When I hit the perfect-length rail shot to his backhand, I thought that I had Gregory Gaultier scrambling.
In real-time, I analyzed his options. He could hit a straight drive or go for a cross-court flick. Either way, I assumed that it had to be a defensive shot. In my mind, an attacking kill shot was not an option from that position. I was definitely in a commanding position and had put Gregory Gaultier on the defensive. All I needed to do was close out the point.
But then, I was sparring with Gregory Gaultier, the General. He didn’t win forty tour titles by letting his sparring partners show him up.
Let me give you some context.
A few years ago, Gregory Gaultier was in Toronto, Canada, to play in the Cambridge Cup (Canada Cup) squash tournament. The Cambridge cup used to be an exhibition-style tournament at that time, and Gaultier needed a sparring partner the morning of one of his matches. When I was asked to stand in, I was excited. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to train with someone of Gregory Gaultier’s stature and skills.
Ironically, I kept the legend waiting.
At the time I lived in a suburb of Toronto and worked in the city. As luck would have it, my usual 30-minute train ride into the city turned into a 45-minute trip due to some track issues. I didn’t have his contact information, which meant that I couldn’t even let him know of the delay.
As I ran into the Cambridge club sweating, I apologized profusely for my unplanned tardiness. “No problem,” he said as he magnanimously waved off my apologies. I quickly changed and jumped on the court. The sprint from the station to the club had helped; I was already warmed up.
The session began lightly. Some boast drives, then rotating length shots on both sides.
As we moved into a length game, all appeared well. I was working at 85% while Gaultier was at 50%, maybe.
At that point, Gaultier suggested adding another shot to the length game. The kill shot. If either of us could hit a kill shot and put the ball away, it would still count as a point. Some of you may know that the kill shot is one of Gregory Gaultier’s most formidable weapons.
This is where my wall-hugger rail shot to his backhand comes into play.
I distinctly remember the sequence, which has forever since been etched in my mind. In my view, I had hit the perfect length shot. It was deep, close to the wall, and was likely to die in the back-court corner. I sure had Gregory Gaultier scrambling. The best he could do was to get the ball back in play to buy time.
As I watched with my head turned, he took a deep lunge in an open stance (on his left leg) towards the back-left corner, just behind the service box. As if it was the most normal thing to do, he hit a cross-court kill with better accuracy than I could have hit from a feed!
I was caught entirely off guard. I was cheating to the back left, and the ball died with its second bounce in the front right of the court, before the short line.
The experience was humbling.
Let me put that in perspective.
At that time, I was a pretty decent player – top 10 in the province, probably top 20 in the country. In my mind, the shot he hit was impossible from that position. It was humbling to admit that I likely couldn’t hit it as well as he had, even if I was solo hitting and feeding myself the ball.
What he did was alien to me. I literally didn’t have that template in my brain. Talk about levels!
Let me reinforce my point.
The world number two ranked player (at that time), barely going at 50%, hits an impossible-looking winning shot from a defensive position. It’s a shot that is not in my repertoire. All this happened in a length game with only one shot option – the kill shot.
I have often wondered how a complete match with him would have turned out. He had more pace, more aggression, and more shot options. I have a sneaky suspicion that it wouldn’t have been fun for either of us.
When I say it was a humbling experience, I mean it.
Sparring with Gregory Gaultier brought to light the substantial difference in our levels. Without bragging, I would confidently say that I am no slouch on the court. However, I have no qualms about admitting that the top PSA players take it to another level which sometimes is mind-boggling.
If you have questions, please reach out to me at ahad@arproformance.com, or leave a comment below. Feel free to message me if you are interested in hearing about my training system or other squash and mental fitness-related topics.
- Sparring with Gregory Gaultier – A Humbling Experience - April 25, 2021
- I Spent Three years As a Professional Squash Athlete - March 31, 2021
