Never Let Good Enough be good enough!

Pro vs amateur racquetball. Want to get better at racquetball? Watch the pros! Watch the pros carefully! Variation of serve speeds, angles, and use of lobs is something all of us can learn by watching these athletes. Watch carefully for tactics. Often people ask me, why are they serving their forehand? Is it weaker than the opponent’s backhand? Maybe, but maybe not. Some answer huh? Maybe because said athlete is pummeling the backhand liberally! Maybe not because said athlete is making the court bigger by attacking both sides. I would also suggest watching men’s and women’s age division play in …

Teaching racquetball for beginners can be fun. Here are seven things to consider when working with new players. 1. Stay away from stroke mechanics. I would not think of tinkering with forehand or backhand unless it is necessary to prevent injury. 2. Do teach court positioning and serve. This is the fun part and folks can begin playing immediately! 3. Teach safety such as eye-guards, tether on racquet around the wrist, and how to watch for your opponent. Sometimes people focus on the ball and do not know the opponent is near said ball and about to get whacked! 4. …

Suggestions for Team Coaching Junior Athletes 1. Treat all Junior athletes with respect-no condescending attitudes please! 2. Do use common sense in dealing with discipline issues. 3. Do use your captains. Personally I liked choosing my own captains because I had a good idea of who would lead and who would follow. 4. Do not ignore poor behavior. Address it immediately. 5, Do use your rule-book if you have to. 6. Do choose your battles to fight wisely. 7. Do meet with the team and go over rules they may not know, local venue rules and issues, and try to …

Wow–opened up Facebook some time ago and saw a racquetball player demonstrating what they called a perfect workout. This athlete was doing a lot of footwork drills with feet going crazy in every direction. Only one problem-most of the movements we never make on a racquetball court. This renders the entire exercise as a cardio workout with a little strength work, but not a racquetball workout. Many coaches and athletes cannot wait to share their new workouts. I am very fussy about my workouts and do not like wasted time or effort. I also do not post them because they …

Overheard from a “wannabe” Pro racquetball coach talking to others about his players. “These guys are all head cases!” Now I’m thinking–“Who are you to be judging Racquetball Players?” This sort of condescending attitude toward others says more about the speaker than the players they speak of! So Short and sweet is today’s racquetball mental treat!! Coaching 101- Empathy for your athletes! Remember back to when you were first learning the game? This is important. Leaving your comfort zone is important. Thinking you have all the answers is a mindset that may not be correct. Listen to your athletes and …

Some observations from Coach: Note to any and all young coaches who think they want to coach-here are a few rules and a few thoughts on getting started. First: I wish they would not start you at the top! That is a terrible way to learn. I wish there was an apprentice program that governing bodies would use. So you must learn your craft! A good player does not mean you are a good coach. You can be for sure-but coaching is not the same as playing, Coaching is transferring information in many different ways to different people and helping …

There comes a point in many matches when the points are crucial. Many matches I have seen or played for that matter, the points came easy until……it came crunch time–the 12-12 points, the 14-14, the 10-10 etc. Here are some guidelines for pressure points–easy 10 rules for serving pressure point play. 1. Never give an easy serve to kill-for this reason I do not like drive serves unless hit on the short side; not off the back wall! 2. Never “cleverate” yourself on serving. Many times the serve gets too cute; too smart-you do not trick a good player; you …

World Junior Racquetball is an exciting tournament. I loved my junior USA team coaching gigs and was able to experience success. Those days are long gone because today the cards are sort of stacked against USA. First, coaching academies exist in many countries and not too many places here in the USA. Those cities or areas with good coaching have good athletes who can win on the international stage. Indeed, if you look at the USA players left in the draw you will see they have paid their dues, have worked hard, and are left standing in the semis. To …

Dear Coach W, “What kind of mistakes do you see top racquetball players making? I can list a few that I notice. 1. Very poor bio-mechanical execution of movement and stroke mechanics. In our sport leading pros are teaching incorrect footwork, horrible stroke mechanics and inviting overuse injuries. Instructors with poor mechanics is bad enough worse, they are writing articles and doing videos about it. They should be absorbing the study of bio-mechanics and working on latest movement techniques so players can learn to play efficiently with less injury. 2. Poor diet–athletes are not eating right and do not understand …