Geezer Coaching
Coaching geezer ball demands a few skill sets. Now that I am in the “Golden age” category I can appreciate my fellow warriors and warriorettes who compete in the age divisions. My first task when coaching senior athletes is to decide what needs changing and what does not. To simply tear down someone’s game and […]
A Great Coach and a Great Man
Many people love to quote Coach John Wooden, the great basketball Coach and National figure. Although he has passed away, his lessons live on. Many years ago, while scrolling through channels I ran across an interview with him, but I missed part of it. I wrote a personal letter to him informing him I was […]
You’re All Against Me, And You Worst of All!
For those of you too young to remember, this was from Jan Brady , a middle child in a large tv family, who spoke this famous line from the old tv show, The Brady Bunch. “You’re all against me, and you worst of all!” The psychology of one on one racquetball is a never-ending process. […]
Random Racquetball Observations
Random thoughts from yesteryear, after watching tournaments, six of them at once! There were Nationals, High School Nationals, Milking Cow Opens, and local shootouts. The competitions were all in full swing and I watched several matches and took notes on losses due to strategy errors. Case one, a young strong athlete is playing an […]
Cure Racquetball Burnout
Hey Coach W- What do you do if you have lost the desire to play racquetball? I mean I love the game and everything but lately I cannot find the motivation to play. Have you ever seen this before with players? Signed Burned out in ‘Bama Dear BOIB, Great question–when I run into this I […]
Want To Win More? Get a Mentor!
I try not to see what my competition in the coaching business are doing. It distracts me more than anything but sometimes it is hard to miss when an opposing coach proudly posts their practice sessions with an athlete. I always check to see how far along the coach is in their knowledge base. Correct […]
Down Time is “Go Time”!
When tournaments are scarce, the players seem to lighten up on their playing and training schedules. But that is the best time to improve racquetball skills. What do you need to improve upon? Answer: Where are they serving you and how are they serving you?” If the answer is lob to the backhand -duh–improve cutting […]
Racquetball Skills Drills
Two athletes come to me for a lesson. Athlete one is ranked on the pro tour. Athlete two is a C player who wants to play tournament. Athlete two gets my stationary drop and hit treatment on the forehand and backhand side. Why? I want them to learn how to hit with their lower body, […]
Off Court vs On Court Training
This question came to me through the chat room on a rare appearance for me on USA Racquetball Live Streaming in the men’s finals of the USA Racquetball Doubles and singles qualifying tournament in Feb 2020. Forgive me because I am paraphrasing but it went something like this-“How much time do you recommend […]
Six Return of Serve Tricks
Here are 6 common return of serve issues I run into with my athletes at all levels! First, I see some new coaches posting some tips out there that are almost correct. I have to say almost correct because every athlete is different. To make them all the same can backfire. All footwork is different […]