In Squash - The Podcast

Looking to hit the ground running after a very good 2017/2018, Hollie Naughton and I talked about her progress over the past few years, and what it will take for her to make deeper runs into the Super Series main draws now that she's successfully qualified for these events. We also talked Squash Canada a bit, specifically about the exciting additions of Martin Heath running the high performance program and Steve Wren as President.

2018 saw the unthinkable: husband (Ali) and wife (Nour) winning the US Open on the same day. Ali takes us inside the ropes on that special week and the years in the lead up. Interestingly, he almost decided to forego professional squash for a desk job with the hopes of developing Egypt's solar energy industry, but, thankfully for us, representing Egypt and making a living out of his true passion has taken precedence.

Newlywed Olivia Clyne (Blatchford) had a storied junior squash career and has recently made inroads into the top 15 in the world women's rankings. We had a great chat which covered several interesting parts of career, dating back to the days her father would drag her to the courts, dealing with lofty expectations, touring pros who just happen to be husband and wife, and a great little anecdote about receiving a police escort to a quarter final match in Colombia.

Tom Ford has taken time off from his PSA career in an attempt to overcome a battle with chronic fatique syndrome. In doing so he's attempting to find balance which has manifested itself in his great podcast Finding Balance. Tom talks about these recent struggles and the inroads he's made of late.

Janet Baker McLeod is all in when it comes to squash these days. Most recently, this includes head coach duties for the Canadian Women's Junior Team who just returned from the Junior Pan Am Games in Brazil, and representing Canada herself in the ladies over 55 at the World Masters Championship in Charlottesville, Virginia at the end of the month. Lots of good stuff here in terms of coaching, junior squash, and a bit of insight in terms of squash in Canada and Nova Scotia in particular. Enjoy.

Derek Ryan is an Irish squash legend with over 200 caps and several PSA titles to his name. He reached as high as world #7, and is now the PSA's lead physio and medical coordinator. Derek joins me to discuss his newly formed role with the PSA, and we also look back a bit at his illustrious career. I even take some time to pick his masters brain for training intel. Enjoy the podcast.

Former world number 1, world champion and current world 7, Laura Massaro made a huge impression on episode 38. Her run of consecutive super series titles came to an end this year, but nothing to be ashamed of; her career speaks for itself. After defeating Nicol David for the first time and in doing so winning her first major title in 2011, Laura really never looked back. We talk about staying fit and healthy as she approaches her mid-30s, playing in the shadow of Nicol David for so many years, and the dynamic relationship with her husband/coach Danny. Enjoy!!

Squash Stories has taken the squash community by storm. If you want to talk squash with players of all levels, all backgrounds, with a global perspective or a local perspective, whether it be technical, the pro game, your local club league issues, squash history, you name it; Squash Stories is the place to visit for your daily squash fix. The dude behind this is Jamie Maddox, and he joined me for a great conversation. Enjoy the podcast.

Very much like myself, Squash Player Magazine writer Mike Dale is still fired up after the Super Series Final in Dubai. Mike knows his stuff, and we had a great conversation about the event in Dubai. We also looked back at what we both agreed was an incredible 2017/18 campaign, and we looked ahead at the 2018/19 season with plenty of intrigue.

Matt Bishop is the reigning Canadian Men's over 40 national champion, winner of the 2017 over 35 national championship, and who knows how many Nova Scotia provincial championships. It was a pleasure to talk squash with Matt, and we looked back at his early years and squash in Nova Scotia at that time, and the influences on his game which include his parents, David Hubley and most recently squash legend Neil Harvey.

Day 0 is media day at the Dubai Super Series Finals, and all 16 players were in attendance and seemingly ready to go. Simon Rosner and Camille Serme both joined me to discuss their respective season's to date and how they feel going into the event. I also had the pleasure of speaking to Nick Matthew who was ready to put away his kit for good only a week ago, but now has one last tournament before he calls it a career, and one in which he'd love to win as it turns out. Enjoy the podcast.

Lee Drew, PSA SquashTV commentator, England Jr. National Team Coach, and PSA's Referee Director joined us on the eve of the Super Series Final in Dubai. Lee tells us more about his role as the PSA's Referee Director, and we talk at length about how enthralling the women's game is these days, and how things are shaping up for this Super Series Final.

Markos Kern, founder of Interactive Squash and Fun With Balls joined The In Squash Podcast today along with Gustavo Netto to flesh out what exactly is behind Interactive Squash. What we came up with is a much needed breath of fresh air and something that squash really should embrace and look forward to. We all know what a great game squash is, and bringing it up to speed in terms of the current generation's way of thinking and lifestyle seems to be the direction and initiative that Markos and his team are putting into play. Enjoy this refreshing and enlightening chat.

The Swiss Rocket, one of the awesome talents on the PSA pro squash tour, joined the In Squash Podcast today. It was an enjoyable chat which covered his 2017/2018 campaign, his relationship with his buddies Raphael Kandra and Simon Roesner, playing Gregory Gaultier in front of the Swiss hometown faithful at this year's Grasshopper Cup, and a great little Roger Federer anecdote.

Andrew Schnell is now a two-time Canadian Men's National Squash Champion after defeating defending title holder Nick Sachvie in the 2018 Men's Open final in Calgary. Andrew also had a big win on the PSA tour in the 2017/2018 campaign as well winning the Bankers Hall event, also in Calgary. With the summer months upon us, he's hoping to lay the training groundwork in order to hit the ground running for the 2018/19 campaign. A great chat with reigning Canadian National Champion Andrew Schnell. Enjoy the pod eh!

Martin Heath made it to the highest levels of the game as a player, and now he's taking that some path as a coach, developing young, elite talent. This podcast covered everything from Martin's days competing for world supremacy against the likes of Peter Nicol and Jonathan Power to his impressive run as the head coach for the University of Rochester Yellowjackets. Now we can add Squash Canada's Director of High Performance to his impressive resume. Enjoy this great chat with Martin Heath.

Gary Nisbet is Squash Skills' resident fitness and training guru, and his tutorials on Squash Skills are a must see for those of us looking to get that edge on our competition and in our games in general. Gary and I had a great chat about all manner of squash fitness and training related topics, and we got a bit of a backstory in terms of who Gary is and what we can look forward to from him down the road.

David Palmer, former world #1 and 2 time World Open Champion, officially called it a day after a remarkable career. After winning his 9th Commonwealth Games medal, David zipped up his pro kit to take on coaching duties at Cornell in full. Clearly, his career is one that we all look back on with nostalgia of that generation as those matches against all of the greats go down as must watch squash. Not surprisingly, he did not disappoint on the podcast. Enjoy!!

3 time Canadian National Women's finalist and Calgary native Danielle Letourneau is hoping that this is her year to hoist the women's crown at the Canadian National Squash Championships in Calgary at the Glencoe Club. Danielle is playing very good squash these days, currently sitting at 42 in the world. We had a great chat about her upcoming semi-final against Sam Cornett, her 4 brilliant years at Cornell, the fact that Canada now has 4 women in the world's top 50, and much more.

Nick Sachvie ran through the men's open draw of the 2017 Canadian National Squash Championships without dropping a single game; practically of unheard since the days of Jonathan Power. He's in Calgary this week defending that very title and he was generous enough to chat with the In Squash Podcast about his best pro year to date, 2017, the Cornell years, playing the French general at the 2017 World Team Championships, and much more.