Punchline Timing
As the joke goes, two priests walk into a bar….you can fill in the rest, but the punchline has to be delivered perfectly to make the joke funny! What does this have to do with racquetball? Bear with me! I marvel at the lack of creativity sometimes when watching tournament and league play. What I […]
Winning Ugly
The mental wars-the toughest opponent you will ever meet is the one in the mirror. Everyone has doubts, and everyone faces the fear of competing. That is what drives athletes to great performances but it also drives athletes to fail and sometimes even quit. Psychology 101 calls it the fight or flight response. When faced […]
Get Better Faster!
How do I get better faster? Here are two of my favorite drills to take an athlete up a level of play. One I touched in a recent post, hit a great drive serve. If you are practicing your great drive serve, you are probably also practicing your forehand (or in rare cases backhand, if […]
Get Fat and Skinny!!
Crowding 101- This is something I see in all levels of play. When an opponent is getting into your line of vision here is an old school trick. Cross the line of vision between your opponent and the ball but it has to be done early and not late. Move too late, and it is […]
Compete in Practice
Handling jealousy, competition, and pettiness is a challenge that faces all players. I’ve stated this many times but getting better at your craft means you have to play and practice with players who will help you improve. Often, those players are rivals who do not like you! How do you handle this? I have fielded […]
So Good They Can’t Ignore You!
This one came across my desk. “Coach awhile back you mentioned a book titled, So Good They Can’t Ignore You” What lessons for racquetball can you draw from that book. The person who read the book plays racquetball I think and coaches it. How could you miss this blurb? “Chapter four-paraphrasing here: two mindsets-the passion […]
Best Coach in the World!
Recently I trained two national level players. I was amazed at how much they had improved in such a short amount of time. At one point in the session I asked them if they noticed I had not mentioned much in terms of mechanics. Then I asked them why I had not corrected them. They […]
Develop a Lethal Serve
This one sounds so simple but it is true! Develop a killer serve and your game goes up at least one level. The Wintertonian glossary of terms defines a killer serve as: A serve that just gets over the short line, with about an inch to spare on either side of the court with great […]
Six Hours and Counting!!
I am often asked, “What in the world do you do for over six hours with an athlete on the court?” Every lesson starts the same-looking at forehand and backhand mechanics.This player is a top pro and the mechanics review sometimes finds a little flaw they had no idea had crept into their game. Most […]
Timing is Everything!
Timing is everything according to actors and comedians. The same is true of racquetball. Watching some opportunities passed up in many matches. Here is an example. The score is 11-11 and we are in a pro match or an amateur, game one. Makes no difference as this is a PP situation(pressure point). Ref calls the […]