Malaysian squash players seek extra edge with use of mental coaches

KUALA LUMPUR – Over time, sports have become increasingly competitive, with participants striving to gain even the slightest advantage.

Besides focusing on court preparation, athletes now also strive to mentally prepare themselves with the assistance of psychologists or mental coaches.

As squash is poised to be included in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, Malaysia is eagerly eyeing the coveted gold medal from the world’s largest sporting event.

However, achieving this goal is no easy feat, as every nation also aspires for the gold medal.

The four-year plan devised by the Youth and Sports Ministry, in collaboration with the National Sports Council and the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia, shortlists four players under the Road to Gold fast-track programme, namely S. Sivasangari, Ng Eain Yow, as well as siblings Aifa and Aira Azman.

This initiative not only focuses on providing individual grants for training equipment, recovery services, medical and sports science support, and overseas training exposure, but also offers specialised technical expertise, particularly from mental coaches, to help the athletes absorb the immense pressure of competing at the highest level.

The effectiveness of having a mental coach should not be underestimated, as it has proven successful, for instance when Sivasangari made history by winning the London Classic last March with the assistance of mental trainer Jesse Engelbrecht.

Therefore, Eain Yow, currently ranked 13th in the world, also feels that athletes in today’s era not only need a coach for physical training but also require a mental coach to prepare their psychology before competing.

“If you look at my progress in this season as well, you can see that at the start of the year especially, I have two bad results. I started to work closely with my coach (Shaun Moxham), he is not only my squash coach, but also my mental coach. 

“He has done a great job in changing my perspective on how I see the events. So at this stage, every percentage helps in terms of performance. We need all the help we can get because at the top level – top 15, top 10 in the world – everyone is training very hard.

“So every advantage that we can gain, or every extra percentage that we can achieve, is an advantage over other players.

“I think that, besides England, Malaysia is at the forefront in terms of using mental coaches and psychologists to help us perform.

“And I think after the first two matches where I performed poorly, I went back to my coach. We didn’t talk about squash because we know that my squash performance improves when my mental game is in the right place,” said Eain Yow, who clinched his first PSA World Tour title at the German Open last April.

The national squash team, based in Kuala Lumpur, continue to be supported by psychologists from the National Sports Institute (NSI).

Aira, a former junior world runner-up, values the presence of psychologists to help her face major championships because, as an athlete, she does not shy away from dealing with nervousness.

“Being the youngest, I find it a bit challenging transitioning from the juniors to a professional career and playing on tour, which makes me feel nervous.

“But I think I’m managing well because I have (Lim) Jin Xuan, an NSI psychologist, who has been helping me a lot since I finished my junior career last year. Having your psychologist is important; someone you can talk to to help you prepare well for matches. Especially during the Asian Games last year, I was a bit nervous because I was the youngest and wanted to perform well.

“She was there the entire time, and I’m thankful for that,” she added. – July 16, 2024