Lean or Move?
Do you ‘lean” to the ball or do you move to the ball? One of the issues with coaching junior racquetball is the natural development of motor skills. Among those skills is movement. It is not natural to move your feet but it is natural to lean or stretch to get to a shot. In […]
Coached Up!!
It is a great day when these come across my desk-(I’ll paraphrase and change some things to protect identity!) Coach–” I got an awful draw and got matched up against the guy who won the tournament one week before I started your monthly program. Well, I beat him yesterday and it was not close. I […]
Want Workouts or Justice?
It is easy to judge others’ behavior. It is competition and at my old age I have come to realize two competitors in small box will compete hard and the gray area will be exploited; sooner or later. In a weird way, it is sort of a merit badge, that someone thinks they […]
Why Coach, Coach!
Recently I had the honor of giving an impromptu racquetball clinic to a group of high school kids. It was a great group of kids and fun coaching them up! But I asked them all a question none of them could answer. I get this blank look from racquetball team members always on this one […]
Hinders in Hinterlands!
This one came via the fb network to my desk- “Coach-my opponents in doubles say I take up too much room. When I move to the ball I stay away from it and move toward it only before my shot. They say this inconveniences them and they get out of position. What do you think […]
Hold Your Fire!!
Photo courtesy of RestrungMagazine! Hold your fire!!! Ever been in a match and had a serve really working for a game and a half only to see it not be effective the last game and a half? Like listening to a great song, over playing that serve gets old and loses its effectiveness. A good […]
Go For It
So I am channel surfing the other day and I run across a panel discussion with an actor whose name escapes me, some business dude(I think) and two people I did recognize, Marcus Luttrel (of sole survivor fame) and Michael Strahan (of NY Giants football fame and recently everywhere on tv). Michael Strahan said something […]
GTD-Guilt Trip Defense!
Don’t fall for the Guilt Move!!! Good competitors know how to play the guilt game; the game within the game. Move 1-Did you get that? Answer-yes-guilt thought-gee I hope my opponent does not think I’d cheat. Move 2-Come on, are you going to take that? Answer-yes-guilt thought-Gosh I sure hope my opponent does not think […]
Play Like a Champion
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 […]
Help-My Opponent is Trash-Talking!
“Coach, my opponent’s talking trash to me and cheating! Every time I play this guy in practice he resorts to cheating and trash talking. Do you have any advice? It threw me completely off my game and I ended arguing instead of playing.” First-this happened in practice. Practice is just that. I think it is […]