When I was growing, up a very good player who played at our club was also a great badminton player. He had great ability on the volley and he would be able to pick things out the air, especially lob serves on the cross-court drop volley, which most players had no chance of dealing with. As well as this, he also used his body very well to disguise shots from the front. He certainly wasn’t textbook in many areas of his game but he was very effective.

I distinctly remember him going to get some coaching from a coach in the area to help him get into the over 45’s county team now that he had turned 45. The coach, however, focused mainly on improving his technique and making it more effective in a squash sense.

Whilst he looked more graceful on the court, and some of his drives were more accurate, he lost a lot of his edge and effectiveness. He was now a lot easier to play against and actually suddenly very beatable, whereas before he had been able to take lots of points off the very best at the club and in the county leagues even if he wasn’t as good as them.

I think the coach made a mistake here, because although he certainly improved this player’s technique, he actually took away from his game and his natural effectiveness.

I think any individual style which can provide something different should be embraced. I always encourage badminton players to use their volley skills on the squash court, because they see things and are able to do things players who’ve played only squash are unable to do. The same goes for any unique tendencies too. I know several players who played to a good level with very open stances on the forehand. Typically players are encouraged to face the side wall but these players had great deception and speed by playing facing the front wall, which won them a lot of points.

The only question you have to ask yourself is whether the ‘mutation’ or unique style is advantageous to your game and consistent under pressure. If the style breaks down under pressure, it may be something you have to consider changing or you may need to develop a second option that you can use when your normal style isn’t enough. It is also something for coaches to consider as well; perhaps an odd style is more effective in some instances than a traditional style.

For more thoughts on using or avoiding natural aspects of your game, check out our Squash Player Problems posts for fast players, skilled players and tall players.