I hate playing “That” player. I never can beat “That” player. “That” player is a problem for me. 

Do you have a particular opponent whom you have difficultly playing well against, even a friend perhaps, or someone who just gives you fits to play? 

The term many use to describe this kind of opponent is a “Bogey Player.” 

The Bogey player opponent gets in “our head” and prevents us from playing our best. Does that mean you can’t beat the Bogey player? Of course not. It does mean though you need to clear out your mindset ahead of time in order to turn the bogey player into just “a squash player”.

How can we do this? 

I was watching a Women’s PSA Silver match at the time between two, top-20 players both named Olivia, Weaver and Clyne. These American players are good friends and Olivia Weaver is a type of Bogey player for Olivia Clyne whom she has trouble playing well against. 

What did Olivia Clyne do before the match? She created a match mindset that allowed her to think of her opponent as just “Player B.” She then focused on just her strengths against this“Player B”. She said, I am capable of beating “Player B” as long as I play my game. Olivia Clyne won the match and her match mindset was a big reason why. 

Ali Farag has a match mindset that unhooks his mind from feeling any extra pressure from playing any certain player. He goes into his matches thinking, “Anyone is capable of beating me. Yet, I am capable of beating anyone no matter who.” That’s a great way to neutralize our mind’s baggage around playing a certain player and it has helped Farag become the #1 men’s player in the world. 

So, what is your pre-match mindset? What, you don’t have one? If you don’t set your mind ahead of time, who will? You guessed right, your opponent. Do you want your opponent in your head while you are playing? A mindset is a set of assumptions we have and make. 

The mindset centers around our views, opinions, and beliefs about ourselves, others, and our environment/surroundings. A good prematch mindset should get you to focus on things you can control like your effort, help get your mind at least to a neutral state, and should be short to be easily remembered and repeatable. 

Spend a few minutes now and create your match mindset. Then bring it to mind BEFORE you step on the court for your match and see how much more in neutral you can play. 

About Todd Corbin

Professional speaker, best-selling author, certified coach, mindfulness teacher, avid runner and pickleball player. 

Works with the Yale U men's and women's squash teams and many other student-athletes and sports coaches from around the US and world.

shares his wisdom for staying present and grounded, enhancing performance, increasing resilience and emotional/mental mastery, and reducing stress and anxiety.

Todd at the 2024 National Collegiate Squash Championships and with Yale U Squash women's and men's teams.

© In The Moment, LLC * www.toddcorbin.com * todd@toddcorbin.com