So I have these athletes moving up through the chain of excellence. Their games are getting better and better. They defeat someone they have never beaten before and folks are beginning to notice their improvement.
Then they begin to think, “I have arrived.” I don’t need to practice as much and I can just play and work out.
Worse yet, everyone around them begins to tell them how great they are and attempt to get close to them for some “racquetball cred”!
When that happens their game begins to go south and stops its northern movement. The athlete has forgotten how they got there. When that happens for some reason many players forget the process of improvement and stay in the status quo. Here are four tips for excellence.
1. Continue to improve and leave your comfort zone. Constantly! Over and over! Make it a habit. An apple grows on the tree and is green. When it stops growing it rots and dies. Racquetball progress is the same thing!
2. Combine on court solo hitting with competitive play. One without the other will only improve you so much.
3. Control your tournament schedule! I see many people getting schmoozed by tournament directors who need bodies for their events. Control your schedule. Play a low key shootout instead of a major tournament if you are looking to peak at a National event. I only allowed myself two tournaments per month and put two weeks between them as much as I could. I needed down time to recover and work on my game.
4. Map out a plan. What is the most important tournament of the year and when is it? Move back from that date with “stepping stone” tournaments to check your progress.
5. Surround yourself with people with experience, who want to help you, not help their portfolio!
Follow these five steps to excellence!