Coaching Strategy - 8+ lessons in a day

Is there a limit to the number of squash lessons you can give in a day?  Only the number of hours you have for court time!  But this is not completely true as we also want to keep up our effectiveness on court.  Like an athlete you need to maintain our energy, keep well hydrated, stay focussed and schedule stretching into our day to avoid injury.

Some of the math for a 9 lesson day:

• 9 lessons in 1 day:
• This would translate into 3, 2.25 hr sessions on court for a total of 6.75 hours in a day.

We we need to recognize that there is a need for nutrition and hydration

• Add 2 breaks into the day each 45min in duration
• Total Time: 8.25 hours to give the 9 lessons and very little break time.   

Training Athletes' need to program rest between training session, with a minimum of 2.5 hours between sessions.  Giving 9 lessons over a 9 hour day and you see that it is requires more time on your feet than if you were an athlete training for competition and more demand on the body.

Table of lesson Schedule example:

Tips for scheduling the lessons:

1. In a block of 3 lessons program the physical demands of each lesson from hard to easiest.  Mens Open down to B or A level player
2. Try to keep the hardest lesson in the earlier sets.  Warning, programming a tough session at the end of the day could lead to injury after the long demands on court already
3. Make sure you start your day with a good breakfast.
4. Make sure to hydrate between lessons.  Have two water bottles available, one with water, a second with a sports drink to replenish your electrolytes, and fresh fruit like banana's, apples, oranges just incase you need the sugars.
5. After the first set of 3 or four lessons.  You will need to hydrate and stretch and eat something more substantial.  Even if you have not been very physically active your muscles will still be getting tight.  A mid day stretch will loosen you up and reduce the chance of injury later in the day.  Hydrate always and, you will need food to keep going for the remainder of the day. 
6. While stretching, do something to relax you mind.  It will help to give you a fresh perspective on what you see when coaching the next set of lessons.
7. At the end of the day, 45 minute stretch and some time on a roller.  Loosen those tight legs up.
8. Hydrotherapy,  get cleaned up!  Ice baths are great but not available to most.  I like to use contrast showering at the end of the day on my lower body.  There is no conclusive evidence that it works, but I do feel refreshed at the end of the day and ready to go the next day.

Injury free for over a year!

How long can you keep up this schedule?  After 3 months of a schedule like this I need a week or so of light activity.  Usually the christmas break then another around the end of march.  These two breaks will get me through the competitive season and keep my busy coaching schedule at a high level for my students.

Keep your racquets up!
Benjamin Uliana

Can I coach better

Welcome to the Squash Coach!

After 20 years of Coaching I found there was a lot I had to learn on my own.  We can gather knowledge about teach sport from technical courses and literature but neither prepare us for the real demands of Coaching full time,

• The questions we get from all our members, 
• Very little down time at the club, 
• 8 to 10 lessons in a day, 
• The administrative work that goes into developing a strong and vibrant program
• The continual search to reinvent your program each year to stimulate the growth process.  

Outside of your proficiency with the technical aspect of coaching squash I will be discussing the things that have worked well for me, the things I have learned by talking to and questioning other successful coaches.  The mistakes I have made and try to share this knowledge with those interested.

Here begins our Journey