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Neil Harvey
Ever heard the statement: "he would have been a champion even if he had
my grandmother as a coach" ?
Well, that seems to be the destiny of many coaches. When the player fails,
it's because the coach is not up to it. When the player makes it to number
one, the coach has nothing to do with it.
Right.
So, let's try and learn a bit more about Neil Harvey, the man who
has been coaching, advising, helping and supporting Peter Nicol for more
than 10 years now.
He is based in a very typical British Squash Club in the middle of the
woods of Chingford, North East of London.
First, let's talk with the
man himself, then look at the
organisation of his "group", as he calls it, and then, let's
concentrate on the
players.
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PART 1: Neil
Harvey -
Player and Coach |
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PART
2: Organisation -
Training Techniques |
PART 3:
The Players
Nicol, Garner, et al |
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Part 3:
The Players
NEIL'S CHECKLIST:
What are the qualities you look for
when evaluating a player?
In my mind, I have got a sort of check list of about 5 or 6 different things.
The first and probably the most important thing is, is the player prepared
to be reasonably honest with himself. For me, the true person who is going
to make it to the very top is someone who can say yes, I may have a good
standard, even a good ranking, but I could be a lot better. I'm also looking
for someone who has got very fast hands, quick feet, who moves well, also
someone who is obviously very dedicated, very hard working. Attitude is
everything. I'm looking to see if he's got attention to detail, if he looks
at things in a very detailed way, or if it's just kind of wishy-washy.
I've
done a lot on the psychology of the game (sports psychology was a large part
of my degree). You know, players come and say: "I want to be pretty good,
and I think I'll do this, this and this." And my answer is, "yes, but HOW do
you do this, this and this, in what kind of detail?" If you say, "I'm going
to train hard this year", it's a very general thing. You have to be much
more specific, and set a program to suit a particular player: where do I
want to be in 3 months, in 6 months, how do I get there, what things do we
need to do, and then, in six months time, you look back and say, well, I've
got there, now, actually, the door is open, I can see what you were saying
about this, this and this. So it evolves continuously. In short, you need to
revaluate your goals all the time.
Quite a list. Anything else?
Preparation. I believe that preparation is everything. I think that a lot of
players are not prepared, and I'm not just talking about on court, I'm
talking about the conditions they are going on play. For example, Pakistan
is a very difficult country to go to for us, because it's so tough mentally
and physically. Most of the Pakistanis don't particularly like travelling
away, they don't play particularly well when they are away, (apart from
Jahangir and Jansher and the older generation) but in their home country,
they are probably 3 times as dangerous as anyone else.
So, if during the
preparation, I can pass my experience as an ex player across to my players,
then I think it gives them a significant advantage. How quickly they get
comfortable means they can then perform their best on that day. If it's good
enough, it's good enough, if it's not, you get back and you start working
again. That's the philosophy we always had. Win or lose, Peter has always
been back down the club, within a day or two, evaluating, setting the next
target.
Let's go back to "attention to details".
How do you determine it?
I'm going to give you an example. Recently, I saw three kids preparing a
sandwich. One kid put just the right amount of butter on his bread, put a
slice of ham he had squared, then he put a slice of tomato, a bit of mayo,
salt, pepper, and cut the sandwich up. The others just slammed everything
on! I have got to say that the reflection was that, from there, I could see
who would do things meticulously. Yes, you need spontaneity, improvisation,
flair, of course, but squash is a much disciplined game, and you've got to
have fundamentally a lot of discipline. I remember Jonah teaching Rodney
Eyles (who at the time, was 16 and training with Joe Shaw) how to make a pot
of tea, and it would take about 15 minutes! Attention to details!
How do you avoid tension between your players?
I try and create a certain atmosphere. We have a lot of fun, a lot of
humour, a lot of Mickey taking. You know, there is such a work ethos within
the group; they have a lot of healthy respect for each other, because they
know everybody is really trying. Also, if I sense when there is a bit of
tension, I'll come out and tell a funny story, or making a bit of fun of the
person who is rising, and if you can make him laugh, the tension goes. We
use humour a lot!
NEIL TALKS ABOUT
THE PLAYERS:
 PETER NICOL
I'm pretty sure that Peter would have found a way to get there with or
without me but I probably saved him a lot of time.
Re-evaluation
Win or lose, Peter has always been back down the club, within a day or two,
evaluating, setting the next target.
Support
When Peter started his career, he only had me as a support, and I only had
him. That made it very difficult for both of us, because he lived with us as
well. It was a big strain of my personal life and everything else, but then
again, I was prepared to make that sacrifice because I had got a player that
I genuinely thought could be the best player in the word. Then he met his
girlfriend, and it was the time my daughter was born so we drifted away for
a while then he came back again, but he had found another outlet for his
emotions which was good, and necessary.
Best memory
It's probably Peter's first victory against Jansher in the final of of Al
Ahram in June 97. There is a lead up to that. In April 97, Peter and Jansher
played the longest final in history of the British Open, 2 hours and twelve
minutes. Peter lost 15/10 in the fifth. But I knew the moment had come, and
that Peter would never lose again against Jansher.
Then I arranged a match
between them here, in Chingford, between the 2 tournaments. Peter beat Jansher 3/1, 17/16 in the 4th. I knew he was going to play him again in of
Al Ahram if he could get past Barada.
It was maybe the most intimidating
situation I've ever seen. Barada had beaten Rodney Eyles the day before in a
filthy match the day before and was playing really really well against
Peter. Peter was handling him very well, and then Barada kicked Peter from
behind (it's actually in the opening credit of the PSA Super Series), and
Peter found himself flat on his back. But Peter handled him so well, and
then he beat Jansher the next day in front of the Pyramids. It was
incredible.
 Longevity
I think it's not so much about the age of the player, it's more the matter
of time he's been doing it. If you look at Janhangir and Jansher, they were
at the top 10, 12 years, it's about the limit. I don't think you can have
much more in you. Peter's problem is not the big tournaments, Peter's
problem is to get up day to day doing the work required to stay at the top.
And as you get older, that becomes increasingly more difficult to do. Peter
is now number one, he thinks he can get away with a lot, and he can, because
he is good, but the other players are hungry….
ONG BENG HEE
Beng Hee has been with me for 6 years, pretty much from the start, and this
boy is getting there, he is really developing. He has been around 7 in the world
ranking, I don't think he is quite there yet, even with his game, the way he
wants to play the game, but he is getting there,. I have sent him to David
Pearson to see if he can help him with his forehand swing, because we have
been doing it for a long time, and I think he is a bit robotic. So he is
gone up there, and he is enjoying the sessions, and the job is to make him a
number one player in the world.
LAURENS ANJEMA
LJ has been training with us for 18 months now. When he first came, it was
obvious to me that his forehand wouldn't sustain certain pressure. I know
that when he gets up to the top level, or even a bit higher, his technique
and his swing are not going to be able to survive. His opponents will make
it so difficult for him in certain areas, and he will start to hit the ball
where they want him to hit it. What I'm trying to do with him is to give him
a framework with which he can still play his game, all his shots, but he can
deal with difficult situations, and get in and out of those situations.
JULIEN BONETAT
He is an amazing guy. A lot of people think he could have been better, but I
don't think so. He was a pleasure to work with, he was so entertaining! He
came here for about 16 months, and he kind of enjoyed the experience, but he
didn't really, his background is so strong. I think he got better here,
because of the environment. I think it gave him a bit of confidence to play
with a lot of the top players. He was a gifted man in a lot of aspects, and
he also taught me that it doesn't have to be that serious all the time. But
he would come at the session at about 11.50, and the session would finish at
12! In 95, he actually forgot to enter the British Open! He blamed me, of
course, but he just forgot to send back the form! So, we got him in as a
qualifier through the SRA. He beat Peter in the first round, got to the
semi-final and he got a game of Jansher. All the French crossed over to
support him, and it was one of the nicest tournaments ever.
THIERRY LINCOU
Although I've never coached him,
I've seen a lot of Thierry recently. He is extremely skilled. Technically,
there is one weakness that comes to mind straight away. Very often, he is
not able to respond to a pressure to length, because of his position. When
he drives the ball on his forehand, he is very open to the front wall,
because he very rarely gets round to the ball to the back corner of the
court. If you are open to the front wall, yes, you've got a lot of disguise
in it, but as you play the ball, the body weight doesn't move forward, the
ball doesn't have any weight on it, so it doesn't travel through in the same
way than when you play it with weight.
If you hit the ball with the arm, it
will go to the front wall, it will bounce, into the back wall, and come off.
If you hit it with weight, it will hit the front wall, a bit lower, it falls
a bit shorter, and it travels through off the floor. In short, as I
mentioned when I was talking about the 120, Thierry doesn't use the upper
body enough. And it leads to a second problem. When you hit the ball only
with the arm, you hit a good shot, but your body weight doesn't carry you to
the T, because your body equilibrium is still over your centre of gravity.
Thierry has got wonderful hand skills, so he still plays wonderful shots,
but it means that he will arrive just a bit late on the T, and he will have
to work just a bit harder for the next volley.
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One of the best games I ever saw was during the match that Thierry played
against Peter during the last Super Series Finals. Peter won the game 15/3,
but it went up to 14/2, and there was not one unforced error from either
player. You know, if the ball was off the wall, Peter finished it. Thierry
didn't give it to him. They were both playing really well.
And at the interval, after that game, close to perfection, what was your
note to Peter?
I just said "That was wonderful".
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WHAT DO THE PLAYERS
HAVE TO SAY ABOUT NEIL?
TIM GARNER
You trained for a long time with Neil Harvey.
When did you start working
with him?
At the beginning of my professional career, I used to drive up into London,
and practice with Peter, at Cannons or at other clubs. He was always
badgering me "you should come up and have some coaching with Neil". I was
having coaching at the time, but I was pretty on my own down in Lingfield.
So I started to train occasionally up there, training with Peter and joining
the group session. Neil and I got on very well very quickly. I have never
been afraid of working hard, you see. I have always been aware of my
limitation as a squash player. I knew I had to work hard. I was never a good
junior, I had to rely on the fact I was a good athlete.
I really enjoyed the
training with Neil, and, as I was starting to establish myself on the world
rankings, I wanted to give myself the best chance possible to improve at
international level. Then, Peter asked me if I would rent a room from him if
he was to buy a place in Chingford. I accepted, thinking that was not about
to happen, as Peter was never getting round to do anything at that time.
Literally, about 3 days later, he called me and said that he bought a place
in Chingford, and asked me when I was moving in! So, in April 95, I moved up
there.
Who is training with Neil at the moment?
Apart from the obvious Peter Nicol, Mohamed Azlan from
Malaysia, who has improved recently immensely, and who is going to get some
pretty good results very soon. I played with him a few times in practice,
and he is doing very well.
Laurens Anjema, a 20 year old player from Holland
(he won in Oklahoma last July), who, as well, has improved
tremendously. He came across as a sort of a two weeks trial period, with
another player from Holland. The other player decided not to pursue the
training, but Laurens did, and came and trained full time. In two years, he
has changed and improved so much, because he is that sort of a player who is
will to work so hard.
In any case, the ones who are not prepared to work so
hard don't last very long anyway!
Neil is also training Ritwik Bhattachayara,
the number one Indian player, ranked 85-90 in the world ranking, who has won
back to back events in New Zealand in August.
Let's not forget Nicolette
Fernandes, from Guyana. She has improved an awful lot as well. You have also
a few players who have dotted in and out over the years.
About Neil's personality, do you understand some of the reservations that
some people have toward him?
Well, yes and no. He is a great person to have in your corner because he
will do whatever he can to hep you succeed first and foremost as a player,
but also as a person. I therefore can understand why, if you are not in his
corner, he can actually rub them on the wrong way, and why they don't like
him, because he is doing his utmost to help you win. In a way, it's part of
his ploy, he can be unsettling for the other side! But to be honest, I don't
think that he wants to be elected Mr Popular. I don't think he is that
worried about what people think about him. Like a lot of people, he is a
very complex character, and he is able to rub people the wrong way by
inattention, and at the same time, do some amazingly generous things, for
his players in particular. He is very much on the look out for bettering
their status.
Is he someone you can talk to?
He is always ready to listen to your problems. The biggest mistake you can
make with Neil I found out over the years is not tell him what the problem
is or was. If you are one the foreign players and that you feel a bit
homesick, you know he is not going to be happy if you want to go on an
extended holiday. But if you talk it through with him it is much better than
if you just not turn up at a session. The same thing if you don't feel able
to come and train after a late night squash match for example, if you call
and ask him for a morning or a day off, not a problem, but he will be very
unhappy if you don't get in touch.
As a player, did you feel that you
benefited from Neil's coaching?
Oh yes! My game improved immensely. I had a few seasons in the best 30s in
the world, my best ranking was 26, and I don't think I would have gone there
without him. I was sort of stuck around 45s in the rankings, and it is one
of the reasons that pushed me to start and work with Neil. He makes you work
very hard, but you will get the rewards from it. I had a couple of very
close matches which, if I look back, could have led me easily in the top 20
in the world, like my match in the world Open in 99 against Dan Jenson in a
very close 5 setter, for example.
In your opinion, what is Neil's best quality as a coach?
One of Neil's biggest strength is that he reads the game better than anybody
in the world. He is one of the best coaches in the world, but in terms of
reading the game of squash as it is being played, I think he is the best in
the world. When he came to an event, I never played badly (well maybe
once!), and every time, I played better than I ever played. The advice he
gives you during a game is spot on every time. You can trust his analysis
completely. He is also excellent at finding the right words to say to you in
between games. Because he has been there when you were doing the hard work
in the sessions, he knows what you are capable of, and he can advise you to
take a certain action knowing full well that you are actually able to
achieve it. He is definitely a great person to have in your corner.
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CHOOSE THREE AREAS THAT HAVE
IMPROVED UNDER NEIL'S COACHING Mohamed Azlan
Iskandar
(Malaysian number 2, world ranking: 29,
was 74 when he started
working with Neil)
1. My technique (all of it!)
2. My mental strength
3. My self discipline
Laurens Anjema
(Netherlands number 2, 20 years old,
world ranking: 42, was 70
in April 2003)
1. My technique (Neil changed it completely, including my racket skills)
2. My mental strength
3. My fitness
Nicolette Fernandes
(Guyana, just joined WISPA, world ranking: 90
been with Neil for just more
than a year)
1. My professionalism
2. My technique (all of it)
3. My physical condition |
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PART ONE
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PART THREE |
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