport Parking, Airport Hotel & Parking Packages, Executive Airport Lounges, Car Hire, and Travel Insurance. I look forward to a long and prosperous partnership with them.

Nathan

Best of British

Every February the best in Britain come to Manchester where for the past 10 or more years the Senior British Closed has been held for both men and women. An event which year on year features some of the best players in the world, this year was no different as the mens draw featured the top two players in the world in Nick Matthew and James Willstrop.

But that was the main draw and I wasn't ranked high enough to get into that outright, I first had to fight my way through qualification which in itself is a tough task. Over 50 players all fighting it out for 8 qualifying slots which then put you into the main draw and potentially the chance to go toe to toe with some of the best players in the world.

Although seeded to qualify I knew it wouldn't easy first up was Liam Gutcher of Northumbria who had already come through one match. I on the Sunday night before a Monday match to avoid any potential risks posed by the weather. I had seen Liam play before at last years under 23 tournament in Huntington and I knew if I gave him time and space he is well capable of hitting any number of winners. The seedings suggested he was expected to lose meaning there was little pressure on him which is often a dangerous combination. Luckily I managed to get into it quickly and assert my authority winning in just over 20mins 11/3 11/3 11/1.

Getting off the court as quickly as possible is vital in tournaments especially when you are scheduled for two matches in one day. When I came off court I noticed my potential opponents for the evening match were still running each other around. Eventually the winner was Greg Lobban a young pro the same age as me and a Scottish international.

Needless to say I was up for a battle and was excited at the prospect of getting to play one of the top seeds. After his morning exploits I felt he may tire a little so tried to give nothing cheap away but at the same time not be too negative still using all four corners to work him.

I started well getting a few points lead but was pegged back to 8 all, but managed to close out the game 11/8. Now over any match nerves I felt like I would grow into the game but to my opponents credit he came out the stronger in the second and took a large lead which I was not able to recover losing 11/6. The next game was vital as I need to get back into the game and take back the momentum we were very close around 5 all and after a few lets I managed to break away and take the game 11/7. The fourth game was similar close in the early stages then I felt maybe his morning match took its toll and I closed it out to win the match 3/1 in 50minutes.

This was my first time of reaching the main draw in two attempts and I was pleased with the way I had played so far. But I had an even tougher test ahead as I got my wish and was drawn to play the reigning champion and world No.10 Daryl Selby the next day. I made sure to prepare well by warming down and and getting the right nutrition in.

The morning of the match I popped in to see the physio to look at one or two areas I had been struggling with over the past few weeks but game time soon came around. Playing such high ranking opponent is exciting but also daunting and in the opening stages it showed and Daryl had me running round like a headless chicken. I managed to salvage a bit of pride though with a late run of points to lose 11/7. I felt I to often got stuck behind him and therefore opened the court up to much. In the second I went on there with the aim to get in front and try and dictate the play more. It seemed to work as I levelled it at 1 game all winning the second 11/7. Although after catching him slightly off guard in that second I wasn't given a second chance and he took the next two games 11/5.

Overall though a successful tournament I achieved my seeding and qualified and put in a good performance against a quality opponent.

A Rocky Start

Think it's fair to say I haven’t had the smoothest of starts to this season, started out in Canada and then Barcelona on both occasions losing out in qualification. Slightly more disappointing were the performances but maybe expecting to much from myself instead of just going on court and enjoying my squash.

Although I wasn't performing in the tournaments I wasn't to worried as I knew I had put the work in and I was playing well in training. But squash is all about winning matches and it doesn't matter how well you train if the goods aren't there come match day.

After coming back from those first tournaments I had a bit of time to reflect before my next tournament in Ireland. The first thing I did when I got back was to evaluate the trip in a bit more depth so I sat down with my coach and we tried to diagnose what went wrong and how I could use my experiences to make me a better player.

I also had the opportunity through league squash namely national league and Yorkshire league to try and find some form and which in return would give me some confidence to build on. I also had a small tournament in Coventry the weekend before Ireland to give me some match practice and get me sharp. The week leading up to Ireland proved to be a pivotal one and I felt like I was finding some form with some good performances in league then down in Coventry where I felt I played some of my best squash of recent times.

Importantly I got some long tough matches in my leg and felt confident going into Ireland. First up was Roman Svec of the Czech Republic, I managed to pull through in three (13/11 11/2 11.7) a good performance if not a little nervy at times but I expected as much having not won to many matches recently. The thing that never fails to amaze me is the much higher importance PSA tournaments hold compared to anything else. After all we are playing for money and valuable ranking points.

But its amazing what a win does for you, after the first win it felt like a massive weight had been lifted. Next up was Alex Phillips #WR167 I felt I played well and was happy to come through in three (11/6 11/8 13/11). Just towards the end of the match I managed to slip while moving forward after all I am not the most elegant of movers. Although I managed to come through that match I rushed to ice the injury and tried to do everything I could in the knowledge I had a main draw match waiting the next day.

The next day instead of hitting in the morning before the match like myself and most players tend to do I rested up as the injury if anything had become worse overnight. But there was no way I was going to pull out, I decided to go on enjoy it and see what I could do, I was up against Ben Ford former top 100 player still very classy and with great experience. Didn't start off to well losing the first game in little to no time but as the body warmed up and adrenaline kick in I managed to do alright losing out 11/1 11/8 11/8. I had mixed feelings from the tournament on the one hand I had qualified which I wasn't expected to do but at the same time I had come away with what I knew was a nasty injury and which prevented me from being able to go out all guns blazing in the main draw which is what I needed to do to stand any chance.

Throughout the tournament I had a little bit of media coverage from BBC Gloucestershire which mentioned my results every night in the sports update so thanks to them and in particular Ian Randall.

Still on the mend and sadly was unable to go to Japan after further set backs but hoping to be back soon and have at least two more tournaments planned before the end of the year both of which are in Poland where I am in qualification. Thanks for all the support and words of encouragement recently means a lot. Feeling good and looking forward to a good end to the year.

Being Match Sharp to kick off the Season

A task I myself and many others often struggle with, after months of hard work in the gym or on the track its time to transfer all that hard work into practice and hopefully reap the rewards. No matter how many sessions you do off the court it all comes down to how you perform on it and you can be as fit as a fiddle but if you can't play squash what’s the point.

So after a solid twelve week block of training my priority was to use some of the improvements I have made off the court and start using them on the court. Obviously work still takes place on court over this period however it is usually a time away from competition and a rare opportunity to make some real changes to your game.

As I have mentioned in some of my previous blogs I have been training in Manchester working a lot on the physical aspects of my game alongside some technical work. A benefit of being up in Manchester this summer was that there were a lot of squads for both senior England players and academy players, I was fortunate enough to gain some exposure to some of the worlds leading players. One thing with squash not currently having the attention of other high profile sports is that there are no big egos and all the senior players male and female are easily approachable to ask questions on problems you might be having. It gave me a look at what it takes to hopefully get to that level and what it is they do to make them so good.

Obviously these hits were a massive help in sharpening me up ready for the new season, other methods I used were the obvious ones such as practice matches and smaller tournament which don't take to long out of training. These offer a chance to start to transfer and use some of the things you have been working on in a less controlled environment. However physiological it is often hard to replicate a competitive match environment with the outcome effecting your World Ranking. I know some players who put a wager on practice matches to make it more interesting, however I am not encouraging you to start gambling away your money.

A lot of it is just what works best for you, but I believe and think most players would agree you have to have some sort of recent competitive match player before you first tournament. This year my first tournament outside of England is over in Canada in London, Ontario a fantastic place, it was were I played my first PSA tournament last and a place which brings back fond memories. A tough tournament though and I go there with nothing expected of me as I am one of the lowest ranked players in the qualifying draw. But feeling good learnt a lot about myself this summer and feel ready to get back into tournaments.

Summer Training and a First Taste of Competition

Summer training has seen a large volume of training take place meaning I have barely been able to do anything but crash out on the sofa after training so apologies for not writing a blog sooner. All this sofa time does have its advantages though such as watching endless good films ands TV series which include; Luther, Modern Family and Inglorious Basterds.

During the summer I have found myself training at Sportcity most days which will be familiar to some of you but to those of you who don't know it its the home of the England’s National Squash Centre. This is where I work with the English Institute of Sport (EIS) to improve my physical capabilities on court. This training varies from speed work to heavy weight training aiming to improve all areas of my on court ability. As well as working with the EIS I am able to hit with players at the centre and there are frequent squads at the venue, especially during the summer as everyone is around and trying to get fit and ready for the up and coming season.

Five weeks in and I had my first taste of competitive match play in the Berkhamsted Closed Satellite tournament last weekend. This is one in a series of tournaments around England aiming to provide young pros the chance of getting valuable ranking points without travelling thousands of miles to get them.

The tournament featured a draw of sixteen with several talented players, first up for myself was a local player called Josh Ryan, I managed to come through it 3.0 fairly comfortably but it was good test as I haven't played too many matches recently. Later on that day I was playing James Simpson a good player and always awkward to play as he is extremely tall. I went in with the game plan of trying to stretch out the court as much as possible to hopefully tire him out and force him into errors. I managed to win the match 3.1 winning the first two 11/6 before losing the third after getting a bad start, however, I managed to come out strong in the fourth and wrap things up.

The next day I played Arthur Gaskin in the semi finals a player formally ranked 80 in the world, sadly I went down in five but there were signs of the work I have been doing starting to pay off. Having two game balls in the first seemed to be a crucial point as I went on to lose the first before winning the next two. After the third game I struggled and lost the last two games fairly quickly, all credit must go to my opponent who dug in well to win and then just a few hours later went on to win another marathon in the final. Overall the weekend provided a nice taste of being back in competition but there is still a lot more work to be done and I am really looking forward to hitting the ground running this season and hopefully picking up some good results.

After my last blog I received a question from one of my readers asking , 'Where can I watch    high level squash' the simple answer is psasquashtv which broadcasts all the main PSA tournaments from around the world live and  in replays. It also enables you to watch all the matches from the last two years main events as well as some archive matches featuring some of the all time greats of squash, all for a very reasonable price which can be played per year, tournament or even match. So get watching.

Also if you want more regular updates for how my training is going and what I have coming up you can follow me on Twitter @nathanlake3.//

Senior Debut in Poland and into Summer Training

Sorry its been a while been a busy few weeks with tournaments in Egypt and Poland and now preparing for next season. Since my last blog first up I was in Egypt a daunting place to play as they are currently the ones to beat and you hear countless stories of a young Egyptian beating experienced pros. I was right to be cautious as I lost 3.2 in my first match, not ideal after going all that way but even more annoying I was playing well. On a lighter note I had a few days left in Egypt and I managed to get some training in and made it a priority to get at least some kind of tan after being compared to looking like a ghost.

After getting back from Egypt I was back into some hard training in Cheltenham and even dabbled with a bit of yoga after it was suggested to me by a few ex-players. Don't get me wrong it was horrible at first but I found it really helpful after a really tough days training to help recovery and allow me to train better the next day.

Next up was the last tournament of the season in Poland for the Senior European Individual Championships, the idea of a young pro like myself going to this tournament is to hopefully get some good matches and gain exposure to the more experienced player. In particular some of the top seeds for the event such as Greg Gaultier and Thierry Lincou.

But I was there too try and win some matches in my eyes and I had a good start knocking out a seed in the first round meaning I was through to the last sixteen where I met Nick Mueller from Switzerland a player ranked 35 in the world. It proved a rather big ask and although I felt I played well it was fairly clear he was the higher ranked player as I went down in just over thirty minutes. There was no time to relax though as the tournament had a monrad scheme meaning you play for a final position, so later that day I had another tough game this time losing in four games to a Dutch player ranked inside the top 110 in the world.

I managed to get one more win though as I beat a Croatian player 3.0 meaning I was playing for a final position of 13th if I won my last match. Up next for me was another Dutch player ranked around the 120 mark. It proved to be one match to many and I lost again in four. On reflection a good tournament, learnt a lot and now it was over I could look forward to week off.

Although I have really enjoyed my first season as a pro it has been a lot more intense so I have grown to enjoy my time off much more now rather than perhaps feeling guilty as I did on previous occasions.
So after getting back from Poland it was time to relax, catching up with a few friends that were back from university and getting some golf in. Also it gave me a bit of time to reflect on how the season had gone and what I had learnt.

Week off over it was into 'summer training' two words no athlete likes to hear. Its fair to say I was both nervous and excited of the challenge ahead and so far it has been just as tough as I thought it would be but the body adjusts and I wouldn’t say its getting easier but I am less daunted by the whole prospect!

Gloucestershire's Nathan Lake becomes European Squash Champion

Gloucestershire's Nathan Lake becomes European Champion

                                                   


Let me first introduce myself for those who don’t know me my name is Nathan Lake and I am a World Ranked Squash Player based at EG. This is the first in hopefully a series of blogs I will be writing to keep EG members posted on how I am getting on with life on the tour, it will include tournaments I have coming up as well as how my training schedule is going.

To give you an idea of what I have been up to and my achievements to date here is a bit about me and my squash, I have and still am a resident in Cheltenham based at EG as I have been for the last 4years working with the National Junior Coach Fiona Geaves. My time at EG has seen my career go from strength to strength, from being a chubby teenager scrapping into the Under 13s county team to becoming the King of Europe at under 19s and a professional squash player.
                                                                                                                                      
So here we go, I am currently ranked 1 in England in the Under 19s age group, and have a World Ranking of 209 which is in the senior game. I have been fortunate enough to represent England on many occasions, including two world championships firstly in India and then last year in Ecuador (not bad venues I know) where I was chosen to Captain the team, however we sadly went out in a close fort semi final to Pakistan.

This year hasn't been bad so far either finishing up 7th in the British Junior Open (The Wimbledon of Squash), Runner Up at the British Closed and then just over a week ago becoming European Champion then being part of a winning team in the European team championships which were held in Lucerne, Switzerland. Without doubt the greatest two weeks I have ever spent near a squash court, having gone the whole individual and team event without dropping a game.

However there was no time to let it sink in just yet after returning home I was straight back into training before being back at the airport a few days later this time off to Egypt. A daunting prospect as I not the big fish I was at the Europeans. Egypt are a bit of a super power in the world of squash and it is a notoriously hard place to go and do well. The event is a sixteen draw with players within the top 50 making an appearance. I however am in the qualifying draw which is a draw of sixteen with the top 4 players going through to the main draw. I am seeded five meaning I am not expected to qualify and I am under no ululations to how tough it will be but hopefully after success at the Europeans I will be able to carry through some of that momentum.

If you wish to ask any further questions about how my career is going you can follow me on Twitter (@nathanlake3) or email me on nathanlake3@googlemail.com. If any members feel they are in a position and would like to sponsor me in someway shape or form then please feel free to contact me on the above email address or you can contact me on 07917116012.