“Coach, stop giving away all those coaching points on your tip of the day!” This was one of the comments of a student of mine recently. This has come to me from more than one athlete from all levels of play. My athletes like the fact i teach differently than most pros and am always looking for an edge in instruction. Okay, so here is a message to my athletes. This is for my athletes only who pay me to set up programs, go over video, and coach them up. These are the athletes that get four hours per month of coaching and managing their practices. Please do not read this unless you work with me!
Dear Winterton Racquetball Athlete,
I do give out a tip of the day as a service to the racquetball public. I have noticed that when I give a tip about attitude or hard work it gets fewer hits than the post giving away a tip on positioning or execution. The racquetball public, bless their hearts, are always looking for free coaching. They miss the big picture though as without the attitude and hard work there is little improvement. I am very careful not to let any of the secret sauce dribble down to the racquetball public. I like it that my competitors copy my pricing, copy my coaching, and even copy wording on some things. What i do not want to do, is copy them! I stay away from competitor shopping or web page hunting or things of that nature. Meanwhile, my competitors send “spies” to my camps or to me for lessons. They want to see what I do. That is great because that is competition.
Now if I gave them everything, even the secret sauce, they could not imitate what I do. i know that because I have tried to teach people who became competitors, including some very recognizable names. None of them are able to do it. It is more than the Xs and Os of the game, it is the mental approach of each and every person. Since every person is different, the approach should be different. Do not discount the fact my first lesson was taught 52 years ago so experience serves me well.
Another phenomenon is the fact many people believe I do not know what I am talking about. I have done everything I can to prove I am a great coach. I have produced winners at every level and built pros from scratch but to the racquetball public, even those accomplishments are not enough for the skeptics.
So rest easy out there! We still have the edge. I can confidently say that due to USA National adult open men and women, Pan Am qualifying men and women, collegiate men’s champ, #6 LPRT pro, Men’s and women’s Seniors National champs, World Senior champ, and numerous junior national champs. Oh, by the way, I also work with the greatest player who every played. The secret sauce is bubbling on the stove as I cook up another batch to share with an athlete today!
Onward and upward,
Coach W