Two Dimensional Thinking in Racquetball

 Racquetball Strategy, Shot Selection  No Responses »
Feb 012011
 

He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two-dimensional thinking.
Spock – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Racquetball is a 3-dimensional game. Most beginner and intermediate players are completely focused on hitting the ball directly to the front wall. But, there are four alternative walls to which you can hit the ball: the two side walls, the back wall, and the ceiling. What causes this obsession with only hitting to the front wall?

Through repetition, most of us develop patterns of play. These patterns help us make quick decisions during a rally. However, these patterns can quickly limit our ability to improve.

For example, if you notice that opponent always returns the ball directly to the front wall of the court, then you could deduce that they are stuck in a pattern of play. So you could try hitting your shots into the side walls (around the wall shots) and see what happens. Most likely, your opponent will be completely confused and unable to return these shots.

At each skill level, more complicated patterns of play are required. For instance, beginner players tend to defend the back wall, ie, they volley the ball and try to keep it from getting past them. They have not yet learned how to hit the ball off the back wall.

Advanced patterns require advanced levels of skills. For example, hitting ceiling balls when your opponent is in center court, and pinch shots, when they are behind you, is an advanced pattern of play. This level of play maximizes the use of all three dimensions of the court.

So to improve your game, learn how to recognize your opponents patterns of play. To really improve your game, learn how to recognize your own patterns of play.

Speed Matters in Racquetball

 Stroke Techniques  No Responses »
Jan 282011
 
Speed vs Control

The equivalent to yin and yang in racquetball is speed and control. If you increase your hitting speed, you lose some control. If you want to gain more ball control, you need to give up some speed. But is that really true?

In racquetball, ball speed really, really matters. I can think back over years of playing, and cannot remember many times where I got beat by a control player. The fact is, the power player does not need to hit great shots. As long as the power player does not skip the ball, they are going to keep the control player off-balance and feeling rushed (ie, not in control!).

Power players are relentless. They hit blindingly fast drive serves or drive Z’s or jam serves on their first AND second serves. They hit hard wide-angle passing shots that you are constantly trying to chase down. They hit 5 or 6 aces per game. They get ahead in the game and never let you can catch up.

Sequential Summation of Movement

So work on your swing technique so you can increase the speed which you hit the ball. Watch this video on baseball pitching mechanics a few times and think about how to swing where the largest body masses move first  (back leg drive, then hip and shoulder turn)  followed by smaller ones (arm and wrist action).

How to Play Racquetball

 General Info, Rules of Play  No Responses »
Jan 262011
 

Download PDF version of How_to_Play_Racquetball

TYPES OF GAMES

Racquetball is played by two (singles) or four players (doubles). A variation of the game that is played by three players is called cut-throat. In cut-throat, one player serves and the other two players are his/her opponents. If the server wins the rally, they score a point. If they lose the rally, one of the other players becomes the server. The players take turns being the server as each player serving loses a rally.

OBJECTIVE

The objective is to win each rally by serving or returning the ball so the opponent is unable to keep the ball in play. A rally is over when a hinder is called or when a player (or team in doubles): 1) is unable to hit the ball before it bounces twice, or 2) is unable to return the ball in such a way that it touches the front wall before it touches the floor.

POINTS AND OUTS

Points are scored only by the serving side when it serves an irretrievable server (an ace) or wins a rally. In doubles, when the first server loses the serve, the second server then serves. After the second server loses the serve, it is a side out.

MATCH, GAME, TIEBREAKER

A match is won by the first side winning two games. The first two games of a match are played to 15 points (win by one point). If each side wins one game, a tiebreaker game is played to 11 points (win by one point).

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Tips to Improve Your Racquetball Ceiling Ball Game

 Ceiling Balls, Practice  No Responses »
Jan 252011
 

First, I need to debunk a myth about playing ceiling shots. This myth says that ceiling balls are only defensive shots to move your opponent into the back of the court.

First, I prefer to think of using ceiling balls to move me into an offensive position in center court.  Second, in any given game, I will probably win 1 or 2 points outright with a tight, steeply dropping, ceiling ball into a back corner. Third, my opponent will probably skip 2 or 3 return shots from my back court ceiling balls.

So ceiling balls are attacking defensive shots which will put you in offensive position. At minimum, a good ceiling game can win you 3 to 5 points per game.

And good technique helps as well. Remember to use your biggest muscles, which means using your hips and shoulders as the engines to power the shot. Your wrist is mostly locked. Your arm contributes about 20% to the swing, while the remaining 80% is hip and shoulder turn.

And one more tip — don’t hit your ceiling ball too hard. Hit it just hard enough to reach the back wall crack on the second bounce.

How do you improve your ceiling game? In one word, practice!

  • Before every match, warm up with ceiling balls
  • Practice hitting 15 minutes of ceiling balls alone on the court each week
  • Warm up with a partner by playing a ceiling ball game to 11  (only lob serves and ceiling balls allowed)