Australia
2014
1 week
after Solabladet wrote an article about my retirement, I find myself at Kings
backpackers in Melbourne, Australia. Up 5am from the jetlag, getting ready to
take the train to Shepparton, where there is a PSA tournament waiting for me.
After this
I will be flying into Sydney and the week after to Coffs Harbor for 2 more
PSAs. Honestly I have not been able to train professionally since June last
year. I’ve been sliding downhill and crawling back up slowly ever since, but
have realized that I won’t ever reach the top again. I’m out of resources and
there is nowhere left to turn to make my squash work on the level I want it to.
This trip
was booked at the time I was ready for one last push into getting my ranking
back up and reaching my goal, but ever since, funds, form, and motivation as
dropped, while debt and bills are on the way up. If I want to survive, I can’t
put my time and money into squash in the way I have been.
There is
still a few percentages in me that want to play, and I kind of want to see how
it goes in Australia before I make any final conclusions. But no matter the
result, I can not train like a professional. I’m very relaxed when it comes to
these tournaments and I put no pressure on myself. I will enjoy my time here,
but am prepared for a tough 6 months upon my return where I have to work as
much as possible to try to clear some of the expenses I have postponed over the
last 6 years.
My travel
companeros are a good group from Canada/Netherlands. I hope to follow Piedro to
as many victories as possible down here, and also wish the best for Adrian who
is making his break into the PSA circus. Looking forward to it ;)
So day 1
one in freezing conditions sees the Overlander boys comfortably through to the
second round., all winning 3-0. Adrian faces Piedro for bragging rights, Albert
takes on French crepes ripper Damien Volland, while I continue with the
aussies. This time the 3d seed of the tournament.
So I show
up for my match, basically just feeding in the first 2 games. Not really
feeling any joy in playing. I tell the boys I will win the next one, to show
that I can. So I win the next one, and somehow the 4th. I think I
was on autopilot. I toss the 5th game 11-0.
After a
nice week of relaxing, training and good times with my good friend David Clegg
and his family, we make our way over towards Sydney for the next tournament. I
feel a bit better with myself and enjoyed my hits over the last week, even
though fitness equals zero.
I rock up
to the tournament to play qualifier Aaron Franckomb, PSA38 last year, who is
just too strong for me and he wins 3-0.
I receive
some mails from the federation and my sponsor, and it sparks some
motivation. There will be some closed
satellite tournaments in Norway before Christmas for my PSA ranking, plus it
decides who goes to the European championships. My racket sponsor says he is
interested in a further cooperation (which is good, as I travelled Australia
with 2 rackets, broke 1, so I have 1 left). I want to win all the Norwegian
tournaments and retain my Norwegian title. I want to do well in the last
tournament here in Australia as well now. Im just not prepared. I did not train
since playing my 20 min match last week. I know Im not able to train as much as
I want anymore, but if I can at least maintain fitness and racketskills with 2
hits a week and some fitness, I still might be able to squeeze some results
out. Let’s see how it goes. Off to Coffs Harbour it is.
So first day of play in Coffs Harbour sets me up against Pornstache Dusty, the no4 seed and 170 PSA rank. Watching him play reminds me of myself. Brainless, speedy and physical. Not an impossible task at all. And this time I was really motivated to play. However, lack of training shone through. Lack of matchplay affected my consistency and he played more steady. after digging back from under in the 1st game to grab it 12-10, the next 2 saw me playing rollercoaster squash with patches of decent squash but bigger patches of loose shots. My opponent put it away nicely and and needed to refocus in the 4th. Which went quite well, finding myself in front the entire game and being 9-7 up. lost it 9-11. My opponent is now in the semi finals. Again I find myself in this situation. With a good draw, but unable to perform. Only myself to blame though, as I did not prepare for these tournaments. Still enjoyed playing and signed up for the graded tournament where I won my first match 3-2 today. Maybe make some dollars while Im here.
Noted that my body reacts better to giving 100% than loafing around without moving properly. Moving quickly and hard might seem harder on the body, but the muscle activation is higher, so the muscles synergise better and take the load off other vulnerable structures.
Another note is that you can not cheat your way around good squash. What my coach is trying to tell me is true, and there is not really any cheats.
Enjoying playing at the moment, so lets just keep that up for now, then we see whats next ;)
So apparently what was next was a helluva party to get home late, get up early and play the semi finals of the PSA plate. won it in 4 close games, to get a walk over in the final. So I won the plate. A small token to make me feel a little better after not performing in the main draw. I need the money to eat today....
