Racquetball at all levels comes down to two things. Serve and serve return. But how to get better at both? Repetition in practice is what is preached by coaches but it takes more than that. The athlete has to understand what is going wrong. Little things like weight distribution, racquet depth, preparation, and movement creep into the return game and serve game. Relocation after serving becomes super important–Being prepared and ready to kill an errant return takes time to learn. My juniors are all over the place on this skill. Return of serve footwork demands proper movement but in different ways because you have to read the serve, react to it, and judge where it is going in microseconds. You will err in judgement on some serves as everyone does but the trick is to get to the serve and do something with the ball. Several pros teach how to get to the serve, but not how to do something with the return.
Five tips for serve.
1. Keep weight back.
2. Keep weight back.
3. Push back for return as fast as possible.
4. Keep weight back.
5. Hit through the ball, not to the ball.
Five tips for return
1. Think Ceiling first and foremost
2. Think Center court
3. Step to the ball, not the side wall.
4. Step with foot nearest the ball.
5. Often two steps are better than one lunge!
Onward and upward! Go get’em Tigers!