Movin’ On Up…..

All of my athletes are moving up the chain of excellence. Why? They are doing their homework. But some athletes are more visible because they play pro or open racquetball. I am getting these emails and I do want to thank everyone and offer some advice myself! Dear Advice Givers -here are a four examples […]

Little Things=Big Difference

The difference in a match will often be the little things. Here are some “little” things that may cause a lopsided loss to a lesser or equal opponent. Little things-lead to big gaps in results! 1. Serve issues! Without a good serve, the athlete will under achieve! 2. Return of serve issues. Number one issue? […]

Dubs Rules

Five rules for good doubles! 1. Communicate-use calls such as “mine”. “yours”, “Switch” etc. during rallies! 2. Constantly change coverages by adjusting between rallies. Talk to your partner to change coverages. 3. Keep opponents behind you. Move them back when you are in the back court. 4. Don’t skip return of serve. Giving an opponent […]

Passing Syndrome

Passing syndrome–this leads to a style of play called, “rallying”! The advantage of this style of play is the opponent will defeat themselves 80% of the time. Making the adversary beat themselves is the strong point to this type of approach to the game. Indeed, this style is taught at many camps and it is […]

Drive Serve Check List

The drive serve that comes off the back wall is a huge issue with folks trying to move up the ability ladder of racquetball. When serves come flying off the back wall the usual reasons are: 1. contact too high 2: swinging in a pendulum plane. 3. Twisty wristy syndrome (turning your wrist) Here is […]

Thanks Team Dub

  Nobody but the athlete and the coach who has logged the time on the court knows and understands that feeling. A professional athlete must have confidence in the coach or the game plan, and multi-coaching will not work. If an athlete runs around getting different advice from different people they should go back to […]

PT

Yesterday we talked mental training and today physical training! Off court training for racquetball players is something athletes should address for increased success. A good trainer can really make a difference in an athlete’s performance.(both ways-good and bad!) Periodized strength training makes for great athletic performance. When our athletes on the USA Team heard about […]

90% Mental

Stage fright-if you play racquetball you have had some sort of this. Performance angst leads to the dreaded “choke”. Here are some ways to beat the Choke- 1. Practice mental rehearsal. Do not wait to practice focus in a tournament but work on it in practice. Just like any other skill, focus can be worked […]

Random Tournament Thoughts

Observations at a national tournament some time ago….. 1. Coach, Why in 40D doubles do you allow such gamesman ship on the first tournament ever rookies? Poor guys playing their first tournament are subject to Penalty hinder begging, racquets in the air when not looking back, double bounce stealing, blatant hindering and other obnoxious behavior. […]

Fun Fun Fun

Recently I saw some posts regarding a juniors workout. One thing that struck me was-where’s the fun? When we began playing were we drilling forehands and backhands? Here are some tips to put some fun into juniors’ racquetball! First, keep the conditioning and weight training on the down low. Little kids are so active and […]