MEET A PRO - 5

If any of you ever watch the PSA videos for “shots of the month”, you will regularly see this veteran professional in contention. At the ripe young age of 37, he joined the PSA tour way, way back in 1999. He won the British National Championships in 2011 beating the then world number one and reigning world champion Nick Matthew in the final, and was a member of the English team that won the 2013 world championships. He reached a career high of 9 in the world in April of 2010, and was in the world’s top 20 continuously from November 2009 to September 2018 - except for one solitary month where he dropped to 21 in May 2016 - a remarkable 106 of 107 months. Currently ranked 26, he’s squash's version of poetry in motion, a one-man highlight reel…

MEET… DARYL SELBY

The Squash Joint (TSJ): G’day mate! Thank you for taking your time to answer these questions and welcome to Detroit (virtually) and the Squash Joint! You have been on the PSA tour for many years. How has your approach / methods to training changed over the years from when you were a teen to now in your later end of the 30’s? 

Daryl Selby (DS): Firstly thanks to The Squash Joint for asking me the questions and showing a bit of interest in Bobby the Dazzle. I’ve been on tour 17 years, was on for 2 months and then went to university, and then started again at 21. Training has definitely changed, the rise of the Egyptians has made the game faster and more dynamic. The days of me going and smashing out a load of 400’s has gone because I don’t need to stay on court for that hour and a half length based games. It’s led to me doing a lot more speed sessions and speed endurance. That isn’t to say the game is any less physical though – I would even say that the stress it puts on your body is higher now but it definitely hits you differently.

TSJ: In February this year while playing a tournament, you copped a squash ball in the eye. A freak accident in the pro squash world to be sure. You have now vowed to wear eye-guards for all your future matches. Was it a difficult thing to get used to playing with and do you think wearing eye-guards should be made mandatory for all amateurs and /or professionals world wide? 

DS: Yeah mate, got the ball in the eye at the nationals in February. Complete freak accident, Ive spent thousands and thousands of hours on court and never even come close to it. Obviously with kids and stuff I don’t want to take that risk anymore, eyesight is so important and not having it would restrict me in so many ways. I started looking around for eyewear to get the best pair I could and was so lucky to find a specialist company called “Ria”. Their eyewear is top, top class, the lenses are really good, far better than anything I’ve ever seen before. They aren’t paying me or anything and I’m not doing anything for them they genuinely are the ultimate glasses. They don’t mist or fog up and the lens quality is stunning, I think the fogging was always the problem in the past but these are brilliant I don’t even realize they are on. I never have to take them off and wipe them during the game. I’ve worn them for every PSA event after and it has had no impact on my events, I’ve beaten Joel Makin in them and almost got Momen wearing them so yeah, I really don’t see why everyone can’t wear them. It’s just hard to make something mandatory because people hate change but it protects people and saves eyesight so I think everyone should wear them.

TSJ: I saw on social media that you reached 100 on the frame challenge. Stu and I did this for our members and almost jumped in front of a truck with the frustration this caused us. Did you find this relatively easy and how much practice did you need to get to the triple digits?  

DS: Yeah the old frame challenge and trick shots in general I love because it is like a process. If you go on youtube and type in “dudeperfect” those guys do trick-shots in a lot of different sports and I've listened to them a lot. I love the trials and tribulations of a trick-shot, because you go from being so far away to being so close and eventually getting it. I love creating the trick-shot and then going through. It took me about 2 hours total to get to 100, I started it and went from getting 10 or 20 and eventually got to 50. Once I got there I managed to get to 80-90 once or twice and then broke 100 after that. Crazy you think I practiced 2 hours and went from nothing to being able to consistently get 100 after that. No wonder you guys found it difficult it is a really tough one.

TSJ: You reached a career high of 9 in the world and have beaten players in the top 5 - such as Nick Matthew, Mohamed El Shorbagy, Tarek Momen. Clearly you are capable of going toe-to-toe with the best. What do you think sets apart the players who are capable of reaching the top 10 to the ones who plateau just outside the top 20?

DS: It’s a tricky one because there is such finite margins from being a top quality player in the 20’s to breaking in the top 10. At the top of the game it really is about bettering yourself in each area by 1%. As I touched on a bit earlier in the trick-shots, a lot of it is about belief. A lot of the guys out of the top 20 have never beaten a guy in the top 5 for example and therefore they can’t get to that next hurdle. Once you’ve beaten a guy in the top 5, you know you can do it and you know that they deserve their ranking and they belong there. That gives you so much self-belief and often it runs from there because next time you play a top 5 player you know that you are good enough to actually beat them. Always you need to beat the guys below you and then start looking to take some scalps above you. I’d say a lot of them are fit and need to develop their skillset or vice versa, everyone in the top 20 has one or the other so its about developing the individual game to make those inroads into top of the sport. The top 5 guys are so good at wearing people down so the lower guys need to make sure they have the gas tank to match them.

TSJ: The Egyptians are currently dominating squash and it looks like they will be for the foreseeable future. Do you think this is bad or good for squash? Which of the current top Egyptians do you find most difficult to play? 

DS: I don’t think its good for the game, I think a few of the Egyptians have even said that in interviews. We need a variety of nations and players at the top to make it interesting. That isn’t to take anything away from the Egyptians or their quality coaching system which is clearly working very well. For the enjoyment of the fans we need different cultures, different personalities etc, to get fans across the world more heavily involved. If you have Diego Elias or Paul Coll in a major final you’ll have people from Peru or New Zealand tuning it. Just because they are Egyptian doesn’t mean they are all the same - they have different swings and personalities - but you want people from different countries supporting their players.

2^nd part of that question: Do you know what? I don’t necessarily find the Egyptians hard to play. I find them hard to beat. Mohamed El Shorbagy, Ali Farag and Tarek Momen aren’t hard to play or are even in the same ball park as the guys like Amr Shabana, Greg Gaultier and Ramy Ashour and I was playing them when I was a better player. I say “better player” more when I was higher ranked. I’d say my all round game is the best its ever been now but I’m 38 so not as physically able. Obviously all of those guys have fantastic qualities but I would say the most difficult to play is Mazen Hesham just because of his strange technique and he is incredibly skillful. He doesn’t give you any rhythm which is something I really like. The guys like Mohammed or Ali still give you rhythm which means I don’t find them anywhere near as tough to play against. Another one I find very awkward is Fares Dessouky, I have only played him a couple times so haven’t had time to work him out yet.

TSJ: Tell us your favorite…

1. Squash hero when you were a junior? Peter Nicol or Amr Shabana
2. Non-squash sporting hero now? The Fed, Messi, Rory McIlroy
3. All-time movie? Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels
4. Vacation destination? Sunny beach, Maldives
5. Shot to play on a squash court? It’s got to be anything through the legs don’t it?
6. Couch snack? If you have a beer with it, crisps

TSJ: For any reason, which one:

1. Jahangir or Jansher? Jansher
2. Geoff Hunt or Jonah Barrington? Jonah
3. Karim Gawad or Ali Farag? Farag
4. Sarah Fitzgerald or Nicol David? Sarah
5. Nick Matthew or James Willstrop? Nick
6. Peter Nicol or Jon Power? Nicol
7. Nour El Sherbini or Raneem El Welily? Raneem
8. Thierry Lincou or Greg Gaultier? Greg
9. Ramy Ashour or Mohamed El Shorbagy? Ramy
10. Roger Federer or Rafa Nadal? Federer

TSJ: What does life after the PSA tour look like for Daryl Selby? 

DS: Hopefully still be involved in sports. I have a sports management company going - “Dynamic 7” - where we manage athletes in other sports. A bit of coaching would be good, I like guiding and directing younger athletes and helping them enjoy the sport so that they can get the most out of themselves.

TSJ: Complete these sentences. Feel free to elaborate!

1. The worst movie I ever paid to watch in the cinema was… Hot Fuzz, Nightmare before Christmas
2. The one song I can’t help but to sing along with is… Bohemian Rhapsody
3. The one thing in life I haven’t yet done but would like to is… Skiing or snowboarding
4. My greatest pet peeve is… People with no manners, lack of consideration – parking
5. The one famous person I would love to have dinner with is… Tiger Woods, Maradona, Obama – Yeah actually I’m going Barak
6. The fastest speed I have been in a car is… 323kph on the autobahn (200 mph), Audi RS6+ one of 150 made and it was a rocket…

TSJ: During your career, have there been any unexpected obstacles that you have had to overcome? 

DS: Not really to be honest. Not having a coach and logistically living a bit out of the way meant I trained a lot by myself but nothing major I would say.

TSJ (Stu): Daryl, over the years I've followed your career very closely as you played for my team at St. Georges Hill. I was very influenced by Tom Richards as a junior and copied his style. One thing in particular that he said to me was "pace is everything". When I watched you play I noticed you didn't volley as much and played in a slower, more methodical rhythm. In the early days you also didn't take the ball short as much compared to a lot of the other guys. What did you like about this play style and what do you think made it so effective?

DS: Haha! That’s a classic Tom Richards comment that - "pace is everything" - haha!. Yeah, I play slower for sure. I think you need accuracy, Tom to be fair, plays fast and he is able to combine that with accuracy. But for me, changing the pace of the game and the subtleties of slow to fast and high to low helps having that bit of delay on your swing. Chucking up a lob sometimes stops your opponent from knowing what is happening and slows them down, making them quite uncomfortable, so in my opinion it’s a more effective way to play.

I didn’t take the ball short as much in the early days, that’s the way I was taught by Neil Harvey between the ages of 14-19 to have a fantastic base length game with a little bit of variety. It did make me very hard to beat but not necessarily hard to play. I think the way the games has changed has meant I always had that in my locker and was able to build stuff on top of it. I don’t think I have the worlds softest touch but I can do a lot with my hands, a lot of spin or changing the direction of the ball at the last minute with my wrist. As I’ve got older I’ve had to use that to still be able to compete.

TSJ (Stu): People always talk about Mohamed El Shorbagy or Nick Matthew as being the toughest players out there mentally, but there is a solid case to be made for you to be right in  there with them.  I remember in 2010 you had just gone on a run of events in Canada that would propel you into the top 10 for the first time where I believe, you came runner up to Thierry Lincou then beat LJ Anjema and maybe Hisham Ashour in the other tournaments. You then flew back to England and the same day miraculously beat current world champion Tarek Momen, looking like a jet-lagged zombie in an epic 5 gamer. The next year you beat Tom Richards in round one, 11-9 in the fifth after he saved 14 match balls and you are one of only two players to ever beat Nick Matthew on PSA from 2-0 down. On top of all that, I have never seen you do anything outside of the rules to win which I can't say for most of these guys with reputations of being ferocious competitors. Can you speak a bit to your toughness but fair playing style and how you have consistently won matches in difficult circumstances over the years?

DS: That’s a good effort, Stu! Blimey, haha, you have a better memory than I do! Think you’re spot on there, though, I remember that run of tournaments in Canada that took me into the top 10 and I think you’ve nailed those results. Oh yeah, that’s true that I beat Momen that day. I mean I've come back from 8-0  and 10-5 down in the fifth a few times, against Nikki Mueller and Greg Marche. But yeah, I will always teach kids and I will always expect from my kids to never give up on anything and to fight right until the end. I always believe on giving it all because it is never over until the handshake. It’s nice of you to notice the mental toughness mate. I do make sure I always play within  the rules but I definitely push the limits of it with gamesmanship and talk to my opponents to put them of, but I always make sure that I do it in the right way and just within the rules!

TSJ (Stu): You beat Nick Matthew in the final of the British nationals in 2011 and in your post match interview, you mentioned your work rate that day was a fair bit above his that day. Given he was one of the most physical players of the modern era I am wondering what was your game-plan that day and how on earth you managed to not only keep sight of it, but keep your discipline and execute it so well under such extreme physical duress?

DS: I always try to remember that British nationals final. I’m very disappointed England Squash lost the recording of that British final so I can’t watch it back to know what happened. I only have a few memories of the fifth and winning which I am trying to cling on to. Physically I was in great shape and I don’t remember much of it other than the last few points. Not having the tape is one of the saddest things of my career but I guess a lot of guys in the old days had to just remember their best matches from their own memories. I really just wish that I had the tape because like I said I don’t remember too much of it.

TSJ (Stu): You were well known in your prime for hitting a great length and absorbing pressure like a sponge thus being extremely difficult to break down.  I feel as your career wore on you became much more unorthodox and more of a shot player. For example, we regularly see you winning PSA “Shot of the Month”! Why did you evolve your game like that and do you ever wish that you had done it a little bit sooner? 

DS: I wish I had expanded my game earlier, but when you’re in your 20’s, you are fit and strong and just want to play a tough physical game. To an extent though, what got me in the top 10 was playing a hard physical game. I wasn’t playing all the flashy shots back then, I was just playing a brutal length game. As you get older the skillset and knowledge improves, it is about finding that peak where your physicality and skillset both peak at the same time.

 TSJ: I am sure you have had some memorable night outs with the lads during tournaments over the years. Care to indulge us a little on one of the more noteworthy - or dare I say ‘infamous’ - evenings?

DS: Haha! YESSSS! Nights out with the lads, Stu you’ve been on tour, you know how it is. The tour is a much busier schedule now, though back in the day going out after you lost was always part of it but I don’t always have the time for it now. Most of my craziest nights out were with the English or the Aussie guys. Peter Barker, Cam Pilley, Nick Matthew and Adrian Grant were always good for it but to be honest I can’t think of any stories that are suitable for a nice family podcast haha!

Fantastic stuff from a world class athlete and world class personality. Hopefully Daryl has heavy involvement in the world of squash after his playing career, maybe he should also try to get a some commentating gig? His insights would certainly be tremendously valuable and no doubt entertaining. We look forward to when the PSA tour resumes and can start to again watch one of the most enjoyable players to grace the squash court.