23 September 2010

HARMONY IN MOVEMENT: JAMES WILLSTROP vs. STEWART BOSWELL

If you're a club player and keen on improving your movement, then you can start with just watching and observing the below rally a couple of times frame by frame; there are very few players on the PSA tour having a more classy style than Stewart Boswell and James Willstrop. Watch the way their bodies stream; legs, hip and arms flow in harmony, everything they do is 'liquid', no abrupt interruptions at all. Add to this that these two are also known as the fairest players on the tour, therefore the clearing between the two bodies looks almost like a well-composed and trained choreography - just like capoeira, and not wresting, thank you. It was a long rally, and apparently Boswell was the one to tire sooner, hitting a loose counter-drop allowing Willstrop all the time to retard his shot with a great hold/deception. In general terms there might be a couple of better, more efficient movers than these two (in particular Gaultier having maybe the best combination of explosiveness, reach, balance and economy of energy) but hardly anybody makes squash look more gentle than Stewart Boswell.