Some time ago I read an interesting take on practice and the article compared the practice green and driving range in golf to actual competitive play. The gist of the article was you can practice your skills separate from tournament play but there is not as much comparison a you might think.
I thought about that and translated it to racquetball and the basics of setting yourself up and hitting shots. I do think you need these drills to sharpen up mechanics but to get better at play you have to (“duh”) play! Then you will incorporate the mechanics into movement.
When Working with players, incorporating movement into play and practice, I get comments like, “It looks easy but it isn’t” and “Whoa that is weird” followed by “I can’t believe how much power I get and how much this makes sense!”
Back to competition. As the athlete gets closer to competition they should schedule more matches. Even matches at 8am, noon, and 6pm to simulate a tournament day. I liken it to marathon racing. Runners never run the 26 plus miles they run segments and increase speed to prepare for the long haul.
We should do the same with tournament preparation. Stay on the practice court for skill, but get into competition to sharpen the kill!!