If your goal is to not be concerned about fitness in a competitive match, you have to be concerned about fitness in practice! In plain English, your practices have to be physically harder than your tournament play!”
I often recommend my athletes get a personal trainer. These trainers are an interesting breed of cat. They all have the answers and many have differing opinions. Add the fact that research and science is moving at a rapid pace as athletes in pro sports want and need the latest so they and their agents can keep making lots of money for as long as possible. How do you know who to listen to? I know I sure did not when I was coming up. I looked for someone who knew fitness but was “ahead of the curve” in their approach to training. Because of my football background I looked to football trainers as racquetball uses much of the same footwork and the same energy system in competition.
Basic exercises are in and out of favor fast. Knee extensions, burpees, static stretching all have opponents and proponents.
Here is what I know:
Racquetball. I am an expert.
Fitness. I am not an expert so I send my athletes to certified trainers to learn fitness for racquetball. Now to be fair to myself, I have a physical education minor, and many years experience as an athlete and a coach and have learned:
1. You must cycle your training into phases-Base, Strength, Power, and Speed.
2. You must have an aerobic component of 20-40 minutes with your heart in your training zone (%80 of maximum heart rate).
3. You need solo time on the court practicing correct skills.
I send athletes to trainers to accomplish 1 and 2. I can do #3 to make sure you are practicing correctly!
Back to trainers! Find a good one and get training!
I supply my athletes who hire me with online workouts specifically from racquetball, done by an outstanding professional trainer from a Gym called “HyperFit” in Scottsdale, Arizona.