National squad training February 2017

Now in effective training for 2 months, I was invited to the national team training in February in Oslo Norway. For the seniors this meant selection training for the European championships. For me it was basically do or die, as 3/5 players are already selected due to good performances earlier in the season. The new coaches from England (Lauren Selby and Emily Ison) have never seen me play before, and although my past performances should be a powerful statement we all have to remember I have been away for 2 years.

The post exercise malaise have been a lot better and I have not felt it in a while. Unfortunatelly the fatigue messed with me for 10 days leading up to the team training, but I still went, hoping for the best.

The first day was directed towards on court work, drills and technique. As we all know, I am no technician, and I am horrible in drills, but it went over all expectation and I slowly found my groove and realized I was not as far behind my old level as I thought. I stayed on the top court and won all conditioning games except one. I had a good chat with the coaches, so they were aware of my situation, and therefore allowed me to set my own pace. I stopped 5 min before the session ended on day one just to be sure I stayed within my limits.

The second day was dedicated to strength and conditioning with a little squash work in the beginning of the day. My good form continued and it went even better then the day before. Continuing my winning streak, now more gameplay, which suits me a lot better. The strength and gym work is naturally my backyard, so that was never a problem, but I did not push myself during the courtsprints. This is where I noticed I was away for 2 years. I still move efficiently enough to complete and win matches but in an all out conditioning test, I come short. However, this is the easiest one to train.

So lets get started

UPDATE! Just got news that I MADE THE TEAM!!!!!

Top 40 squashblogger on the planet

Yes it is a real thing, and here is proof that you are reading quality!!!

What is extra cool is that I am the only player blog on the list, so since I do not brag about finishing 36th in a tournament, I rather brag that I finished no 1 as a players blog. boom!

For the full list, see here:
 http://blog.feedspot.com/squash_blogs/?utm_content=bufferb37d9&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Painfully embarrassing personal encounters in the world of squash part 1

What you are about to witness are based on true stories

- The first time I played Aisling Blake, I grabbed her tit (I was reaching for the ball)

- The first time I trained with Geoff Hunt, I wanted to be nice to the old man and hit mostly floaters and high 3 wall boasts. After the session he said, you re playing well but your boasts are shit. Then we played another game and he knocked my front tooth out

- First time going out with Borja Golan he decides to jump out of the taxi on the highway and do the worm 3 times in between cars

- First time I met Peter Nicol, he was passed out drunk on a bean bag

- First time I met David Palmer (As previously mentioned) He was chasing me out of a toilet with my pants on my ankles

- First time going to the sauna with Wee Wern Low. It was a naked sauna. I didnt know. I was the only one in there with shorts on #awkwardcity

- First time I met Piedro Schweertman he had hair

- First time I met Peter Creed he was short

- First time I played Line Hansen I accidentally "swaffled" her (Have a dutchie translate)

- First time playing Sebastiaan Weenink he farted in the back left corner and played all balls in that corner for 2 rallies

- First time I met Shawn Delierre he tried to steal my girl

- First time I met Gilly Lane, he stole my girl

- First time meeting the Pilley brothers ended up in a 4am Shoarma party

- First time meeting Liz Irving I spent awkwardly long asking why she didnt have a husband

- First time meeting Nicol David we had a good hit and a nice chat

- First time I went out with Arthur Gaskin we chased the rainbow and found a pot o gold (A bar at the end of the road) (Where he btw sang "A whole lotta love" better than Led Zep themselves... or maybe thats the pot o gold speaking)

- First time I met Paul Coll I didnt undestand a single word he said. Probably because he just flew in from Krypton and didnt learn human language yet

- First debut for the national team I get both front teeth knocked out and a cut lip making me look like Bubba from Forrest Gump. Im toothless all week and the only person I meet by accident at the airport before getting them fixed is my 3 year high school crush.....

- My first international tournament I ended up taking a dump in the Czech Republic (s teams appartments mailbox)

- The first time I met Ramy Ashour he was wrestling his brother naked

- The first time I played Simon Rosner I took 1 point

- The first time I met Nicholas Muller I bought him a chocolate bar

- The first time I partied with Gregory Gaultier he stole my drink. Then he stole my girl. Then he stole my second drink. Then he stole my second girl (remember these are still true stories!!!!)

- The first time I met LJ was in a bar. The second time I met LJ was in a bar. The third time I met LJ was in a bar. Fourth time we met we had a hit. Then we went to the bar

- First time playing Peter Barker my best friend was watching (thinking I was the best player there was) After a severe loss, my friend bought all the drinks and meals that night feeling sorry for me losing to a club player. 6 months later he saw posters of Pete all around London and all of a sudden wanted those 7 beers back.

- First time I got refereed by John Massarella I did not find him through the match but I heard his voice

- First time I met Stewart Boswell he promised me dinner. He never made it.

- Last time I saw Adrian Grant he was standing in a suit watching 4 of us skinny dip in the mediterranean.....

- The first time I met Joe Lee I denied him access to his own hotel room

- First time I met Kashif Shuja I stole his girl

Put the middle finger up

Any athlete knows that the greatest fuel to the fire is someone telling you that you cant do it.

You get a cocktail of anger/stubborness/grit/Immashutyouuphater kinda sensation through your bones

"No one recovers from ME" "Its a chronic condition" "You will have to live with it" "You will never play squash on any level again"

- Well fuk you, then I will do the opposite of what you tell me

After 2 years of research I have found the cure. Although there are many subcategories of ME, I found what works for me. Its a long process and it requires a dicipline of that of a top athlete. I need to remove all factors of stress in life. That is not easy post 2000s

But now, 2 years after and going from not being able to walk stairs, to playing my first tournament today, I am making great steps forward and looking very positively to the future.

It is not a PSA tournament or anything of that level. It is the club championship at my local club that I won 3 years ago. At the moment I am at a level where I can play 2 times a week with B players, so it should be a perfect step to see what my body can manage. I will have to play 4 matches in a day which is quite extreme for my body even though all the matches will not be hard. I just have to listen to my body and retire if needed. Hopefully it all goes well.

I also signed up for the national championships in Norway in January. No expectations offcourse, but mostly just to play again and to see all my friends again. Its sad how you lose contact with so many people when you dont play anymore.

If things go well I have a distant goal to make the team  for the european champoinships around march/april carried on a cloud of hope, grit, determination, muscle memory and middle fingers