Ghosting

In any sport, and most certainly in squash, “ghosting” is such an important exercise. While ghosting the player practices the correct movement without the hassles of the racquet and the ball. Just watch my favorite ghosting supermodel, my son, at the age of 7 (he is much older now, and that is Court 2 at Squash Olaias which is coincidently now much newer). He doesn’t have the responsibility to return a ball, so he moves confidently to the corners of the court.

The most difficult thing about ghosting is having the player really imagining every move as if he/she is actually playing. My students are startled when I tell them “Eyes on the imaginary ball!”. I don’t want them running to back wall without always looking at the ball. Am I taking this visualization exercise a bit too far? I don’t think so, but Jose Mourinho would probably disagree. He was the one who once told a journalist that every exercise his team perform includes a ball. See below quote to see how strongly he feels about this.

"A great pianist doesn't run around the piano or do push ups with his fingers. To be great, he plays the piano. ...being a footballer is not about running, push-ups or physical work generally. The best way to be a great footballer is to play." José Mourinho

In my company Xolyd we have juniors ghosting seniors. ERP and CRM are consulting assignments for senior people. You cannot just have a junior discussing financial control with a CFO, or how a Sales Manager must handle the weekly sales meeting, and the typical consulting team comprised of a senior, 2 juniors and 4 cubs simply does not work.

Juniors pick up fast all the non-technical abilities. Soon they mimic in meetings the behaviors of the senior they ghosted. But they struggle with keeping the eyes on the ball. Always maintaining the focus on getting things done, following methodologies instead of instincts, keeping deadlines, overseeing quality, protecting budget. That is when the Senior must remember them “Keep your eyes on the ball!”.