Never Let Good Enough be good enough!

All of my athletes are moving up the chain of excellence. Why? They are doing their homework. But some athletes are more visible because they play pro or open racquetball. So I begin getting messages and emails critiquing the athletes I coach. I do want to thank everyone and offer some advice myself! Dear Advice Givers -here are a four examples of the advice and my response: Coach-Your Athlete- 1. Tries too hard– Response-It may look that way in the games lost but they play pretty much the same all the time. I do think we should have made adjustments. …

  Do not try harder! Say what? Coach, this goes against everything I was taught!! Many moons ago I was enjoying an adult beverage with a friend of mine who I played every week. He said, “I’ll tell you one weakness in your game if you tell me one weakness in mine.” So I proceeded to tell him something I have long forgotten but what he told me I never forgot. He said, “You try too hard. You chase too many shots and at the end of the match or tournament you have nothing left in the tank.” At first …

Five rules for good doubles! 1. Communicate-use calls such as “mine”. “yours”, “Switch” etc. during rallies! 2. Constantly change coverages by adjusting between rallies. Talk to your partner to change coverages. 3. Use the ceiling! Keep opponents behind you. Move them back when you are in the back court. 4. Don’t skip return of serve. Giving an opponent a free point is a no-no! 5. Always put the ball to the weakest partner on the weakest side of the court for your opponents. Make them beat you with their weakest player and side of the court! Free bonus tip: Get …

    Power recipe! Want to improve your game? Get a personal trainer. Make sure it is a good personal trainer. Five Tips for good trainer shopping: 1. They are knowledgable about the demands of racquetball. Will never forget back in my open days a trainer saying “Wow light workout today huh?” I had just finished five games of racquetball and my legs were dead. The trainer had no idea how hard I had worked in those five games. 2. They switch up the workouts. If you know the same thing is coming every day you adapt physically and mentally. …

Oh the shock and horror! A friend shot some video of yours truly playing in a shootout recently. Now I teach this stuff and am pretty good at it, so imagine my shock when I saw what I was doing on the court. I thought the racquet was here, but the racquet was there. I thought my footwork was this but it was that! How many of us are in the same boat? In this day and age a smart phone video segment of five minutes can change your game for the better. My short video showed poor racquet depth, …

Getting paid for what you do is the cornerstone of American society. You would not go into work and tell your boss to not pay you, and you should be paid for your work in racquetball. I do not 100% agree with the volunteer for racquetball mentality. Of course, that probably is not a surprise to many of you since I charge for coaching. Notice I said “not 100%” agree because i do agree with volunteering in these cases: 1. Learning your craft. I logged thousands of hours learning how to coach and charging very little money or no money. …

Okay if I could hire health club police they would arrest: 1. That man or woman who sits on the leg press machine to do 10 sets of 20 with low weights. 2. Add to #1, talks on the phone between and/or during sets. 3. That water fountain hog who brings a gallon jug and fills it with water, oblivious to the 3 people who only want a drink of water. 4. The Racquetball Nature boy who thinks playing without a shirt or deodorant is somehow cool. The next one on the court gets their nostrils cleared fast! 5. The …

Above: Some Awesome National, and World Outdoor and Indoor Champions with team KWM Team Racquetball So I am watching the Womens’ basketball college championships last week and in particular I like to watch UConn because they are well-coached. By now anyone who reads the sport pages knows about the incident between Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley. (for those who do not know, Geno was pretty rude to Dawn over some petty things and the incident smacked of “poor loser syndrome”) Here is my take: 1. Nobody knows about the coaching grind unless they have experienced it. The coaches are all …

My top ten breaches of racquetball etiquette. These are the unwritten laws that most players in the world abide by. I know I have left some out so feel free to add!! 1. Not showing up. Hey I am going to play Saturday at 8am. Want to play? Yes of course. but Saturday at 7:00am you get this text–sorry cannot be there. Too late to find a sub and you are stiffed. 2. Showing up but not trying. Sorry I was out drinking last night so go ahead and serve me out. I am not trying. Bad behavior. 3. Using …