On a day when many athetes from around the country meet to attend ‘Sports Personality of the Year’, one uninvited sportsman completed one of the most successful years possible in his field. In winning the Punj Lloyd PSA Masters, beating James Willstrop in the final, Nick Matthew added the icing on the cake, to his best year in squash.
Todays match was a demonstration of why Matthew has had so much success over the past two years, a display of disciplined, intense and physical squash. Matthew once again found himself pitted against his Yorkshire rival, the talented James Willstrop, and again Matthew was able to dominate by asserting his physical superiority.
Matthew has been able to counter Willstrop's shot making with the physical pressure he can apply on his Yorkshire rival
Matthew’s winning formula appears to be born out of a plan put together by himself and his support team, conceived of during his lay off with a serious shoulder injury a few years ago. Although Matthew was unable to hit a ball, he was able to train his legs, and therefore set himself outrageously ambitious targets regarding fitness, without tournaments to hinder his regime. I recently watched Nick give an interview for ’sporting mentors’ in which he gives an interesting insight into his recovery from injury, and the beginning of a journey which took him to the world no.1 spot. The impression left is that Matthew understands that there is no single key to being a champion, and he appears to get the less tangible aspects around sporting performance, the pyschology, the preparation etc.
To get where he has, Matthew’s game has improved in all areas but it is clear that it is the physical aspect which has excelled the most. There could possibly be a comparison with Nadal, in that he grinds his opponents down. Matthew’s game is characterised by holding a remarkably high ‘T’ position, and always looking to intercept with a volley, especially on the forehand side. This creates pressure on the opponent, the like of which no-one else has been able to apply better than Matthew for a while now.
Matthew’s insight tells us a lot about the scheduling of the PSA tour, and that whilst winning tournaments is the only way to the top, it is not neccessarily conducive to longevity, something which is becoming ever more clear, with a growing list of injuries at the top.
Nick Matthew, and James Willstrop along with many other players, come from a sport which does not yet have enough recognition and with it the financial rewards, which I believe makes succeeding on the tour ever harder. I also believe that Nick could teach half the people gathered in Birmingham tonight a thing or two about success.
Nick Matthew’s interview can be seen at Sports Meets
