Item 3 on My 2011 List: Learning to Play Squash

So... you already know I dabble in badminton. Not expertly mind you, but dabble in it enough I do.

Hello Squash Court - A new foe waiting to bash my naive little head in

And because of this so called dabbling, wading, testing or whatever you wish to call it, I had this brilliant idea that maybe, just maybe, I'd be fantastic at other racquet sports too (mind you, I am nowhere near fantastic in badminton but high does the ego fly). This is why I have two other racquet sports in my list of things to do for 2011 -- learning to play tennis, and learning to play squash. This last week or so allowed me to try my hand at the latter.

The company I work for took part in a now annual charity Squash tournament amongst FMCG companies for FYD -- our group was looking for more participants. The original invite to this event probably went out months ago but having no knowledge whatsoever of the sport, I wasn't too pushed to raise my hand and serve them my embarrassment in a golden platter. But about two weeks ago the invite went out again and my sense of infallibility must have been particularly strong that day as I suddenly grew this maggot in my head that said "go on, you know you can do it!" So I did.

Interestingly enough, I still had the presence of mind to drag someone else from my group of workmates into this whole bonanza just to make sure I had at least one supportive face as I lost our company's Squash cred with each missed shot I was bound to make.

Final Opponent on left; Workmate on right

A few days pass and the day of the tourney was dawning. I had to do something right??? I couldn't just waltz in there, smack the ball and pretend I knew what I was doing! So a few sessions on Wikipedia and YouTube had me feeling like a pro and booking two separate live practice sessions with PIC, just in case, a few days prior to the event.

My first session comes along and I couldn't even make a legal serve or hit a ball flying straight at my face. I was beyond embarrassing. I was an insult to the game. This does not bode well for me or my uber competitive colleagues.

Down in the dumps, a day passes and I'm in for another session. PIC growls at me and points out my errors like he's been playing the game since he was out of the womb (which he never has by the way) and I fumble my way through understanding how F'ing different the squash racquet is to the badminton one. BUT, I was now able to hit the ball. 

I just have to say though, anyone else out there have as much trouble as myself hitting the bl**dy thing?!?!? For the life of me, I just can't seem to keep my eye on the ball!

My War Wounds

Anyway, for some reason, I found the squash racquet longer than I needed it to be (truth, a badminton racquet would probably be about the same length) and kept trying to hold it as close to the head as possible. This now meant that the very end of the handle would be touching and banging against the insides of my swinging wrist and arm. I didn't realize till after the actual competition how bad this was going to be and the amount of bruises I would be getting from it. Proof? Look to the side please.

So the day of the event finally dawns and my friend and I try to arrive half an hour earlier to get a few pointers from the company Squash Guru himself. Then before we knew it, it was game time. Man, was I nervous.

A set was the best of 5 games, each racing to 15 points on any of the six courts at Mt Eden Club Eden Epsom -- my first set was with this really sweet lady from Horleys who was thankfully as much of a newbie as I was. We probably made the same number of errors in serves and returns but I was even luckier to be slightly more nimble on my feet and won the first three games in a row to close my first set. Wow a win! I couldn't believe it myself, and on my first real game too!

The next set was with the friend I dragged along. She doesn't really play squash, but does play tennis. Needless to say, she kicked my ass. Day 1 closes with one win and one loss under my belt then I was off to meet my final opponent on Day 2.

My last set was with this great lady from NZ Sugar. She certainly had that athletic feel to her and I later learned that while she didn't really play squash, she is indeed pretty active. Active enough that she completes triathlons in her spare time. I thought for sure that I was doomed.

But lo and behold I actually won our first game 16-14. Oh my God! I couldn't believe it! I was out of breath and sweating like Malaria. Yet there I was basking in the glory of victory -- until I realized I needed to play a few more games before it was over. My opponent then trounced me on our next two games which ended with final scores of 15-8 and 15-10. I was tired and ready to be carted off in a stretcher but they needed another game out of me so back into the court I went. 

That marked my last game for the day as my opponent won 16-14. Yes; I lost folks. It was close, but no one wins by being a point (or two) behind. That said, I still ended up 3rd in my division (don't ask why).

PIC says he's never seen me sweat so much in my life and that I looked near to crawling in the end. Still, I was so proud that I held my own out there and didn't completely mangle what little credibility I had to begin with in this sport.

Would I play squash again? 70% of me says "no" while the remaining 30% says "yes" but at least I really tried and can strike that off my 2011 list from hereon out. For now, maybe I'll just stick to badminton and try being fantabulous at that first before I dabble in anything else.