Never Let Good Enough be good enough!

Six ways to make practice more efficient. 1. Set objectives-ie I will hit 7 perfect forehand killshots out of 10 setups. 2. Set realistic objectives-if you have a poor forehand, don’t set a 10 out of 10 objective unless you are prepared to be disappointed! Start small and build to the 10 of 10! 3. Quality is more important than quantity. Endless drop and hits from stationary positions with poor mechanics in a practice session may not translate to better execution in a competitive match. 4. Use video for feedback! How do you know what you are doing unless you …

This quote came from a post a couple of years ago. Brad H, I thank you! Brad told the story of a player who told his basketball coach, “This sport is over-coached and under-taught”! This got me thinking of OC and UT situations in racquetball. Here are some specific examples at all levels of play. 1. Ceiling ball maniacs-these players were coached to keep an opponent in the back court. They hit ceiling ball after ceiling ball but their shot selection allows an opponent to hang back and relax because the offensive part of shot selection was never taught! OC-UT! …

Generally all of my lessons start the same way. “What are your goals?” How do your goals match your lifestyle, job, school, family, relationships etc.? How much time do you have to devote to racquetball excellence? To be good at it, you must make a schedule to train and get to work. To be great at it, well takes more than a schedule and training. It takes passion and a desire to be number one. Champions are different. They have the extra something that allows them to dominate the competition. It is practice but more than that it is practice …

The World Junior Championships were held a few weeks ago and I spent hours watching my athletes play. I had five players from different countries and they all played great and it was and still is an honor to work with them. But during the tournament I saw what I consider huge coaching errors made by all countries’ coaches. Here are the biggies. 1. Know your athletes. Listen to what they have to say. Just because they are kids does not mean they should do everything you say. They may have a better idea. 2. Usually the use of one …

Game planning can be over-rated for advanced players. Too much game planning can be counter-productive. Here is an example of over-preparation. 1. Coach or well-meaning friend-“This player is very weak on any shot above their waist. Keep the ball there.” 2. Coach-“This player has a weak backhand so keep the ball on that side of the court.” 3. Coach-“This player is slow moving up to back so hit the ball to the deep part of the court.” Case #1-I ask the athlete why they kept hitting shots off the back wall and I heard that reason. Case #2-I ask the …

TODAY MARKS THE 5,209TH TIP OF THE DAY I HAVE PUBLISHED! For 5,209 consecutive days I have given you a racquetball tip of the day! Each day, I get up early, and post a tip of the day that has been written well in advance. To the athletes I coach: Special thanks. It is an honor to coach you and be involved in your careers on and off the courts! Your unbelievable achievements prove my coaching works and so does your hard work and belief in what I teach! To My Readers: Thanks so much for tuning in daily! Where …

These days with fewer tournaments, how do you know if you are improving. Well, if you are killing every ball in practice you might be improving but remember these things….. 1. Almost impossible to simulate tournament conditions, especially the mental pressure. 2. There is practice tough and there is tournament tough. The latter means more tournaments needed! 3. Without tournaments, mental rehearsal is a must! 4. Speaking of mental rehearsal, are you hitting the ceiling? I mean, are you seeing yourself as a quarter-finalist? Round of 16 player? If so, what can you do to change that? 5. Upping the …

  “Im mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more!” so goes the line from the movie, Network back in the old days. Well on rball community within the past months I have seen several misguided and uninformed posts. Racquetball public–please take note. I wish I could go into specifics–I really do. If something seems one-sided or under-handed please investigate before you go posting your take on what went down. Worse yet, do not post someone else’s take on what went down without investigating. Often the smoothest talking, nicest person can be that “snake in the …

Want to get mentally tougher? Why not build your own acronym? An acronym is a collection of letters that stands for something but forms a word. PUP-I put this on my shoe and folks thought I was an animal lover. I am, but PUP stood for Poise under pressure. Often in tight matches I would gaze down at that strong message! You can also do it with a mission statement for a tough match. Find your own “happy place” acronym and use it for mental focus and success ! DLFBY-Don’t let the floor beat you!! Mission statements are a great …