Let's Talk Racquetball

Hall of Fame speeches! Each year one to three folks are inducted into the Hall of Fame. I guess now that there are so many halls of fame I should delineate the USAR Hall of Fame. This is for indoor racquetball, and excellence of age groups, contributors and athletes. I have been thinking about the speeches which reflect the different personalities of all the people inducted. One thing really really stands out to me is the love and passion of racquetball. Each day thousands of people are introduced to this game but only a handful fall in love with the …

  File this one under “Everybody is an expert”. I recently ran into a situation that explains the difference between an amateur coach and an expert coach. Coach had an athlete playing another athlete with an unbelievable backhand. Coach had his athlete serve almost every serve to the opponent’s forehand because logically the forehand was weaker than the backhand. This is a mistake that many amateur coaches make. A few things to dwell on. First, a great athlete can over-come amateur coaching. This one almost did. Second, if the athlete has confidence in the coach, the athlete will succeed. (See …

    Return of serve stance and start. I get this a lot. A wide stance keeps you low on the ball on return of serve. Yes, if the ball is within your reach or stride. If not, you will be in no position to return a serve offensively. So to me the wide stance thing is misunderstood by many well-meaning athletes and players. Since you have to move to return serve, rather than start with a wide stance, start with a comfortable stance, “split step” to a wider stance and get moving! What is wrong with a defensive return …

  Keep your opponent under pressure! Time outs in Racquetball are an art form. Scenario-you are winning and your opponent calls a timeout to regroup. Time is now in and we are ready to continue and you are serving. This is an opportunity to put your opponent away. If you can win these next rallies it proves to an opponent that a timeout does not stop the the train coming down the tracks!! So your serve should not be a serve that an opponent can kill and get the serve immediately back. Your serve should err on the side of …

  It seems like a simple thing but it is not. Keep your upper body over your lower body. Say what? Okay–you should not be bending forward at the waist to get to a shot. This puts you off balance. Arch your lower back, stay straight and centered. Your movement will be much better. How in the world can you practice this? Do the old star drill. Head to center court, and then proceed to sprint up right to a few feet from the front wall and execute a shadow swing, then backpedal to center court and repeat the process …

  Another day in the life of Coach Winterton– I am going over video with one of my athletes and the topic of shot selection comes up. I am noticing something at crucial points in the match. Now stay with me out there in racquetball land because this is important. The left corner pinch is attempted from 37 feet in back-court. The shot is left up and the opponent eventually wins the rally. I asked my player why that shot? Response: I am a good player and I should be able to make that shot all day. I do in …

  Questions for Up and Coming Players 101. I am seeing more and more players out there taking a left turn when they should be staying straight on their path up. Surrounding yourself with the correct group of people will take your game will to the top. Surround yourself with the wrong people and your game will plateau! Yes, you are improving and yes, you have great dreams. You will find you will have new friends. These are people who seem nice and will offer you Free advice, and coaching. So here are some rules for you to remember: 1. …

You need a coach? Or a cheerleader? I have been fortunate to only have had this happen about 3 times in the last 45 years but I have had a few athletes who were not happy with my coaching. One of these athletes ended up with three coaches. Coach one had no idea what I was preparing this athlete for. Coach one prepared this athlete in a way I never would have. When I tried to explain what I was doing, he did not understand. Coach Two had no idea how to game plan or help the athlete in competition. …

Training tips!! Many players are posting their training on facebook. Some of it is very good and some of it scares me! Here are a few observations of video sessions I that scare me. 1. Many of the trainers do not understand footwork. You might be training for shallow crossover steps while picking up objects. You will get better at shallow crossover steps and picking up objects, but there is not much transfer to racquetball skills. 2. Your trainer believes you must do depth jumps; on boxes; stacked on top of each other. Your trainer is risking career ending injuries …