I think this little tip will go a long way in anyone’s racquetball game and for that matter the game of life as well!! Recently I was asked this:
“Do you work with mental skills as well as the mechanics of footwork and strokes?”
Answer-I did not realize i did but from day one I employed a method of teaching that carried over from my classroom days. I received high ratings from kids and parents in my classes and the main reason was I cared about the kids and their growth as human beings as much or more than I cared about teaching English skills.
Back to racquetball-a former pro retired and called to thank me for all i did for her in racquetball. So I asked what was the main thing you learned? I am thinking it is going to be backhand or forehand or serve, but no!
She said, “You taught me how to win and how to think like a winner.” I was taken back by that but I began thinking about it more and realized I do put a ton of mental tips in between the skills.
Here are a few examples. A student flies in to workout with me and he hits a perfect drive serve.
He mutters something like, “Yeah but that is only one out of ten!” I stop him and point out he is actually focusing on the 9 failures and not the one success. I taught him to focus on your successful shots, not your unsuccessful ones.
Another athlete visits and is playing really well with a practice partner I have hand-picked. Then the practice partner begins to cheat and take double bounces (which I set them up to doing). My athlete’s game goes south very fast. I then disclose I asked the practice partner to re-create the very situation that caused my visiting athlete a loss at nationals a year ago. That led to a breakout performance at Nationals a month or so later!
If you dwell upon the mistakes, more mistakes happen. If you get angry you react. If you can control your attitude and mental approach good things happen! And I had to thank my former pro for pointing out some of the things I coach up without even thinking much about it.