Jammed Up Forehands
I was pouring through video last night and came across a problem with an athlete who complained of getting jammed with the ball. He told me his swing did not feel right and sure enough when I viewed the video I saw him “hovering” too close to the ball on the forehand side. To […]
Coaching the Uncomfortable
I saw this quote regarding coaches in the National Football League. ”I could tell you that with the best coaches, you’re typically gonna be uncomfortable. They’re not here to make you comfortable. They’re here to get the most out of you. And, coaches who are poking and prodding and pushing and being demanding, they tend […]
Movin’ On Up!
This came across the desk yesterday, “Coach don’t want to ruffle feathers, but would you address players who attend Natl. Events and play Elites locally and drop two divisions so they can win a medal.” I hate this and actually have a theory on it. The type of person who would not challenge themselves for […]
Just Win Or What?
This question was posed to me a few years ago. Should winning be the goal of a coach? What sparked the conversation was the number one priority should be winning said a head coach Racquetball help wanted ad. I actually believe it was a question of semantics more than a moral philosophy but I will […]
Changes
Wow –some time ago I heard this phrase tossed around. “You do not have to change your stroke mechanics to win! Pay me an exorbitant amount of money and I’ll make you better.” I like to think of it another way. You selected me to work with you and that is an honor; not the […]
Footwork 909 Graduate Level
Athlete: Coach I know my footwork needs work but I see my problems as serve and serve return.” Okay so now Coach has a problem. I have not explained it correctly because my athlete misses the point of the footwork flaws. That is not my athlete’s fault but more mine. The ramifications of poor footwork […]
The Schedule Rules?
The basic fundamentals of any sport need to be practiced. When I first started playing this game I used my experience in high school, Air Force, and college football. Every practice in football the basics were practiced. Practices to this day are broken into: Warmup, skills by position, Drills, controlled skeleton scrimmages, scrimmages and conditioning. […]
Serves N’ Returns
Racquetball at all levels comes down to two things. Serve and serve return. But how to get better at both? Repetition in practice is what is preached by coaches but it takes more than that. The athlete has to understand what is going wrong. Little things like weight distribution, racquet depth, preparation, and movement creep […]
Individualized Instruction
Effective coaching means different things for different people–if you teach everyone the same you are headed for trouble. Here are a couple of things that happened to me recently. Two athletes, two different issues, but both athletes had injuries. Because of their injuries I modified their mechanics and I modified their serve. What is the […]
Serve Return
Return of serve stance and start. I get this a lot. A wide stance keeps you low on the ball on return of serve. Yes, if the ball is within your reach or stride. If not, you will be in no position to return a serve offensively. So to me the wide stance thing is […]