Another day and another well-meaning coaching post on face book.
A young coach thinks they have discovered another great workout routine. My coaching compadre in Bolivia sent it to me immediately. This drill has a nice concept but there is one problem. The athlete is practicing wrong technique. Very early in my racquetball life I noticed a huge waste of time with racquetball training. So this athlete, working so hard, is actually hurting their game, but they are getting some exercise.
Why? Specificity, that’s why. What good can come of many of these drills? Yes, cardiovascular improvement to a degree but it is an unsafe uncontrolled way to do that. In fact one of my athletes blew a knee out running hills this summer.
Coaches; here is a tip–Far better to do specific drills reinforcing proper footwork and during the season on the court. Off season, outside is cool and change of pace. For some reason athletes and coaches avoid doing the simple things that make them better at racquetball for the sake of cross fit style workouts. Do not get me wrong, those workouts have a place in your regimen as a break or change of pace or off-season training. But when you make running hills or running wind sprints your workout staple you will get better at running hills and running sprints.
Here is a better idea. Train for racquetball. Want to get better at racquetball? Play racquetball !! Duh!