Never Let Good Enough be good enough!

If you play tournaments and move around the country you will run into climate challenges. One such challenge is the great SouthEast. Heat and high humidity can wear down a player, even in air conditioning. Hydration is crucial. Even more challenging is altitude. There dehydration happens rapidly due to increased evaporation off the skin and lower air pressure for oxygen uptake. The southwest is another area that makes hydration crucial. Everyone knows you must drink water but also ingesting greens will aid water absorbtion. I once heard it explained this way, “Never pass a water fountain without drinking, even if …

Speed–footwork-we all hear the terms but I maintain these terms are not well understood. 1. First, you need muscle for first step explosion. That means proper weight training preferably with an expert who can make sure you are working on counter movements as well as movement. 2. Next, you need technique; the way you are moving with the stick in your hand. For example, keep your upper body over your legs. Sounds simple but many athletes lean forward at the waist or have other idiosyncrasies. 3. Third, you need positioning. 1 and 2 are useless without proper positioning. What is …

I sometimes get well-meaning “advice” emails from other folks “helping me” coach athletes. It amazes me that others think I am not trying or something. Let me throw something out there to all of you. I coach athletes who are human beings. I know their skills make them look like gods or goddesses, but they are humans and as such, they make mistakes. One such mistake is not paying attention to detail or putting something into practice. Years ago, in a world competition several people came to me to offer advice. This player was a great player and to the …

What is he writing in the book? In the national tournaments and pro tournaments you will see me with a notebook plugging away and writing. People ask me all the time what I am writing. First and foremost is the score. Believe it or not referees lose track of the score (and who is serving) and the players sometimes do not notice. In case you think this happens in local tournaments only you are mistaken. I think of the Pan Ams in 2003 in a medal round match or in several Pro Stops where this has happened. This also keeps …

If you play serious racquetball you need serious strength training. Back in the day I was told never to weight train for racquetball. Believe it or not that was the thinking in the early 70s by many people. I knew that was wrong so I enrolled in our local Nautilus club and began weight training. Basic weight training consists of-warmup on a bike, treadmill, elliptical or some such five to 8 minute repetitive exercise. Then you go largest muscle groups to smallest in an ideal “push pull” pattern. Example-Leg Press(Push large muscle) Hamstring curl (pull) lunge squat-push and pull-calf raise-push, …

So I get this long video of how tennis champion Carlos Alcaraz can hit the ball harder than anyone. It has to do with his technique. One of my eager young charges sent it to me. The reason he sent it to me is the narrator sounded a lot like me when explaining the way Carlos his his topspin forehand. From the ground up the footwork is the same as racquetball and why not? They are racquet sports. Of course the technique itself is very different when you hit a ball on the rise (tennis) as opposed to hitting a …

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 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 be performing at the level you are capable of. At crunch time, the automatic response needs rehearsal. So it is not a mental thing, it is a practice thing. I was in the Air Force during the Cold War days. In almost four years I used my military …

Fun to talk about winning, but what about the L word as in losing? We all experience it and how we experience it is what separates champions from also-rans. 1. Yes you are angry and yes, you almost had the match and Yes, you do not feel like talking to anyone. I totally get that and have been there. However, you do not realize how the crowd sees the matches. Most of them would love to be in your position and for you pros out there, all of them envy your abilities. Remember them and be gracious. You do not …

Condescending coaches irritate me. Let me explain. Years ago I was out for a few adult beverages with a Coach who shall remain nameless and he began complaining about all the “head cases” he had to coach. He said something to me like, “I’m sure you know what I mean about these prima Donnas.” My response, was “No, I don’t know what you mean.” So here is what went through my mind-athletes deserve better than this guy. I truly never hated any athlete-even a few I could easily have hated because of the way they treated me. I always have …