Never Let Good Enough be good enough!

The World Junior Championships were held a few weeks ago and I spent hours watching my athletes play. I had five players from different countries and they all played great and it was and still is an honor to work with them. But during the tournament I saw what I consider huge coaching errors made by all countries’ coaches. Here are the biggies. 1. Know your athletes. Listen to what they have to say. Just because they are kids does not mean they should do everything you say. They may have a better idea. 2. Usually the use of one …

Game planning can be over-rated for advanced players. Too much game planning can be counter-productive. Here is an example of over-preparation. 1. Coach or well-meaning friend-“This player is very weak on any shot above their waist. Keep the ball there.” 2. Coach-“This player has a weak backhand so keep the ball on that side of the court.” 3. Coach-“This player is slow moving up to back so hit the ball to the deep part of the court.” Case #1-I ask the athlete why they kept hitting shots off the back wall and I heard that reason. Case #2-I ask the …

TODAY MARKS THE 5,209TH TIP OF THE DAY I HAVE PUBLISHED! For 5,209 consecutive days I have given you a racquetball tip of the day! Each day, I get up early, and post a tip of the day that has been written well in advance. To the athletes I coach: Special thanks. It is an honor to coach you and be involved in your careers on and off the courts! Your unbelievable achievements prove my coaching works and so does your hard work and belief in what I teach! To My Readers: Thanks so much for tuning in daily! Where …

These days with fewer tournaments, how do you know if you are improving. Well, if you are killing every ball in practice you might be improving but remember these things….. 1. Almost impossible to simulate tournament conditions, especially the mental pressure. 2. There is practice tough and there is tournament tough. The latter means more tournaments needed! 3. Without tournaments, mental rehearsal is a must! 4. Speaking of mental rehearsal, are you hitting the ceiling? I mean, are you seeing yourself as a quarter-finalist? Round of 16 player? If so, what can you do to change that? 5. Upping the …

  “Im mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more!” so goes the line from the movie, Network back in the old days. Well on rball community within the past months I have seen several misguided and uninformed posts. Racquetball public–please take note. I wish I could go into specifics–I really do. If something seems one-sided or under-handed please investigate before you go posting your take on what went down. Worse yet, do not post someone else’s take on what went down without investigating. Often the smoothest talking, nicest person can be that “snake in the …

Want to get mentally tougher? Why not build your own acronym? An acronym is a collection of letters that stands for something but forms a word. PUP-I put this on my shoe and folks thought I was an animal lover. I am, but PUP stood for Poise under pressure. Often in tight matches I would gaze down at that strong message! You can also do it with a mission statement for a tough match. Find your own “happy place” acronym and use it for mental focus and success ! DLFBY-Don’t let the floor beat you!! Mission statements are a great …

For three years I served on the Arizona State Board and I am now going on year 5 with a little break between terms. Prior to that I had stints as the NY State President back in the day and the NY State Board. Why do I do this? To give something back to the sport is the reason. So I began thinking about this and it does not matter if it is New York or Arizona, some things run true! For those of you who have never served on the board and or even if you have here are …

“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 …

Think like the old boy and girl scouts motto–“Be Prepared”! If you are thrown a curve when least expecting, it could create havoc with your concentration. I have seen almost every dirty trick in the book. From hitting a guy in the face with an overhead to win a seniors title, to walking across a player’s setups, to temper tantrums and turning the air blue; all these things can break your concentration and if you play long enough something will happen that could cause a melt-down if you are not prepared. Think of what could happen and develop a plan. …