Help! I Need A Discount!
Coach, I need a discount! I cannot afford you! Your fees are too high! Today more and more folks understand my fees and realize they are less expensive than my competitors but back in the day I used to offer discounted coaching to people. I worked hard for them and told them up front […]
Shot Selection 101
Mix your shots up!! Easy to say, harder to do. Why? Read on! Is your shot selection repetitive? Think it through. Is your opponent heading for your shot before you hit it? If so, you must change your shot selection. Part of changing your shot selection is good footwork and mechanics. For example, if […]
Help! My Opponents are Dissing Me!!
Help! They are saying bad things about me!” Or “Do you know what they are saying about you?” Racquetball players who move up the chain of ability levels are often shocked when people who used to be their friends may not be because that player becomes a threat! That often leads to people saying […]
Three Approaches to Coaches!
I need a coach or I cannot succeed. This is becoming a trend out here in racquetball land. I swear there were more coaches than players at the last junior tournament I attended. Let me take you back to a time where there were very few coaches in match play. In the 70s most […]
Racquetball Rules for Success
A few months ago I had an, aspiring pro visiting me for help. I am going over video now and developing a game plan for this young phenom. For any coaching plan to be successful, I need the answer to one question, “What is your goal?” Once I have the goal we can attack […]
Do the Right Thing
“Treat everyone the same!” Say what? My eyebrows went up on that one. My 29 years of experience in classroom teaching, football coaching, and tennis, not to mention racquetball has taught me the opposite. I do not treat everyone alike. Scenario: Coach has a rule–miss a practice and you do not play. Troubled youth, […]
Treated Like Dirt!! You’re Born a Racquetball Player-You’re Born to be Hurt!
q Every once in awhile I get one of these. Dear Coach–my opponent hit me on purpose. I got so mad and I am still mad. My opponent cheated, hit me on purpose, ran into me, and called my momma names under her breath so only i could hear. I hate (fill in […]
Game of Thrones Racquetball
Game of Thrones Racquetball! Use the Fire and use the Ice! Here is a simple way of thinking strategy. Use fire and Ice in your game. I am often trying to think of ways to explain game styles and mission statements to players in tough matches. One such way is fire and Ice analogy. […]
Pummel Poor Mechanics
From beginners to beyond serve returns. If you watch a beginner closely try to return serve you will see them make two common errors. One-they will move right at the ball. I call this an “arrow” trajectory; a straight line. The second mistake is they open their body so fast and drop the […]
Mental or Practice Problem?
Mental toughness is a phrase bandied about rather liberally. I have had many athletes come to me with a reputation of poor mental concentration. In almost every case I found it was not a mental problem, but a practice problem. If you are not logging your hours on the court, you will not […]