So I am talking to a colleague regarding coaching. He told me he was shocked that one of his students took a lesson from three world famous players and/or coaches, and all of them told this student something different about their contact point during the swing. I was not one of those coaches but I would have done it differently than all of them too. He seemed to think the coaches were wrong but I thought probably all of them were right.
There is no one contact point anyway. It depends on what shot you want to hit and a few other factors.
Grip: Let’s say you want to hit a down the line. Depending upon your grip you may contact the ball deeper in your stance or in front of you.
Body Type: Depending upon your body type you may contact the ball deeper or in front of you.
Past experiences: Most coaches teach athletes the way they, the coaches, played the game.
The longer you play the game the more you refine the game to your contact point, strategies etc. Therefore your focus is on your game. The longer you coach the game the more options you develop because the focus is on your student’s game. And when you coach matches against others you pick up strategies used against you. Then you realize there are strengths and weaknesses to all approaches to the game.
Even mine and maybe especially my approach!
Why? It takes a commitment to your game and improving if you wish to get better at stroke mechanics and footwork. I have to say there are not that many players totally dedicated to excellence. There are no shortcuts! Therefore I work better with athletes who are all in on the idea of constantly working to improve. The strength of that approach is the proof! That is also why I structured my business around commitment, rather than a casual lesson. Athletes work harder when they sign up for the long haul!
Back to the different approaches. Put a filter in your head and cycle all the free advice you get through that filter.Then, find a coach who will tailor the game around you, not what they teach. Next, find a coach who cares about you first, and your racquetball game second.
And get your own contact point, not someone else’s.