I’ve recently returned from Spain, where I spent two and a half weeks with the family, taking a well earned rest! As with previous trips to Spain, a little bit of squash training was scheduled. This time, we spent some time with Xavi Blasco and Tony Griffin at their base in Santa Cristina, near Girona. A few weeks ago, I saw a promo vid from fellow Eye Rackets Pro, Paul Coll, where he was using these really cool touch pads on court to train with. Basically, Paul places these

Having chatted with a few players, coaches and fellow stringers over the last few months, there seems to be a growing trend… Racket sales are declining and restringing is increasing. Speaking with head ERSA Squash Stringer, Nick Down, following the ERSA symposium in April, this subject was brought up and discussed at length. There will be a few theories as to why, but I'd suggest the main reason is probably down to education. The ERSA is working hard to equip their stringers

What are ‘factory strings’? You’ve probably heard players, coaches and stringers mention the term before, but I think it’s important to understand the mechanics of a racket coming straight from the factory. Factory strings are quite literally the strings which are placed in the racket in the factory they were made. Most manufacturers assume (rightly) that advanced players will cut the original strings straight out of their rackets upon receipt, replacing them with their prefe

This month's Player Profile focuses on Cameron Pilley, one of the top players on the PSA world tour for a number of years and 3 time Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist. Having met with Cam on a couple of occasions, I can confirm that he is most definitely a top, top guy. I'm not just saying that because he helped me with this profile! Although Cam is officially the hardest hitter in the world, there's definitely more to his game than just being able to hit the ball hard. Cam h

Having spent a couple of years stringing Eye rackets, I've learnt that there's a quick way, a slow way and the right way to string them. Rather th​​an waiting until the end of the blog to tell you how long it takes to string them, I'll say now. Approx 1 - 2 minutes longer than a comparably patterned racket with a generic bumper/grommet setup. For anybody who hasn't restrung an Eye racket before, or gets frustrated with them, they need a little extra attention as they don’t ha

Ok, so I wasn't really stringing with Santa this weekend, I was stringing with Nick Down, the world's most qualified Squash Stringer and stringer to 18 World No 1 squash players - including Ramy, Jahangir Khan , Nicol David, James Willstrop and Mohamed El Shorbagy. Getting to string with the worlds best this weekend was very much like getting an early Christmas present! Nick and I were stringing at the Sumner Malik charity event in Birmingham, with some of the top Pros in the

This week's player profile is brought to you courtesy of SJP, one of the PSA tour's most exciting players. Thanks, SJ, for taking the time to answer my questions. SJ plays with passion and flair, using her physicality to get on the ball early and move her opponents around. Coached by Rob Owen, SJ mixes with a great squad of players and you can really see Rob's influence on her squash She also breaks a few strings... though not as many since switching rackets from Prince to UN

Nick was one of the players I really looked up to when I was on the Junior scene back in the 80's/90's. Always popular (especially up North!), I loved his style of play and enthusiasm for the game. Nick reached a world ranking of 14, in an incredibly competitive era of squash! A couple of weeks ago, Nick defended his World Masters title, winning the O45's category.... so he can still mix it as a player! Nick now makes waves (not literally of course) in Boston, US, where he is

Having returned from Spain this week, I wanted to provide a profile for one of Spain's top up and coming professional players, Nilo Vidal. I caught up with Nilo whilst my son was at Barcelona Global Squash a couple of weeks ago. Having known Nilo for a couple of years, I can tell you that there aren't many players around with as much enthusiasm and joy for the game as him! Having only recently entered the pro ranks, since graduating from the juniors last year, Nilo currently

This weeks profile is on Mr PVD Creed. Peter is a seriously fast mover around the court and despite being smaller in stature than most, he's big on personality and is incredibly well liked and respected on the PSA tour. When not on the squash court playing or coaching, he works on a squash fashion line called PS Wear which he co-founded www.psdudes.com Peter plays for one of my old clubs, Rhiwbina (Cardiff, Wales), in the Welsh Premier League, when not touring the world and s