Above L to R: Carlee, Angelica, Jade, Yanna, Grant, and Tyler
“Coach, stop giving away all those coaching points on your tip of the day!” This was one of the comments of a student of mine recently. This has come to me from more than one athlete from all levels of play. My athletes like the fact I teach differently than most pros and am always looking for an edge in instruction.
Okay, so here is a message to my athletes. This is for my athletes only who pay me to set up programs, go over video, and coach them up. These are the athletes that get many hours per month of coaching and managing their practices. Please do not read this unless you work with me!
Dear Winterton Racquetball Athlete,
I do give out a tip of the day as a service to the racquetball public. I have noticed that when I give a tip about attitude or hard work it gets fewer hits than the post giving away a tip on positioning or execution. The racquetball public, bless their hearts, are always looking for free coaching. They miss the big picture though as without the attitude and hard work there is little improvement. I am very careful not to let any of the secret sauce dribble down to the racquetball public. I like it that my competitors copy my pricing, copy my coaching, and even copy wording on some things.
What I do not want to do, is copy them! I stay away from competitor shopping or web page hunting or things of that nature. Meanwhile, my competitors have sent “spies” to my camps or to me for lessons. They want to see what I do. That is not a bad thing because that is competition.
But I have learned something in this past years regarding coaching. After giving everyone everything, even the secret sauce, they can not imitate what I do. I know that because I have tried to teach people who became competitors, including some very recognizable names. None of them are able to do it. It is more than the Xs and Os of the game, it is the mental approach of each and every person. Since every person is different, the approach should be different. Do not discount the fact my first lesson was taught 52 years ago so experience serves me well and cannot be copied.
Another phenomenon is the fact many people believe I do not know what I am talking about. I am still trying to learn while many competitors already know it all. I have done everything I can to prove I am a great coach. I have produced winners at every level and built pros from scratch but to the racquetball public, even those accomplishments are not enough to make these competitors think they can learn from what I post. So there is that.
Also I do not get on the internet broadcasting thing because if I analyzed any of my athlete’s opponents, I’d be helping them for free. I do not coach “what” shot to hit but more “how” to hit any shot you want to hit. Another reason I am not on the internet broadcasting is because often I coaching the finals, not commenting on the finals!
So rest easy out there! We still have the edge. I can confidently say that due to these results this year and in the past years:
My coaching has produced USA National adult open men and women, Pan Am qualifying men and women, World Champion men and women, collegiate men’s champions, and at one time the #5 , #8, and #12 LPRT pros. Oh do not forget Men’s and women’s Seniors National champs, World Senior champ, and numerous junior national champs.
Oh, by the way, I also work with the greatest player who ever played. The secret sauce is bubbling on the stove as I cook up another batch to share with an athlete today!
Onward and upward,
Coach W