Explosiveness Training

On Weekly Slice #3 I talked about the Split Step. The Split Step exists in other sports too. In Squash you do it in between every shot, ideally as your opponent is about to hit the ball.

The Split-Step is an unweighting or small hop that allows you to move in the direction you want as quickly as possible upon landing. This action is as if your legs were springs- by landing on them, you are loading the spring, and as you land you should be ready to move explosively in a chosen direction. The more explosive individuals are able to barely touch the floor and move right away. Less time on the ground is better.

Here are some videos I have found that will help train your explosiveness.

First – Make sure to warm up! Speed and agility training is done at a high speed and for optimal results and avoid injury, you MUST WARM-UP! A good warm-up will start out slowly and will increase in speed gradually. It should also include some of the movements you are about to do in the activity you are about to perform, just at a controlled and reduced speed. You should have some sweat and feel alert and ready to go!

This first video will guide you through a warm-up if you don’t know how to warm-up.

This is a 14 minute workout to help you work on your explosiveness, agility and Stamina. The Fitness Blender is a page that focuses on fitness, not squash; however, this video is with sports athletes in mind.

Here is what the Split-Step looks like in Squash. Thierry Lincou is a legend of squash. He is French, former world number 1 and currently Head Squash Coach at MIT. He is known for his movement and ability to shuffle across the middle of the court effortlessly.