SQUASH PROFILE – The Squashist

Who
Being an international man of mystery, I simply go by ‘The Squashist’  

Day Job
I’m the head editor of a medical publishing company.

Connection to Squash
A player and fan of long standing, and occasional spouter of ill-advised opinion on my blog

Squash background
I have played squash since my mid-teens and have played it continuously ever since. I’m not a top player, but won a B match at a little club a long time ago, been in the B finals at bigger clubs at other times, and have convinced myself that I occasionally play at a low-A level.

Your Blog
TheSquashist.blogspot.com. I get widely dispersed traffic, from all the major squash-playing countries in the world, although most traffic is from the USA.

Hometown
I grew up in Nyack, New York, a suburb of New York CIty.

Current Residence
After living for 21 years in the Big Apple, I moved about 10 years ago to Croton-on-Hudson, a suburb.

Number of Emails per day — It often seems like hundreds, but I suppose in general it is about 60 or so
Number of voice mails per day — I’d guess <10
Number of text messages per day — on average, <5
 
Last conference attended
Just last week I attended a conference in NYC on custom publishing. That was 7 hours I will never get back again.
 
Number of plane flights so far this year
Only 2, all domestic.

Last book read
“The Snowman,” by Jo Nesbo. He’s a Norwegian crime writer; very good. I read any and all Scandinavian crime fiction.
 
Favourite gadgets/technologies
I would say my favorite gadget is my e-reader, the Kindle.

Interests, hobbies, outside of squash
I’m a student of Swedish, so I study that and read up on what’s doing there. I’m also a passable tennis player (I won a B tournament 3 years ago). I also write a little myself, and have written a third of a novel in which, you guessed it, squash plays a fundamental role. You heard it here first, folks. I want everyone reading this to buy it when it becomes available.

PC or Mac
Both! I use a Mac at work and a PC at home….

Next one is on me, what do I bring you from bar?
You get me a black-and-tan, and keep ‘em coming, because one is never enough…

Location of last vacation
I just spent a week at the shore in Southern New Jersey. I’m about to go camping for a week in mid-august.

Favorite Websites
Well, this one, for starters, also squashsite. I also make it a point to check out the NYTimes site, CNN, and MSNBC regularly. I never check out Fox; that’s for suckers.

Are you on:
  Facebook — No
  Twitter  — God no!
  LinkedIn — Yes

Describe your playing style
I’m definitely more comfortable playing an attritional game. I hit hard, often too hard. I’m hesitant to go for nicks becuase of how that sets you up if you fail, but I’m trying to learn that type of game now since it can be more effective for old codgers like me.

Best win
Nothing really sticks out as the best win ever. I love to win against anyone who was supposed to beat me.

Worst loss
Probably my worst was in the B Finals at the Princeton club a few years back. I got so hyped up about the match that I would set off at full gallop after every shot. My opponent soon realized that he could hold his shot, watch me go flying off to one corner, and flick it to the other, all with relative ease. I was completely killed, and demoralized. I was just too revved up to play the game sensibly!

Farthest you have traveled to play in a tournament
I went up to Montreal for a tournament not too long ago. I often take my racket with me on business travel, once playing a memorable match in Luxembourg.

Fondest squash memory, accomplishment to date?
Looking back, it’s really all the great people I’ve met who have been involved in this sport. There are too many to name.

 Favorite
   squash books The squash history book by Zug is an important, well-written book. “Smart Squash’ by Austin Francis was also an important book for US players.
   squash player I wrote a blog on this, but my two favorites would have to be Peter Nicol and John White on the men’s side, and Nicol David and Natalie Grainger on the women’s.
   squash coaches I’m not sure if i can pick a favorite; they know who they are! They’ve all taught me something important.
Who has shaped or influenced your squash?
My squash is very much influenced by good players i play with every day. I like playing with players who are a little better than I, and try to dissect their game to figure out what they are doing that I am not. I’ve been lucky to hang out with these players who, whether they know it or not, are also great teachers.

Have the squash injury gods been kind to you?
Of late, no, definitely not. Historically I’ve been pretty good with injuries, but in the past year I’ve had a rotator cuff problem, an ankle injury requiring surgery, a bout of runners knee, and a hamstring pull. The good news is I’m running out of things to injure!

What motivated you to start and continue your blog?
A chance conversation with Kevin Klipstein, the head of US Squash, a guy I very much respect, who casually mentioned that he wished there was more editorial floating about the web. I thought, “Hey, editorial, I can do that….”

How would you encourage someone to try squash?
I talk to people all the time about squash, and rather frequently get people on court to let them give it a try. I talk about the beauty of the game, how it is an international sport, how it is a great workout, and how it is a sport on the increase. If they are very athletic, I try to challenge them. I once bet an ad director who was a big-time racquetball player that I would let him have a free ad in one of my journals if he could get just 2 points off me playing squash. If he failed, I’d get a paid ad. He figured squash couldnt be that different from racquetball! I got my ad….

Squash is such an amazing sport, what do we need to do differently, better to make it grow?
That’s a big question, but what SquashZAG is doing is an important part of growing the game. Another part is attracting more sponsor money. We need to crack a major advertiser who would be willing to invest in the game to grow their brand internationally. And we need to get more positive publicity and mentions in major consumer media, like that Forbes piece a few years ago that everyone likes to cite. We need some celebrities to step up and talk about how they play it and love it. We need exposure!

Quick word association, when I say _____, you think
   Jonathon Power Supreme racket control
   Peter Nicol Supreme mental discipline
   Olympics Stupidity, and how money rules the Olympic movement nowadays
   5 Let Rule/No Let Rule Great for the fans!
   Squash Tournaments The agony and the ecstasy
   Doubles (hardball on full size court) A huge red and purple welt on my ass!
   Dingles (doubles, softball on singles court)  Never tried it…
  
Before you die, any big goals, ‘to do’s” in squash/life? 
I still want to win the B’s at the University Club in New York. And I want to publish that squash novel!

Tags: The Squashist