STRUCTURE

MTACADEMY is a long term, progressive coaching programme consisting of the following stages:

Mini Rackets Squad (For ages 4-7) - Fundamental movement and motor skills, with an emphasis on FUN!

Development Squad (For ages 5-18) - Learn the game in a fun and sociable environment whilst working through the wristband skills challenges. Play matches against friends and compete in our Grand Prix Competitions. 

Performance Squad (For ages 5-18) - Develop your technique, ball control & movement in more detail with greater focus on performance. These squads are for players looking to take their squash more seriously and compete in external competitions. 

Elite Squad (For ages 14-18) - For elite juniors - Emphasis on performance, tactics, and fitness, to become the best player you can be.

PHILOSOPHY

The philosophy of MTACADEMY is largely based around fun, with 2 main goals. The first is to build large groups of players who develop a love and passion for the game. The second is to develop the skills and technique of our players to allow them to become the best players they can be. 

We want to create squash players for life so we keep our juniors engaged in fun sessions, whilst developing them as a player to direct them through our player pathway. 

We value the technical development of our players, with an emphasis on attacking play, ball control, and creative shot making.  A combination of structured solo practice, routines, conditioned games and free play are used to produce a balance between improving ball control within specific areas of the court and encouraging creativity and attacking shot making in full court gameplay.

Starting at a young age, our players develop 5 fundamental core skills which form the MTACADEMY wristband skill challenges. These challenges require an enormous amount of practice and determination to master, giving players the motivation to practice until they can be repeated with great consistency, at very high speeds. Although many of these skills challenges are not directly performed in squash, they provide players with the ability to manipulate the racket head to control the ball from various angles, heights and areas of the court. This high level of skill with the racket, means MTACADEMY players have great control over the ball giving them the ability to hit all types of shots, from all areas of the court. 

Along with improving ball control, our skill challenges are also used to encourage correct technique. Each core skill requires certain technical characteristics which are crucial for a player to succeed. This provides players with the technical tools needed to progress, before the addition of tactical and physical elements of the game. 

Throughout a junior players formative years, we focus on their technical execution and shot making. Between the ages of 5-16, a players motor control improves greater than at any other time in life. Therefore, MTACADEMY focus on developing these fine and gross motor skills during this crucial time, with a smaller amount of time dedicated to improving the tactical elements of the game. These tactical aspects become much more important later on in a players development when the fundamental skills are in place. 

WRISTBAND SKILL CHALLENGES

The 5 core skills:

Drives
Volleys
Hand-eye co-ordination / fast hands
Drop shots
Foot work / movement

Children work their way through the skills challenges for each wristband level. We track players progress and give them short and long term goals to work towards. Each wristband consists of 5 core skills, each with 3 skill challenges. These challenges require huge amounts of practice, dedication and determination to master. Player’s inevitably experience difficulty with certain challenges, this teaches them to be resilient, stay positive and to keep working hard towards their goal. This is crucial for a player to work their way up to the white wristband. 

The wristbands increase in difficulty, starting with the yellow band and progressing all the way through to the white band. A player who has been awarded the white band would be playing at a very high level and well on their way to becoming a professional squash player.

The order of the bands are: 

Yellow - Green - Purple - Red - Black - White