Aspiring to Greatness Student of Racquetball:
Hey Coach, “I just want a few tips I do not want to tear down my game.”
Me: “Okay so here is how I look at it. If I give you a few tips it will help your game for the immediate future. Beyond that, not so much. For example you might have a strategy of going cross court to the left because your opponent cannot move to the left too well. But how well will that work if you cannot execute a cross court pass due to poor mechanics? Or you might have a sore shoulder due to poor mechanics. To put it another way, any type of growth demands leaving the comfort zone. The graph does not move smoothly up from beginning a new skill to mastery but rather it moves up and down. The peaks and valleys of day in and day out practice is the realistic path of the racquetball warrior or warriorette climbing their way up the path of progress.
Back to a few tips. Go the ceiling if you cannot hit an offensive shot. Hit better serves and keep the ball out of center court. Oh, and don’t forget to play deeper in center court! “That will be $120 please.”
Or you could have real progress and learning. Work on how to hit ceiling balls, hit an offensive shot, hit better serves and keeping the ball out of center court. That will be ongoing to chart progress, put together a training program, and work on mastery.
Which is it?
Quick fix, or Long term excellence?