Goin’ All Bobby Knight
I remember years ago I got roped into coaching high school tennis. The kids were drilled and schooled and looked great in warmups and practice. In the match however, when the going got tough, they went South. One particular match I had had enough. They played a team that was favored over us. That team […]
Camp Geezer
Got this message yesterday. “Dear Coach, would you do a camp just for old people, ages 60 plus?” Signed Senior Splatshot Dear SS, This is a great idea and one that I might explore someday. I find that senior players need junior or younger players to emulate. This idea is not just racquetball. As a […]
Phi Slamma Jamma
Copycat racquetball? Several years ago I had the luxury of talking racquetball with the Godfather of racquetball, Dr. Bud, (RIP) and another champion, Charlie Brumfield (RIP). Both of them echoed the same thing, they saw a lack of creativity in the modern game. I took that to heart and began experimenting with serves and then […]
Cliques
Cliques! I hate racquetball cliques! Back in the day when I was top dog in the club I would play anybody and everybody who was close to A level and above. I encouraged everyone to play anyone. Then I moved to Syracuse and a local club went bankrupt. They all came over to our club […]
No Cookie Cutter Coaching
One of the misconceptions about my coaching is I make everyone hit the ball the same way. That term is “cookie cutter coaching”. On the other hand, I do not subscribe to the “Athletes should be able to hit the ball any way they want. The theory is that everyone has a swing like a […]
Be the Cat
Get relaxed in your stance! Get the serve back and you stand a chance! Don’t think football, think softball or baseball! How should you receive serve? This is an interesting one as I see several variations of what I call the Linebacker stance. This stance is great at reacting to a football play and stuffing […]
Drive Serve 202
Drive serve philosophies featuring low vs high! Good coaches teach striking the ball low to create a good drive serve. However, overlooked in this approach could be the ball drop. Underhand vs overhand ball drop? Personally I favor the overhand because to me it is easier to control. I do have students who swear by […]
Tourney Scene
Is this situation really cheating? I watched a junior match some months ago with a blatant cheat going on. I watched a Dad say nothing while little junior scammed the referee. The other Dad went beserk but the two kids on the court seemed impervious to what was going on behind them. Maybe Junior did […]
Play Down
A few weeks ago I ran across someone sharing their racquetball experiences and stating how their game improved because they played very good players and players at a higher level. Now, I do not disagree with this and every player who aspires to greatness knows this. However, you also need to play players at a […]
Subract the Distract
Distractions distractions distractions-How do you deal with them 101? Here is a tip I first heard from a handball champion in the 60s. “Never take your eye off the ball, even during timeouts and between games.” I tried that and it worked! Let me explain why (at least for me) When I looked outside the […]