WHEN Charly Shanks returned to the handball court in the dog days of January, he thought it was gone.
While the country's other leading players were cranking up in a series of pre-championship weekend tournaments, the Clann Eireann man had taken time off to welcome a new arrival, his and wife Mary's third child, Marianne.
“Aye, a wee girl,” he smiles, “great timing, right in the middle of the season!”
The call of the court gradually lured him back and soon he had slung his gear bag over his shoulder again. So long, as the song says, Marianne...
But the ball alley magic produced on the big days in the handball calendar does not happen by chance. The top players are slaves to the lonely hours between those four walls, perfecting their shots through repetition, fine-tuning their touch.
They can lift weights and practise shots endlessly but it's only in the frenzied crossfire of an actual match that they will know where they're at and, in the case of a former champion like Shanks seeking to wear the crown again, if they've still got it.
So, back in January, Shanks hit the road for some friendly games and started to doubt himself.
“Whenever you're playing well, you enjoy playing. But at the start of the year when I was getting back into it, I was driving back up the road after training saying to myself 'Let's call it a day, don't put yourself through this again',” Shanks told The Irish News this week.
“But I persevered and in the last couple of weeks I've started to feel a lot better in the court. Hopefully that carries through now into the championship.”
Shanks meets Tipperary's Ger Coonan this Saturday in the round of 16 in the O'Neill's All-Ireland Senior Singles Championship and he's happy with where his game is at. Sparring sessions with the likes of Martin Mulkerrins, Owen McKenna, Ricky McCann and Brendan Fleming have gone reasonably well but a shoulder strain picked up last week was the last thing he needed.
“I've got a lot of games in. I started to feel good last week, the middle of the week I thought it was coming right and then I played Martin at the weekend and my shoulder... it was not good. I strained it.
“It seems to be the posterior delt, I could have over-stretched it. But it should be all right for the weekend; whether it will last the whole course of the championship is the thing.”
Not that Shanks is over-looking the challenge of Coonan but a win for the Tipp man – who impressed against Galway's Pat Conway last week – would be regarded as a fairly seismic upset.
Should the seeds hold up, Shanks would meet Clare's Colin Crehan – a similarly aggressive, attacking player to himself - in what is certain to be a quarter-final gunfight between two of the best shooters in the draw.
When the smoke clears on that one – if it comes to pass - Shanks believes he will know exactly where he is at.
“I think the top guys have played me a lot and know my game well so even though I didn't play any tournaments recently with the new baby arriving, I won't be coming under the radar. The only one I haven't played is Crehan, I have never played him.
“My game sharpness might have gone down a bit but maybe I will be fresher than other players.
“I won't know till I get into it really. If I get past Coonan this weekend, I will play Crehan and that game will define my championship and what direction it takes.”
Shanks has been on the treadmill for a decade and a half now, since breaking into senior ranks as a skinny kid barely out of his teens. In that time, he has been Irish champion and the number one-ranked player on the American pro tour as well as claiming close to two dozen Open titles in various tournaments.
Having done it all, he could be forgiven for putting his feet up but while his priorities have changed, the fire still burns. At this stage of his career, it's all or nothing.
Send the word – Shanks is back, and he's back to win.
“Look, the motivation definitely dips. When you're younger, you're going at it gung-ho, you want it more than anything. Whereas now, yeah, it would be nice to win another one, I still think back to those two finals against McCarthy, I had two great opportunities to win back-to-back All-Irelands then.
“To win one was great but I want to win another one. That's the motivation to keep playing, to win another one. Nothing more and nothing less.”
* The O'Neill's All-Ireland Senior Singles round of 16 takes place this Saturday at venues around the country. See GAAHandball.ie for more.
