Reflecting on the West Coast JCT as I fly home, answering emails and chatting with players and parents. One of the most frequent questions has been: "How much do I need to train to achieve my squash goals?" So I thought I'd share my tried and true answer - "The rule of 4s!"
How often do I need to train in order to fulfil my goals in the sport - briefly explained - looks like this!
If you'd like to perhaps win a Silver and play in Gold level events, we need FOUR hours of your week dedicated to training.
If you'd like to be in contention to win a Gold, we need EIGHT hours of your week dedicated to training.
If you'd like to be a JCT competitor and challenge for the upper echelons of the sport, we need TWELVE hours of your week.
Now this is a very approximate answer, but at least gives you a flavor of what sort of a time commitment you need to put into your sport to have a realistic chance to achieve your goals.
There are caveats - notions of deliberate practice, mindfulness, reflection - need addressing. Annual periodized planning needs to be discussed, factoring in weekly loading to ensure we don't over train... but these can come out in another blog another day...
See you on the courts.