Franklin: I don't want to show any emotion or pain when playing

Turning pro remains high on Micah Franklin’s agenda for the New Year.

And if all goes accordingly the promising teenaged squash player intends to be rubbing shoulders with some of the world’s elite as early as next summer.

Franklin, 18, will take the first steps towards realizing a dream of playing professionally during an intensive training stint in Holland with the Dutch national team — starting early in the new year.

He will then assess his game to determine whether or not he’s physically and mentally prepared for the cut and thrust of professional squash following his three-month training stint in Holland.

Franklin demonstrated his wealth of potential at last year’s senior and junior Caribbean Championships. He finished runner up in the junior event and 12th in the senior championships to help team Bermuda capture the gold medal.

The promising athlete attributes his success last year to dedication to training.

He said: “I have been training really hard, both on the court and in the gym, and I feel it’s beginning to pay off.”  

Franklin now intends to make the most of his opportunity to broaden his horizons in Holland.

He said: “I’m hoping it will improve my game tremendously so that I can make it to the pros. In Bermuda there’s a limit in seeing how far you can go, but I think being in another country and getting a perspective from world-renowned coaches is going to help my game considerably.”

In order to be competitive at the professional level Franklin knows there are key elements of his game that must be enhanced.

He said: “The fitness at the pro level is unbelievable because these guys can stay on court for three -hours with non-stop running and so my first goal is to be as fit as I can get and stay on court as long as I can.

“Fitness is going to be the first priority for me to get to because the pros take it up a notch.”

Mental

Franklin also intends to place heavy emphasis on the mental side of his game.

He said: “My second goal is to keep my head on court and not get frustrated so easily. It’s going to require focus when I go on court and I need to make sure my head is right and that I’m not going on court to just exercise.

“Squash is maybe about fifty per cent fitness and fifty per cent mental and so I want to take my mental game as far I can as well. I want to stay straight faced the whole game and don’t show any emotion or pain or signs of being tired, because my opponents will feed on that.

“I also want to work on my shots every day and spend as much time on court everyday as I can. I want to go on court to work, work, work until I have no energy left.”