I had gotten really into racquetball to the last couple years. I was playing 4-5 times a week. Singles, doubles, cutthroat, even some 1 on 2.
As I learned the game I got more and more aggressive. I learned the corner pinch and it became a very deadly weapon...which was needed because of two of my regular opponents.
Tim doesn't have the quickest first step but what he does have is exceptional positioning. He does the best job of any of us of clogging up the center court and standing so far forward that if the ball bounces up at all he gets it. Against him I try to use passing shots, but his positioning is so good it can be tough to get it past him. As a result, I go to the ceiling ball to drive him back and then try to pinch in the front corner. While he may not have a lightning first step, he does have good closing speed and anything less than a perfect pinch he seems to get tom.
Meanwhile, Scott DOES have a lighning first step, he has fantastic closing speed, incredible reach and magnificent anticipation. His primary weakness is positioning. He is so fast he doesn't bother to get in position, instead relying on anticipation and speed to get to EVERYTHING. It feels like it takes a perfect shot to score against him.
The result is I was hitting the ball progressively harder trying for the perfect pinch to the point where the tennis elbow in my right arm got so bad I took a month or so off. After I came back I have been playing once or twice a week, with a noticeable decline in my game.
Note that does not mean I am bad...simply that my accuracy has declined, I leave the ball a bit higher on the pinch shots, my passing shots hit the sidewall too soon...
But there is still a clear hierarchy in our group. We have a pool of 10 of us that mix it up pretty regularly. Scott and I are the top of the ladder, Tim is slightly behind us, Steve and David a bit behind him, and the rest are pretty close to even.
Thing is the differences are small but large...in that the difference between any two players might just be one specific shot a person can (or can't) hit, but that person will beat the next a large majority of the time.
For all the good things I said about Tim above, I have lengthy, months-long winning streaks against him sometimes. David got me once this year (though to be fair I had been playing 2 hours and he came in fresh...other than that he has not gotten me). Other than that, only Scott can beat me, though we are pretty close to .500.
Every so often one of us will develop a new shot. Until the other adjusts and adds it, the first guy wins a lot of games. For example, I was the first one to start taking shots from deep in the court and plastering it hard off the sidewall in a poor mans imitation of a splat shot. For a couple weeks I won 2 of 3 or even 3 of 4 games in singles and cutthroat with Scott involved. Then he developed it and we were back to even.
Then he started hitting a tennis-looking overhead shot from the back left corner that turned into a really good corner pinch. Since my defensive default is a ceiling shot to the other guys' backhand, that played into his new weapon and he was winning 2 of 3, 3 of 4...which led to me developing a 3-wall shot that went horizontal instead and took that shot away from him.
There have been a lot of other shots developed, the pendulum has swung back and forth. Most recently I added a little wrist snap to my drive serve that added 10-15 mph to it. He is catching up to it but I am scoring a pretty high percentage of either aces or returns weak enough to give me easy set-ups which I convert at a pretty high percentage.
However, as the amount of our playing has declined the quality of our shots has as well. Scott has only been able to play twice this month. The first time was cutthroat with Tim. I won the first two games. The the third game, Scott had a decent lead and both Tim and Scott had 10 or more points while I was stuck on 4.
When I am behind and want to "make it respectable" I have another gear. My first step is just a bit quicker, the velocity on my shot a notch higher, the hustle to get those seemingly ungettable balls more present. Before you knew it I had 10, Tim 11 and Scott 14. After a couple service rotations I got to 14 and ended up winning 15-14-12.
We only got in 3 games and only played an hour and a half, as all three of us are in much less of a good racquetball shape due to our less frequent playing.
Before and after that games have involved people other than Scott and as a result over the first 16 days I was 22-0. Thursday Scott and I got in some singles.
Playing less, counter-intutively, has resulted in heavier, more tired legs. I was not sure I could complete the first game. From a scoreboard standpoint it was a fantastic, back and forth affair with several lead changes that ended with him winning 15-14.
From a quality standpoint it was awful. My pinch shots were coming back knee high to the second line...which is not a good thing against mediocre players and is devastatingly bad against someone like David, Tim or Scott who is going to punish me for mistakes like that.
I shifted gears to a passing shot oriented game but two things made that difficult; first, I was hitting the sidewall with an uncomfortably high number of them, giving him a hair more time and a few precious inches to get to it and second, he is so fast he was getting to everything.
I went to a lot of ceiling shots and aggressively pursuing balls myself to stay in the game and was helped by him grounding more than a couple shots that are usually automatic. Otherwise he would have blown me out. Regardless, the first game was nothing that will be on either of our highlight reels.
The second game he started hitting his shots. I had one brief stretch where I took my biggest lead, 11-8. He proceeded to not miss a shot the rest of the game. It was a classic Scott display; I was moving him side to side, back to front, scraping the walls and he was getting to EVERYTHING. His serve was also giving me issues...I was having a hard time picking up the red ball off his blue shirt...I cannot explain that one. It directly cost me a couple points when I could not even return serves that were not his best, and another point or two when my return was quite weak. It did not matter though as he so badly outplayed me in that stretch I never had a chance and he ran off 8 straight over three or four service turns to win handily.
When you have not lost a game in over two weeeks and then lose two straight and the second you are dominated in the money portion of it, it can be a real mental challenge. You start to question yourself when you are hitting sub-par shots but even when you hit a good shot the other guy gets to it and puts it away.
So by game 3 I was just hoping to get one game off him. I was concentrating on attempting the right shot, on staying low, hitting passing shots that bounced twice before the back wall without coming off the sidewall.
In game 1 everything was a lob serve. Game 2 I was mixing between lobs and my standing up 3/4 speed serve. This time I was dropping low, flicking the wrist, mixing up my serves between drives to the corner, z-serves, and an occasional shot to the forehand to keep him off balance.
Early on he was returning everything and I was moving him around a lot. If he was against the left wall I would go for the right corner or pass down the right wall. If he was up front a ceiling ball or passing attempt was the answer. If he was behind the dotted line I tried a pinch.
And he was getting to them. Just barely sometimes, but getting there. After something like 7 service changes the score was 0-0. Even though I could not score on him, he could not score on me either.
He started building a lead. 1 point here, 2 there, anotehr one here...suddenly it was 8-1, he was crushing me.
I found that extra gear. He lost a step. I don't know what happened, but I began fighting my way back. I was gasping an wheezing all the way but I pounded his backhand, avoided bringing them off the wall, started drilling my patented corner pinch.
I caught him at 10, again at 11 and ended up winning something like 15-12. What a huge relief to get that can't beat Scott monkey off my back. I had thought for sure I was going to be down 3 games and not have been competitive from the mid-point of game 2.
There was carryover in game 3 as suddenly everything that was not working early now was. I was getting him out of the service box early and often. I was scoring a point or two every time I ws up. My pinches were dropping in front of him, my serve creating weak returns to give plentiful chances at them, my passing shots got past him, I got to his passing shots, I was getting into and winning long rallies...I toasted him 15-4. That was a shocker.
Knotted at 2 we decided to play a tie-breaker. I was winded and tired but so was he.
Early on he built a lead but I caught up and took one of my own. He came back to be up by a point or so and then suddenly I made a slight adjustment on his serve. He had 4 or 5 straight weak returns and a close game became a rout.
Looking back I cannot believe I even won a game. He was faster, more accurate, hitting better shots and getting to more of them. I think I had better positioning, a better serve, and he was not putting away some shots he normally does. If I played the way I played this time as a general rule he wins virtually every game. This time he was just enough off his feed that I got him 3 of 5 tries.
It was very entertaining and fun. I went through 2 sets of head and wrist bands and they were SOAKED when I took them off and ultimately that is the sign of a great game.
Showing posts with label racquetball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label racquetball. Show all posts
Friday
1534 The Racquetball Chronicles
Coming off last night, all the advantages should be mine. I am in better shape, I felt like I had regained my form, and was ready for tonight.
Game one started slow. Very slow. After 20 minutes it was 6-5.
We were both doing the lob serves. On the one hand, it was good...it led to a lot of volleys. On the other hand, it has a very detrimental effect on me.
When I know the serve is going to be a high, slow thing I can pick my nose, tie my shoe, check out the girls on the treadmill and then move into position and blast the ball, I lose focus. I stop getting into position. I stop hustling after balls that are extremely gettable.
Worse, when I am in position and set up, I am still not in rhythm, and as a result I start mis-hitting.
It showed up repeatedly. When I had to run and work to get to a ball I made some great plays...but then a lollipop would come my way and at best I would hit a poor shot, bouncing it off the side wall and into his happy zone...and those were my GOOD shots.
My bad shots were...well, I would set up in position, wait for the ball to drop into my happy zone and...miss it by 3 feet. I mean, I was not within a baseball bat distance of the ball. I cannot figure out what was going on.
The angles were not tough to read, the shots were easy to get to...I just was missing by three and four racket lengths. It is the most bizarre thing i have eve experienced athletically.
Anyway, I was up about 10-9 and he ended up winning about 15-12 or 15-13. That game was low-hanging fruit and I turned it south. Not to take anything away from him...he played better than I did...but I just gave that game away. It should have been an easy win and I lost.
Game two I served legit maybe three or four times, he served legit a couple times, then we went back to the lob serves.
Again the games were poorly played. I was whiffing on easy shot after easy shot. My corner kill shots were so bad they were rebounding to mid court right about waist high...it was like when I was first learning the game.
I would like to say he was moving me around the court and I was just getting a racket on it allowing him to put away point after point. The truth is I was muffing easy shot after easy shot. This was about as poorly as it is possible for me to play.
My passing shots were over hit so badly they came off the back wall all the way to mid court. Barring that, they hit off the side wall and bounced to center court. My corner kills hit the front wall first, then the side wall, resulting in easy shots for him time after time.
The only saving grace is I was getting to everything he hit and he started rushing his shots trying to beat me and mis-hit a fair few shots himself. In a game of who wants it less, I prevailed about 15-10 or so.
Frustrated, after breaking his serve, I started serving legit. He was returning them, so it was good. And bearing down on the serve improved every part of my game. My passing shots died before the corner, stayed off the walls, and scored. I stopped trying the ineffective pinch shots. I jumped out to a quick lead...and then scored a couple points when he could not return my serve.
Feeling guilty about the "cheap" points I went back to the lob serve.
I kept my intensity for a couple points, but it started to wane. My once huge lead shrunk. Soon it was a real game, but I did close him out about 15-9.
By this time, we had played such long games at such a deliberate pace we only had 15 minutes left.
I quickly broke his serve and, using lob serves, jumped out to a 5-0 lead.
And just like that the switch flipped. I stopped hustling. Shots I could have gotten to I stood and watched. My passing shots went back to being long or off the wall. I repeatedly attempted corner shots that were so bad they bounced off TWO walls and he stood in center court killing them.
Still, we had a couple of great volleys where I got to impossible shots. In a couple of instances I got to three attempted front wall kills in a row, then when he was forced into bad shots set up in short middle court, waiting for the ball to drop to my forehand, shifting my weight properly and...completely missing the ball twice, skipping the ball a half dozen times in those situations. It was ridiculous.
He went up 10-6. Yes, he went on a 10-1 run. 14-7. 15-7.
It was as bad as I have played this entire year. He deserved both wins he got because he hit fewer bad shots than I did and hit more winners in any given game than I did all night.
I still cannot explain why I missed the ball completely so many times. That bothers me. But I will be back. I will be better.
one thing i know is I absolutely must use legit serves to keep my focus.
Game one started slow. Very slow. After 20 minutes it was 6-5.
We were both doing the lob serves. On the one hand, it was good...it led to a lot of volleys. On the other hand, it has a very detrimental effect on me.
When I know the serve is going to be a high, slow thing I can pick my nose, tie my shoe, check out the girls on the treadmill and then move into position and blast the ball, I lose focus. I stop getting into position. I stop hustling after balls that are extremely gettable.
Worse, when I am in position and set up, I am still not in rhythm, and as a result I start mis-hitting.
It showed up repeatedly. When I had to run and work to get to a ball I made some great plays...but then a lollipop would come my way and at best I would hit a poor shot, bouncing it off the side wall and into his happy zone...and those were my GOOD shots.
My bad shots were...well, I would set up in position, wait for the ball to drop into my happy zone and...miss it by 3 feet. I mean, I was not within a baseball bat distance of the ball. I cannot figure out what was going on.
The angles were not tough to read, the shots were easy to get to...I just was missing by three and four racket lengths. It is the most bizarre thing i have eve experienced athletically.
Anyway, I was up about 10-9 and he ended up winning about 15-12 or 15-13. That game was low-hanging fruit and I turned it south. Not to take anything away from him...he played better than I did...but I just gave that game away. It should have been an easy win and I lost.
Game two I served legit maybe three or four times, he served legit a couple times, then we went back to the lob serves.
Again the games were poorly played. I was whiffing on easy shot after easy shot. My corner kill shots were so bad they were rebounding to mid court right about waist high...it was like when I was first learning the game.
I would like to say he was moving me around the court and I was just getting a racket on it allowing him to put away point after point. The truth is I was muffing easy shot after easy shot. This was about as poorly as it is possible for me to play.
My passing shots were over hit so badly they came off the back wall all the way to mid court. Barring that, they hit off the side wall and bounced to center court. My corner kills hit the front wall first, then the side wall, resulting in easy shots for him time after time.
The only saving grace is I was getting to everything he hit and he started rushing his shots trying to beat me and mis-hit a fair few shots himself. In a game of who wants it less, I prevailed about 15-10 or so.
Frustrated, after breaking his serve, I started serving legit. He was returning them, so it was good. And bearing down on the serve improved every part of my game. My passing shots died before the corner, stayed off the walls, and scored. I stopped trying the ineffective pinch shots. I jumped out to a quick lead...and then scored a couple points when he could not return my serve.
Feeling guilty about the "cheap" points I went back to the lob serve.
I kept my intensity for a couple points, but it started to wane. My once huge lead shrunk. Soon it was a real game, but I did close him out about 15-9.
By this time, we had played such long games at such a deliberate pace we only had 15 minutes left.
I quickly broke his serve and, using lob serves, jumped out to a 5-0 lead.
And just like that the switch flipped. I stopped hustling. Shots I could have gotten to I stood and watched. My passing shots went back to being long or off the wall. I repeatedly attempted corner shots that were so bad they bounced off TWO walls and he stood in center court killing them.
Still, we had a couple of great volleys where I got to impossible shots. In a couple of instances I got to three attempted front wall kills in a row, then when he was forced into bad shots set up in short middle court, waiting for the ball to drop to my forehand, shifting my weight properly and...completely missing the ball twice, skipping the ball a half dozen times in those situations. It was ridiculous.
He went up 10-6. Yes, he went on a 10-1 run. 14-7. 15-7.
It was as bad as I have played this entire year. He deserved both wins he got because he hit fewer bad shots than I did and hit more winners in any given game than I did all night.
I still cannot explain why I missed the ball completely so many times. That bothers me. But I will be back. I will be better.
one thing i know is I absolutely must use legit serves to keep my focus.
Thursday
1533 The Racquetball Chronicles
When TA and I get a chance to play, we pretty much always do. Tonight I was fortunate enough to have an early court time so off we went.
I had a few minutes to practice and worked on keeping my shot low and hitting the proper angles to keep the ball off the wall and thus into mid-court. It would pay off as I hit the ball well all night.
Typically in the first game he exclusively does lob serves. As I mentioned a couple of posts back, we are similarly skilled, though at this point in time I believe I have a few advantages. Well, if I am serving low, hard and nasty and he is lob serving...it is seldom going to be a game.
So I determined to engage in lob serves myself.
At first it was a good, solid, competitive game. he actually held a 5-3 lead and I was struggling to score. Then the switch came on.
Suddenly everything was clicking; for a couple weeks, I have been waiting for the ball to drop, then mis-hitting. Tonight the ball would drop and I would put away a winner. Forehand, backhand, ball high, ball low...did not matter. And the game turned into a rout. I was up 14-5 before he scored again. He ended up with 7 or 8, but the game was not close once I started playing well.
Game two he was serving to score but my returns were nails. He could not get much past me. But he was winning rallies as he was hitting winners when they were presented. He took a 2-0 lead, I stormed back to tie it, then took a 6-2 lead...then he scored 8 straight.
I could not do anything. I was returning every serve, but poorly, and he was not missing. I missed a couple serves. I missed a passing shot. he got to a couple of good shots. It was soul-crushing...
Then the switch flipped again. I started using ceiling shots, seizing the middle, hitting kill shots, hitting good passing shots, getting to every shot he hit.
With him playing well I ran off 9 straight points. He took his last lead at 11-10, he tied it at 12, and then I ran off 30 straight points.
That is not a typo. I won the last three points, then skunked him 15-0. It did not matter what he did. If he hit a ceiling shot, I hit one in return until he hit one a little too soft. If he hit a passing shot, I returned the favor. If he hit a kill shot I got to it and hit a better one.
I was hitting sidewall pinches, front wall pinches, passing shots...my court awareness, my position, my shot planning, my execution were superior. He could not score, he could not stop me from scoring.
After the 15-0 rout, I jumped out to a 12-0 lead. By this point I was junk ball serving to get rallies because even when he was returning my tough serves I was just taking the return and putting it away. It is as well as I have ever played.
He scored 6 or 8 points, but it was not that close and was never in doubt.
Game 5 was more respectable but still not close...another 12 or 13 point lead. We decided to play one last one.
I jumped out to a 3-0 lead and it was looking grim. Then he stepped it up. He was playing at the top of his game and I was playing well. He built a 6-3 lead. I took an 8-6 lead. He took a 9-8 lead. I took a 10-9 lead. 10-11.
Most of the points by both of us were earned. These were not the cheesy "I set up for a kill shot, have an easy shot and just muff it". The closest to that was my speed and ability to get to ball after ball after ball was making him adjust his play; if I over hit and he had a shot close to the wall, he had a tough choice; if he hit it soft, I was getting to every one and then he was out of position. If he hit it hard, I was running down most of those unless he hit it perfectly. So he mis-hit a lot of those, and when he did not, I scored...so it was a no-win situation for him.
This, by the way, is almost exclusively a function of my conditioning. I can run, run, run and am quick enough to cover almost the entire court.
Anyway, we were tied at 14. I broke his serve with about as good a return as I have ever hit. We then had a spectacular rally where both of us thought we had hit winners only to see the other guy return it somehow someway. Finally I hit a beautiful cross-court passing shot that eluded his racket by a quarter inch. 15-14.
Whereas typically this ends the game, he likes to play win by two.
We had a good rally that ended in a hinder.It was probably advantageous to me as I had hit a poor attempt at a corner kill but he felt he had been in my way, then I stumbled into him from my over swing.
The last serve was nasty, he got a great return, I had to plaster it off the back wall. I do not want to say i have mastered a defensive shot there, but I have certainly gotten very good at it. I hit it so hard and at the right angle to force him to the back wall and it comes off soft so he cannot generate power or a kill. He tried a ceiling shot, it was a tough attempt but all he could do.
It bounced moderately high just pass mid-court, I waited, dropped low, timed it, and hit what would have been a great passing shot if it had not bounced twice within 6" of the front wall. Great finish to a great game.
I had a few minutes to practice and worked on keeping my shot low and hitting the proper angles to keep the ball off the wall and thus into mid-court. It would pay off as I hit the ball well all night.
Typically in the first game he exclusively does lob serves. As I mentioned a couple of posts back, we are similarly skilled, though at this point in time I believe I have a few advantages. Well, if I am serving low, hard and nasty and he is lob serving...it is seldom going to be a game.
So I determined to engage in lob serves myself.
At first it was a good, solid, competitive game. he actually held a 5-3 lead and I was struggling to score. Then the switch came on.
Suddenly everything was clicking; for a couple weeks, I have been waiting for the ball to drop, then mis-hitting. Tonight the ball would drop and I would put away a winner. Forehand, backhand, ball high, ball low...did not matter. And the game turned into a rout. I was up 14-5 before he scored again. He ended up with 7 or 8, but the game was not close once I started playing well.
Game two he was serving to score but my returns were nails. He could not get much past me. But he was winning rallies as he was hitting winners when they were presented. He took a 2-0 lead, I stormed back to tie it, then took a 6-2 lead...then he scored 8 straight.
I could not do anything. I was returning every serve, but poorly, and he was not missing. I missed a couple serves. I missed a passing shot. he got to a couple of good shots. It was soul-crushing...
Then the switch flipped again. I started using ceiling shots, seizing the middle, hitting kill shots, hitting good passing shots, getting to every shot he hit.
With him playing well I ran off 9 straight points. He took his last lead at 11-10, he tied it at 12, and then I ran off 30 straight points.
That is not a typo. I won the last three points, then skunked him 15-0. It did not matter what he did. If he hit a ceiling shot, I hit one in return until he hit one a little too soft. If he hit a passing shot, I returned the favor. If he hit a kill shot I got to it and hit a better one.
I was hitting sidewall pinches, front wall pinches, passing shots...my court awareness, my position, my shot planning, my execution were superior. He could not score, he could not stop me from scoring.
After the 15-0 rout, I jumped out to a 12-0 lead. By this point I was junk ball serving to get rallies because even when he was returning my tough serves I was just taking the return and putting it away. It is as well as I have ever played.
He scored 6 or 8 points, but it was not that close and was never in doubt.
Game 5 was more respectable but still not close...another 12 or 13 point lead. We decided to play one last one.
I jumped out to a 3-0 lead and it was looking grim. Then he stepped it up. He was playing at the top of his game and I was playing well. He built a 6-3 lead. I took an 8-6 lead. He took a 9-8 lead. I took a 10-9 lead. 10-11.
Most of the points by both of us were earned. These were not the cheesy "I set up for a kill shot, have an easy shot and just muff it". The closest to that was my speed and ability to get to ball after ball after ball was making him adjust his play; if I over hit and he had a shot close to the wall, he had a tough choice; if he hit it soft, I was getting to every one and then he was out of position. If he hit it hard, I was running down most of those unless he hit it perfectly. So he mis-hit a lot of those, and when he did not, I scored...so it was a no-win situation for him.
This, by the way, is almost exclusively a function of my conditioning. I can run, run, run and am quick enough to cover almost the entire court.
Anyway, we were tied at 14. I broke his serve with about as good a return as I have ever hit. We then had a spectacular rally where both of us thought we had hit winners only to see the other guy return it somehow someway. Finally I hit a beautiful cross-court passing shot that eluded his racket by a quarter inch. 15-14.
Whereas typically this ends the game, he likes to play win by two.
We had a good rally that ended in a hinder.It was probably advantageous to me as I had hit a poor attempt at a corner kill but he felt he had been in my way, then I stumbled into him from my over swing.
The last serve was nasty, he got a great return, I had to plaster it off the back wall. I do not want to say i have mastered a defensive shot there, but I have certainly gotten very good at it. I hit it so hard and at the right angle to force him to the back wall and it comes off soft so he cannot generate power or a kill. He tried a ceiling shot, it was a tough attempt but all he could do.
It bounced moderately high just pass mid-court, I waited, dropped low, timed it, and hit what would have been a great passing shot if it had not bounced twice within 6" of the front wall. Great finish to a great game.
Friday
1529 The Racquetball Chronicles
Tonight was playing TA. usually good games; I can serve as strong as I want, he gets to most of them and there are never those strings of 8 or 10 points that are just me controlling the game with my serve.
We missed last week as he was doing some good work and I missed out on this week's competitive racquetball due to a variety of reasons, though I did get in one casual session with a new friend I am trying to teach the game to.
TA was fighting a bronchial infection so the first couple games were very slow. We would take 30 or 40 seconds between some volleys. A methodical pace.
Thing is, when the ball was in play it was an excellent game. Well, sort of...he had not played for two weeks and I had not played for a week. We were both fighting breathing issues, though he was far more than me.
As a result, we were both missing shots. I cannot count how many times a shot would be floating in the air, I would set up in perfect position, wait for it to drop, time my swing perfectly...and spike the ball into the floor instead of hitting the kill shot I set up for.
He was also struggling with his accuracy.
Points were hard to come by. After ten minutes we had dozens of service exchanges...and a point apiece. After 20 minutes it was something like 6-6.
After 30 minutes it was 14-10.
The thing is, I scored 2 or 3 points off my serve, he scored maybe one off his serve, and both of us hit a couple of winners...but MOST if our points were off the opponents errors, and honestly most of them were unforced.
We would be in perfect position and just...mis-hit.
Since we were both doing it the game was competitive.
In the second game it was different. I hit a few more winners and, more importantly, a few fewer unforced errors. And it was unquestionably a stomp, 15-4.
It was not that I was playing well...it was that he was playing awful and I was playing merely sub-standard.
See, I could make a chart of our abilities at this point;
I play my best game, he plays his best game, I win.
I play a strong game, he plays his best game, I win most.
I play a strong game, he plays a strong game, I win slightly more than 50%.
I play an average game, he plays his best game, he wins.
I play an average game, he plays a strong game, he wins slightly more than 50%.
And so forth.
I am so much faster than he is that I get to a vast percentage of the balls. He has slightly better strategy, but at least at this point in time, our strokes are about equal. He has slightly better touch, I have slightly better power, our accuracy is similar, and I have slightly more aggresion. I have a much stronger serve, but he has a stronger return.
The net is, and this is not meant to offend him or to boast, at this point I am pure and simple an overall better player if we both play our best games.
This was a night where game one was both our worst games.
Game two was a sub-standard game for me and his worst game for him.
Game three was a good game for me and a good game for him.
Once again points were at a premium. I think I scored three off my serve and he scored 2 off his. There were still a handful of shots that came from mis-hits, but this time most of them were actually winners hit by the player in question.
I was making a conscious effort to be moving when I hit the ball. For some reason I was off when I got in position and waited for the ball to drop. So now I made a conscious effort to be moving, whether sideways, forward or back.
And my shots improved. I got at least three rollouts off pinch shots. I was moving him around the court, then hitting solid passing shots.
But it was not all me; we had several good battles over the middle. When I was there he would hit a ceiling shot to move me...I would scrape the wall with my return to move him...and whoever first got the ball slightly out of their target zone would see the other player hit a probable winner.
I was feeling it this game...so fast that when he would get an opportunity to get up close to the front wall and try a tap shot, I was there to hit a passing shot and score the rally win. If he blasted it, more often than not I was quick enough to get the racket on the ball...win for me.
But he had a few roll-outs of his own as well and some great passing shots.
In the end I came back from down 6-2 to tie it at 6, then take a 10-7 lead only to see him tie it at 10 and again at 11.
I then ran off the last 5 points. I say 5 because at 14-11 I hit an intentionally mediocre serve and he just...missed it. I said, "No way is a game this good ending on that." He returned with a ceiling shot, I brought it down, he hit a ceiling shot slightly short that I waited on, stepped into, and drove a good but not great corner kill he could not get to. A legit winner.
We had now played about an hour and thirty minutes...and only completed 3 games.
We went one more.
His serve was ON. He took a quick 2-0 lead. I tied it. He took a 6-2 lead.6-4. 10-4.
That was the murderous run. I gave up about 5 points on his serve...and 3 of them I should not have. They were good, solid serves, but serves I should have handled. Instead I was outright missing them and I have no explanation.
2 of his serves were great...one was a sidewall pinch that rolled out from the sidewall and the next one bounced twice before the dotted line. Spectacular.
But the real problem was position; his serves were good enough that I was giving him too many easy kill attempts or at best feeding him middle court, forehand. He is too good to do that with and was racking up points.
Worse, my serve had deserted me so I was hitting a lot of second serves. He was moving me, and I could not move him out of position...he was in my beloved forecort center and my passing shots were bouncing off the walls.
This was him having a strong game and me having an average game.
He got up about 14-6 before I made a run, closing to 14-10 with a couple of service changes in there.
He mis-hit three or four balls in that stretch, most of them on his serve.
I meanwhile was mostly scoring on passing shots and outright hustle...he hit a lot of balls he thought were past me that I used my athleticism to gt to...including one where on a dead run I plastered a low, hard passing shot that I had to leap over myself and just about strained my groin.
But in the end, he got the serve back once too often at 14-9. My return was pedestrian and he hit a beautiful corner pinch shot to end the night.
things I learned; rust kills. My shot was off most of the night. Instead of keeping my passing shots down the wall, they were hitting the side wall and bouncing a third of the way into the court. My pinch and kill shots were skipping short. My serve was either short, hitting the side wall, or too high.
I need to work on my fundamentals so a layoff of a week does not impair my game that badly.
On the bright side, three of the four games were very competitive, and that is a lot of fun.
We missed last week as he was doing some good work and I missed out on this week's competitive racquetball due to a variety of reasons, though I did get in one casual session with a new friend I am trying to teach the game to.
TA was fighting a bronchial infection so the first couple games were very slow. We would take 30 or 40 seconds between some volleys. A methodical pace.
Thing is, when the ball was in play it was an excellent game. Well, sort of...he had not played for two weeks and I had not played for a week. We were both fighting breathing issues, though he was far more than me.
As a result, we were both missing shots. I cannot count how many times a shot would be floating in the air, I would set up in perfect position, wait for it to drop, time my swing perfectly...and spike the ball into the floor instead of hitting the kill shot I set up for.
He was also struggling with his accuracy.
Points were hard to come by. After ten minutes we had dozens of service exchanges...and a point apiece. After 20 minutes it was something like 6-6.
After 30 minutes it was 14-10.
The thing is, I scored 2 or 3 points off my serve, he scored maybe one off his serve, and both of us hit a couple of winners...but MOST if our points were off the opponents errors, and honestly most of them were unforced.
We would be in perfect position and just...mis-hit.
Since we were both doing it the game was competitive.
In the second game it was different. I hit a few more winners and, more importantly, a few fewer unforced errors. And it was unquestionably a stomp, 15-4.
It was not that I was playing well...it was that he was playing awful and I was playing merely sub-standard.
See, I could make a chart of our abilities at this point;
I play my best game, he plays his best game, I win.
I play a strong game, he plays his best game, I win most.
I play a strong game, he plays a strong game, I win slightly more than 50%.
I play an average game, he plays his best game, he wins.
I play an average game, he plays a strong game, he wins slightly more than 50%.
And so forth.
I am so much faster than he is that I get to a vast percentage of the balls. He has slightly better strategy, but at least at this point in time, our strokes are about equal. He has slightly better touch, I have slightly better power, our accuracy is similar, and I have slightly more aggresion. I have a much stronger serve, but he has a stronger return.
The net is, and this is not meant to offend him or to boast, at this point I am pure and simple an overall better player if we both play our best games.
This was a night where game one was both our worst games.
Game two was a sub-standard game for me and his worst game for him.
Game three was a good game for me and a good game for him.
Once again points were at a premium. I think I scored three off my serve and he scored 2 off his. There were still a handful of shots that came from mis-hits, but this time most of them were actually winners hit by the player in question.
I was making a conscious effort to be moving when I hit the ball. For some reason I was off when I got in position and waited for the ball to drop. So now I made a conscious effort to be moving, whether sideways, forward or back.
And my shots improved. I got at least three rollouts off pinch shots. I was moving him around the court, then hitting solid passing shots.
But it was not all me; we had several good battles over the middle. When I was there he would hit a ceiling shot to move me...I would scrape the wall with my return to move him...and whoever first got the ball slightly out of their target zone would see the other player hit a probable winner.
I was feeling it this game...so fast that when he would get an opportunity to get up close to the front wall and try a tap shot, I was there to hit a passing shot and score the rally win. If he blasted it, more often than not I was quick enough to get the racket on the ball...win for me.
But he had a few roll-outs of his own as well and some great passing shots.
In the end I came back from down 6-2 to tie it at 6, then take a 10-7 lead only to see him tie it at 10 and again at 11.
I then ran off the last 5 points. I say 5 because at 14-11 I hit an intentionally mediocre serve and he just...missed it. I said, "No way is a game this good ending on that." He returned with a ceiling shot, I brought it down, he hit a ceiling shot slightly short that I waited on, stepped into, and drove a good but not great corner kill he could not get to. A legit winner.
We had now played about an hour and thirty minutes...and only completed 3 games.
We went one more.
His serve was ON. He took a quick 2-0 lead. I tied it. He took a 6-2 lead.6-4. 10-4.
That was the murderous run. I gave up about 5 points on his serve...and 3 of them I should not have. They were good, solid serves, but serves I should have handled. Instead I was outright missing them and I have no explanation.
2 of his serves were great...one was a sidewall pinch that rolled out from the sidewall and the next one bounced twice before the dotted line. Spectacular.
But the real problem was position; his serves were good enough that I was giving him too many easy kill attempts or at best feeding him middle court, forehand. He is too good to do that with and was racking up points.
Worse, my serve had deserted me so I was hitting a lot of second serves. He was moving me, and I could not move him out of position...he was in my beloved forecort center and my passing shots were bouncing off the walls.
This was him having a strong game and me having an average game.
He got up about 14-6 before I made a run, closing to 14-10 with a couple of service changes in there.
He mis-hit three or four balls in that stretch, most of them on his serve.
I meanwhile was mostly scoring on passing shots and outright hustle...he hit a lot of balls he thought were past me that I used my athleticism to gt to...including one where on a dead run I plastered a low, hard passing shot that I had to leap over myself and just about strained my groin.
But in the end, he got the serve back once too often at 14-9. My return was pedestrian and he hit a beautiful corner pinch shot to end the night.
things I learned; rust kills. My shot was off most of the night. Instead of keeping my passing shots down the wall, they were hitting the side wall and bouncing a third of the way into the court. My pinch and kill shots were skipping short. My serve was either short, hitting the side wall, or too high.
I need to work on my fundamentals so a layoff of a week does not impair my game that badly.
On the bright side, three of the four games were very competitive, and that is a lot of fun.
Saturday
1523 The Racquetball Chronicles XV
All day I was out of sorts. My legs were aching and tired, I was fighting my trice-annual cold of doom, and just all over not feeling good. On top of that, I was very sleep deprived. Almost called off the game, but ultimately decided to see if I could "sweat it out". Plus I look forward to playing Coat.
Ended up having to cut my weight workout about 3 machines short...just not feeling it. Should have called it off right there, but some of the old drive is coming back...I will have to monitor that carefully so it does not get out of hand.
Anyway, you would not have been able to tell in the first game as I was playing exceptionally well. My serve was on, my passing shots accurate with touch, and my kill shots...well, I hit about four normal ones, then hit a running cross-court corner pinch that was about as good a kill shot as you can get outside of a roll-out.
It was a total domination, 15-4.
We sat down for a couple minutes and were back at it. I deliberately lightened up...he had made a comment that led me to believe the games were not as much fun for him.
Well, I toyed with him until he had about a 10-4 lead and then got serious. But there were problems.
First, I had intentionally lightened my serve and did not go back to the nasty one. Second, all the pinch shots and passing shots were now missing...and he wasn't. Third, I was quitting on chasing balls that I usually get to.
I could have overcome one of those. I could overcome two. But I could not overcome all three...and although I did tie it at 11 I think it was, he outplayed me the rest of the way and got his first win.
I do not mean the above to take anything away from him...I was going all out from the time he hit 10, he just raised his level of play and deserved the win. Every kill shot opportunity he took advantage of. Every mis-cue I made he capitalized on. All in all, he flat out played better.
Another short rest and back at it. Again I dug a hole, something like 6-0, then 8-2. I climbed back into it slowly but surely, though I am not sure how.
The thing is...I was 90% playing very well. I was being patient, I was letting the ball drop to my shoe-tops while set up in perfect position...and then hitting my frame instead of the strings. Two or three balls I missed completely.
He blamed it on my fatigue but I disagree. I had the energy to get into proper position, I thought about the shot I wanted to hit...I just missed the shots.
Still, because I was back to doggedly going after every ball hit, he just could not score enough points and I won about 15-11 or 15-12.
We elected to go one more game. By now he was dropping down and serving some tough serves whereas for most of the first three games he was doing a lot of half-lob and lob serves.
I was concentrating hard and when he gave me lob serves to my backhand I waited for the ball to drop, bent, shifted weight, kept racket level and hit return kill shot after return kill shot. The only chance he had to score was when he got his first serve in and I either did not return it or hit a poor return he could kill.
Still, he jumped out to yet another 6-0ish lead. T ONE POINT HE WAS UP 8-4. I fought back to tie it at 8-8. we then exchanged a half dozen or so service breaks before I ran it out. So yeah...I ran out the last 11 points.
Which is one reason I do not accept the "fatigue" argument for my poor shot-making in the 2nd and 3rd games. I just was not hitting it well.
My goal for the night was to work on my ceiling shot. We did have several multiple ceiling shot rallies, and he won the vast majority of them. I am still working on the correct contact point. I actually have more success on a smurfed up version; I hit it off the front wall about 2' from the ceiling but softly so it sort of dies in the back corner.
On the few occasions he left his ceiling shot short I did a good job of waiting for the ball to drop but a poor job of hitting an accurate shot.
In the first game I was deadly with my kill attempts, but struggled with them for the next three. I need to concentrate on my fundamentals. I hit them much better when I step back as I swing than leaning into it.
Overall, a very fun night of racquetball. And my 88% winning percentage against all comers is something I am proud of. Admittedly the games against BB somewhat inflate the totals, but I have played who comes. Looking forward to more play next week.
Ended up having to cut my weight workout about 3 machines short...just not feeling it. Should have called it off right there, but some of the old drive is coming back...I will have to monitor that carefully so it does not get out of hand.
Anyway, you would not have been able to tell in the first game as I was playing exceptionally well. My serve was on, my passing shots accurate with touch, and my kill shots...well, I hit about four normal ones, then hit a running cross-court corner pinch that was about as good a kill shot as you can get outside of a roll-out.
It was a total domination, 15-4.
We sat down for a couple minutes and were back at it. I deliberately lightened up...he had made a comment that led me to believe the games were not as much fun for him.
Well, I toyed with him until he had about a 10-4 lead and then got serious. But there were problems.
First, I had intentionally lightened my serve and did not go back to the nasty one. Second, all the pinch shots and passing shots were now missing...and he wasn't. Third, I was quitting on chasing balls that I usually get to.
I could have overcome one of those. I could overcome two. But I could not overcome all three...and although I did tie it at 11 I think it was, he outplayed me the rest of the way and got his first win.
I do not mean the above to take anything away from him...I was going all out from the time he hit 10, he just raised his level of play and deserved the win. Every kill shot opportunity he took advantage of. Every mis-cue I made he capitalized on. All in all, he flat out played better.
Another short rest and back at it. Again I dug a hole, something like 6-0, then 8-2. I climbed back into it slowly but surely, though I am not sure how.
The thing is...I was 90% playing very well. I was being patient, I was letting the ball drop to my shoe-tops while set up in perfect position...and then hitting my frame instead of the strings. Two or three balls I missed completely.
He blamed it on my fatigue but I disagree. I had the energy to get into proper position, I thought about the shot I wanted to hit...I just missed the shots.
Still, because I was back to doggedly going after every ball hit, he just could not score enough points and I won about 15-11 or 15-12.
We elected to go one more game. By now he was dropping down and serving some tough serves whereas for most of the first three games he was doing a lot of half-lob and lob serves.
I was concentrating hard and when he gave me lob serves to my backhand I waited for the ball to drop, bent, shifted weight, kept racket level and hit return kill shot after return kill shot. The only chance he had to score was when he got his first serve in and I either did not return it or hit a poor return he could kill.
Still, he jumped out to yet another 6-0ish lead. T ONE POINT HE WAS UP 8-4. I fought back to tie it at 8-8. we then exchanged a half dozen or so service breaks before I ran it out. So yeah...I ran out the last 11 points.
Which is one reason I do not accept the "fatigue" argument for my poor shot-making in the 2nd and 3rd games. I just was not hitting it well.
My goal for the night was to work on my ceiling shot. We did have several multiple ceiling shot rallies, and he won the vast majority of them. I am still working on the correct contact point. I actually have more success on a smurfed up version; I hit it off the front wall about 2' from the ceiling but softly so it sort of dies in the back corner.
On the few occasions he left his ceiling shot short I did a good job of waiting for the ball to drop but a poor job of hitting an accurate shot.
In the first game I was deadly with my kill attempts, but struggled with them for the next three. I need to concentrate on my fundamentals. I hit them much better when I step back as I swing than leaning into it.
Overall, a very fun night of racquetball. And my 88% winning percentage against all comers is something I am proud of. Admittedly the games against BB somewhat inflate the totals, but I have played who comes. Looking forward to more play next week.
Wednesday
1518 Racquetball Chronicles XIV
Tonight playing JB. All day my legs were heavy and inexplicably I was feeling tired.
First game started and he looked...slow. Taking an extra second to get moving, an extra second to get to the ball..and when playing someone who hits the ball pretty fast and hard, that can spell trouble.
My serve was blistering and even when he returned it I was in good position and controlled the court. He did score 6 for the game, but it was never in doubt.
Game 2 he started strong, serving 6 straight points. Only one of them I think actually saw a rally. I scored 2, then he scored 2 more. He was returning every serve no matter how nasty, he was scoring on every kill shot opportunity, he was getting to my passing shots...I felt helpless.
Then I slightly adjusted my stance, started stepping back on my return and suddenly instead of him racking up points off his serve, I was killing every serve. But I could not score either.
Slowly I climbed back into it. 4-8. 5-9. 7-8. 7-9. 9-9/ He took one last lead at 10-9 and I scored the rest of the points to win 15-10. It was a tough, hard fought game. Worse, I was feeling winded.
Game three started out more of the same as he built a rapid 3-0 lead. I got a couple back, tied it at three...and then rolled my ankle. It did not hurt but I thought it should and played tentatively for a couple minutes.
Then I stretched it out, buckled down and destroyed him 15-8. towards the end I was visibly winded and even said, "It is an open question if I will run out of gas before I finish this.
He knew the games should be closer so we rested an abnormally long time and he suggested one more. Always up for a game I agreed.
And sure enough he served up 4 straight points.
But then I got my second wind. And suddenly it looked like I had been toying with him all night. No matter how good his serve I simply hit a backhand kill shot from the back row. When we had volleys he could not get it past me. If he was close to the front a simple passing shot. If he was behind me a kill shot.
When I was up 13-4 we had a rally where he induced a weak passing attempt, moved up and hit a touch shot that came back about a foot inside the very front service line. I was at a dead run when i hit it...and hit such a great corner pinch shot he had no chance it. From behind him I re-killed a kill shot at a dead run.
He just shook his head and said, "We aren't even playing the same game anymore."
I think that is the moment we both knew I have vastly surpassed him.
See, the thing he, he played really well tonight. And I STILL wrecked him. Even when he was ahead 8-2 we both thought I was going to win.
As he said to me, "You played spectacularly tonight." The thing is...he was a step slow, but he was ON tonight and it was a demolition.
I have improved so much it is unbelievable. And I still love the game, so that is good too.
And that is a shot I will long remember...dead run perfect rekill of a shot I should not have had a chance to get to. My instincts, reaction, position and execution were just that good.
First game started and he looked...slow. Taking an extra second to get moving, an extra second to get to the ball..and when playing someone who hits the ball pretty fast and hard, that can spell trouble.
My serve was blistering and even when he returned it I was in good position and controlled the court. He did score 6 for the game, but it was never in doubt.
Game 2 he started strong, serving 6 straight points. Only one of them I think actually saw a rally. I scored 2, then he scored 2 more. He was returning every serve no matter how nasty, he was scoring on every kill shot opportunity, he was getting to my passing shots...I felt helpless.
Then I slightly adjusted my stance, started stepping back on my return and suddenly instead of him racking up points off his serve, I was killing every serve. But I could not score either.
Slowly I climbed back into it. 4-8. 5-9. 7-8. 7-9. 9-9/ He took one last lead at 10-9 and I scored the rest of the points to win 15-10. It was a tough, hard fought game. Worse, I was feeling winded.
Game three started out more of the same as he built a rapid 3-0 lead. I got a couple back, tied it at three...and then rolled my ankle. It did not hurt but I thought it should and played tentatively for a couple minutes.
Then I stretched it out, buckled down and destroyed him 15-8. towards the end I was visibly winded and even said, "It is an open question if I will run out of gas before I finish this.
He knew the games should be closer so we rested an abnormally long time and he suggested one more. Always up for a game I agreed.
And sure enough he served up 4 straight points.
But then I got my second wind. And suddenly it looked like I had been toying with him all night. No matter how good his serve I simply hit a backhand kill shot from the back row. When we had volleys he could not get it past me. If he was close to the front a simple passing shot. If he was behind me a kill shot.
When I was up 13-4 we had a rally where he induced a weak passing attempt, moved up and hit a touch shot that came back about a foot inside the very front service line. I was at a dead run when i hit it...and hit such a great corner pinch shot he had no chance it. From behind him I re-killed a kill shot at a dead run.
He just shook his head and said, "We aren't even playing the same game anymore."
I think that is the moment we both knew I have vastly surpassed him.
See, the thing he, he played really well tonight. And I STILL wrecked him. Even when he was ahead 8-2 we both thought I was going to win.
As he said to me, "You played spectacularly tonight." The thing is...he was a step slow, but he was ON tonight and it was a demolition.
I have improved so much it is unbelievable. And I still love the game, so that is good too.
And that is a shot I will long remember...dead run perfect rekill of a shot I should not have had a chance to get to. My instincts, reaction, position and execution were just that good.
Monday
1515 Racquetball Chronicles XIII
Something strange happened. For the first time in weeks I took proper rest. I did nothing Saturday or Sunday. Before the game tonight I did do my regular weights, but I was fresh and ready to roll.
25 started slowly. The first game was quick, efficient and brutal, a 15-4 maiming. And part of it was the freshness. I was relaxed, smooth, not straining to get to the ball and thus was able to blast perfect passing shots, strong pinch shots, and my serve was blistering.
Game two I relaxed the serve and we had numerous spectacular volleys. How spectacular? Other guys between games were coming by to watch our games and applauding after volleys. 25 was getting to everything and so was I. Strong passing shot...he retreats and hits a fantastic ceiling shot. I wait for it, hit a pinch shot...which he somehow gets to, and hits one of his own. Somehow I get to that and hit a long passing shot. he scrambles back, hits a ceiling shot. I retreat, ceiling shot of my own. He tries to hit it low, I lunge and think my pinch shot wins it...but he gets to it, only this time I hit a passing shot winner.
We must have had 6 or 8 volleys like that. He actually led 13-12 before finally bowing 15-13. We then had a similar game that ended 15-12.
As we were taking a water break, a guy asked if we wanted to play cut throat, but neither of us did...but that simple question put 25 off his game. The next 4 games were all 15-7 or 15-8.
We practiced his serve a bit, working on getting it lower and faster. It was starting to get nasty, but in the game he shifted his aiming point. The final game was another massacre, about 15-4 or so.
The thing is, I was hitting better shots tonight. It did not really matter that he played better...the extra spring in my step helped me get to every ball hit and the relaxed way I was playing meant I was scoring at will.
Learning from tonight; the casual wrist-flick seems to automatically put the right pace on the ball, whereas when I set up and swing fundamentally, my touch is poor. Something to think about.
25 started slowly. The first game was quick, efficient and brutal, a 15-4 maiming. And part of it was the freshness. I was relaxed, smooth, not straining to get to the ball and thus was able to blast perfect passing shots, strong pinch shots, and my serve was blistering.
Game two I relaxed the serve and we had numerous spectacular volleys. How spectacular? Other guys between games were coming by to watch our games and applauding after volleys. 25 was getting to everything and so was I. Strong passing shot...he retreats and hits a fantastic ceiling shot. I wait for it, hit a pinch shot...which he somehow gets to, and hits one of his own. Somehow I get to that and hit a long passing shot. he scrambles back, hits a ceiling shot. I retreat, ceiling shot of my own. He tries to hit it low, I lunge and think my pinch shot wins it...but he gets to it, only this time I hit a passing shot winner.
We must have had 6 or 8 volleys like that. He actually led 13-12 before finally bowing 15-13. We then had a similar game that ended 15-12.
As we were taking a water break, a guy asked if we wanted to play cut throat, but neither of us did...but that simple question put 25 off his game. The next 4 games were all 15-7 or 15-8.
We practiced his serve a bit, working on getting it lower and faster. It was starting to get nasty, but in the game he shifted his aiming point. The final game was another massacre, about 15-4 or so.
The thing is, I was hitting better shots tonight. It did not really matter that he played better...the extra spring in my step helped me get to every ball hit and the relaxed way I was playing meant I was scoring at will.
Learning from tonight; the casual wrist-flick seems to automatically put the right pace on the ball, whereas when I set up and swing fundamentally, my touch is poor. Something to think about.
Thursday
1513 Racquetball Chronicles XII
Tonight JB and BB both showed up so we played cut throat. A few things. First, the Wilsonville court is brutal. After playing in the well lighted, spacious, ventilated courts at Hocken, it was a real shock going into the court where none of those things are true.
I struggled all night to see the ball because sweat was constantly in my eyes and fogging up the glasses. After game one they either had waterfalls or fog.
Second, I do not like what cut throat does to positioning. It makes it impossible to have good fundamental position for returning the serve.
Third, with one left-hander and 2 right handers, if the left and right hander set up properly, there is no place the serve has the advantage.
Anyway, we let BB serve first as he was theoretically the weakest player. I deliberately set it up so he would have an advantage of being able to hit it to either of our backhands...and so JB and I would each be serving to each others backhand.
Well, BB was serving better than I have seen him serve and hitting more and better shots. He surprised us both with running out to a 3-0 lead. JB was one and done.
Then i started serving. And I was doing everything "right". I was alternating who I served to. I was hitting to their forehands. I was just serving and hitting really well and shot out to a quick 7 points.
Next rotation was quick for the other two and I scored 3 more quick ones. Then they switched it up to where they were each to their forehand...so I settled down lower and instead of trying to create rallies and alternating where I served, I found their trouble spot and just blistered it there repeatedly, racking up a devastating and convincing 15-6-3 or so win.
And quickly discovered I do not care for cut throat much. It is not often clear whose ball it is, you have to rely on the other guy...to me, racquetball is very much an individual sport. There is less action in cut throat and less still in doubles.
Anyway, the next game the shift continued, but this time JB was serving. And this time his strongest serve was to BB's backhand. And BB is the weakest of the three players. Unlike how I was playing, JB was relentless, putting every serve right there. He scored about 8 points before there was a return.
So BB and I switched, but it was much too late. Furthermore, it meant JB had a strong advantage as server while the other two had only disadvantages. I scored 7 or 8, I think BB got maybe 1 and JB won.
To me it was about as little fun as I have had playing racquetball. It was standing there watching one player take advantage of a clear mis-match that turned it from a game into serve, pick up the ball, serve, pick up the ball while the third guy watches people pass by outside the court knowing he will get no action.
Game 3 BB started strong, serving about 3 or 4 quick points. Then I scored about 3 with my serving to each player...except now it was to their forehand. So I had to really buckle down and dish up some mean serves. I actually scored an Ace to each of their forehands and created a weak return off a z-serve to the middle.
Rotate. BB scores a couple.
I score on a ferocious rally where I had to hit a passing shot past each of them, stop three kill shot attempts they made, and finally hit a spectacular kill of my own. I was so tired that there was no chance of another.
We continued this way, each scoring a point or two on our serve. BB was scoring his half off his serve and half off rallies, JB off his serve, and I was splitting my points.
I actually took a 13-11-10 lead and had the serve. I then missed about 4 easy kill shots as we kept rotating with BB scoring a couple. I got to 14, then BB closed the door.
So that was cool. We each won a game and lost two. It hid a lot of BB's and JB's weaknesses and took away my strengths. Not sure I will play too much cut throat, though. Just do not enjoy it near as much as I do singles.
BB and I then played a quick game of singles, but now his serve had deserted him and he was not returning as well as he had. It was pretty much a demolition and then we were done.
The lessons I learned tonight were not good ones, so I am going to pass on them. I do need to get the pinch shot down...and schedule better so it is all singles baby.
I struggled all night to see the ball because sweat was constantly in my eyes and fogging up the glasses. After game one they either had waterfalls or fog.
Second, I do not like what cut throat does to positioning. It makes it impossible to have good fundamental position for returning the serve.
Third, with one left-hander and 2 right handers, if the left and right hander set up properly, there is no place the serve has the advantage.
Anyway, we let BB serve first as he was theoretically the weakest player. I deliberately set it up so he would have an advantage of being able to hit it to either of our backhands...and so JB and I would each be serving to each others backhand.
Well, BB was serving better than I have seen him serve and hitting more and better shots. He surprised us both with running out to a 3-0 lead. JB was one and done.
Then i started serving. And I was doing everything "right". I was alternating who I served to. I was hitting to their forehands. I was just serving and hitting really well and shot out to a quick 7 points.
Next rotation was quick for the other two and I scored 3 more quick ones. Then they switched it up to where they were each to their forehand...so I settled down lower and instead of trying to create rallies and alternating where I served, I found their trouble spot and just blistered it there repeatedly, racking up a devastating and convincing 15-6-3 or so win.
And quickly discovered I do not care for cut throat much. It is not often clear whose ball it is, you have to rely on the other guy...to me, racquetball is very much an individual sport. There is less action in cut throat and less still in doubles.
Anyway, the next game the shift continued, but this time JB was serving. And this time his strongest serve was to BB's backhand. And BB is the weakest of the three players. Unlike how I was playing, JB was relentless, putting every serve right there. He scored about 8 points before there was a return.
So BB and I switched, but it was much too late. Furthermore, it meant JB had a strong advantage as server while the other two had only disadvantages. I scored 7 or 8, I think BB got maybe 1 and JB won.
To me it was about as little fun as I have had playing racquetball. It was standing there watching one player take advantage of a clear mis-match that turned it from a game into serve, pick up the ball, serve, pick up the ball while the third guy watches people pass by outside the court knowing he will get no action.
Game 3 BB started strong, serving about 3 or 4 quick points. Then I scored about 3 with my serving to each player...except now it was to their forehand. So I had to really buckle down and dish up some mean serves. I actually scored an Ace to each of their forehands and created a weak return off a z-serve to the middle.
Rotate. BB scores a couple.
I score on a ferocious rally where I had to hit a passing shot past each of them, stop three kill shot attempts they made, and finally hit a spectacular kill of my own. I was so tired that there was no chance of another.
We continued this way, each scoring a point or two on our serve. BB was scoring his half off his serve and half off rallies, JB off his serve, and I was splitting my points.
I actually took a 13-11-10 lead and had the serve. I then missed about 4 easy kill shots as we kept rotating with BB scoring a couple. I got to 14, then BB closed the door.
So that was cool. We each won a game and lost two. It hid a lot of BB's and JB's weaknesses and took away my strengths. Not sure I will play too much cut throat, though. Just do not enjoy it near as much as I do singles.
BB and I then played a quick game of singles, but now his serve had deserted him and he was not returning as well as he had. It was pretty much a demolition and then we were done.
The lessons I learned tonight were not good ones, so I am going to pass on them. I do need to get the pinch shot down...and schedule better so it is all singles baby.
Wednesday
1512 The Racquetball Chronicles XI
My second time playing TA. This time he knew my growing talent. He came ready, if a bit sore...and I proceeded to step my game up.
My first serves were strong...they were low, fast, and right to the backhand corner. But i was also doing a good job of mixing them up...a little slower and higher, faster and higher, slower and low...mix in an occasional blast to the forehand, the occasional lob serve.
The thing is, I was moving the ball location, speed, and height so he could not just sit on one serve.
My shots during volleys were good, too. My passing shot was sizzling but not going long, my pinch shots were hitting correctly more often.
Quick 15-1, 15-3 games followed.
Then he got a bit of a serve down, my volleys climbed a foot or so and started missing easy returns, trying to hit them too fine. He responded with his best game of the night. When it was 13-10 I consciously thought, "Do not tense up. Relax, play your game and put the ball where you want to. You are, at this point, still better."
And with my game relaxed, I ran it out for the 15-10 win.
We were resting 4 or 5 minutes between games as he works his way back into shape. But it also gave me time to think about what I was doing. So I was consciously working on my footwork and correct racket position.
We had a couple really good volleys. I had about a dozen roll out shots tonight to go with 20 missed kill shots. He still does not have his shot back so he struggles to score, but I can see the skeleton of a really strong game and when he starts hitting it properly and reducing the mis-hits, I foresee some pretty close games.
Even as it is he is forcing a slight reassessment to my beloved fore court game as several times he hit beautiful passing shots I simply could not get to. But I still think giving him that slim margin for error is advantageous so I Will keep playing there. Maybe a step back.
Tonight, however, i closed out the last two games something like 15-6 and 15-8 or so.
Good time, good exercise.
My first serves were strong...they were low, fast, and right to the backhand corner. But i was also doing a good job of mixing them up...a little slower and higher, faster and higher, slower and low...mix in an occasional blast to the forehand, the occasional lob serve.
The thing is, I was moving the ball location, speed, and height so he could not just sit on one serve.
My shots during volleys were good, too. My passing shot was sizzling but not going long, my pinch shots were hitting correctly more often.
Quick 15-1, 15-3 games followed.
Then he got a bit of a serve down, my volleys climbed a foot or so and started missing easy returns, trying to hit them too fine. He responded with his best game of the night. When it was 13-10 I consciously thought, "Do not tense up. Relax, play your game and put the ball where you want to. You are, at this point, still better."
And with my game relaxed, I ran it out for the 15-10 win.
We were resting 4 or 5 minutes between games as he works his way back into shape. But it also gave me time to think about what I was doing. So I was consciously working on my footwork and correct racket position.
We had a couple really good volleys. I had about a dozen roll out shots tonight to go with 20 missed kill shots. He still does not have his shot back so he struggles to score, but I can see the skeleton of a really strong game and when he starts hitting it properly and reducing the mis-hits, I foresee some pretty close games.
Even as it is he is forcing a slight reassessment to my beloved fore court game as several times he hit beautiful passing shots I simply could not get to. But I still think giving him that slim margin for error is advantageous so I Will keep playing there. Maybe a step back.
Tonight, however, i closed out the last two games something like 15-6 and 15-8 or so.
Good time, good exercise.
Tuesday
The racquetball Chronicles x
My third week playing JJ, probably my favorite regular opponent. This is not meant or intended to be a slight on any of the others...simply an observation that we have more of the type of rally that is my favorite than any of the others.
He has excellent reflexes, good speed and the ability to read where the ball is going and get there. His shot selection is a little weaker than mine and his shot accuracy is pretty close to even.
I have three advantages over him;
1) I have a much, much stronger serve. He will occasionally hit one that gives me trouble, but it is seldom worth more than 2 or 3 points a game whereas when i bear down on my serve it is often worth 6 or 8 points, often even more.
2) I am just a hair quicker with longer reach...not much, but enough to make a noticeable difference.
3) I generally have better court position...though that is changing.
Anyway, game one was brutal. My serve was on, my return of his serve was on...he scored about 4 or 5 points but it wasn't that close. Did not even break a sweat.
Second game was more of the same. The funny thing is...he was actually doing a really good job of returning my serve but it left him out of position and usually gave me a good shot at either moving him side to side or else going for an outright winner.
As the third game was turning into a third demolition, I started experimenting with my serve...trying z-serves, varying the height and speed of my serve...and trying to set up rallies. I wanted it to be more of a game. And then I started getting sloppy in various areas of my game.
Instead of moving to the proper place to return serves I tried to reach for them. Instead of going after every ball I gave up on them if I did not think they would "get there" or if I thought I would not get there...when I lunge for those I get them as often as not.
And suddenly it was a dogfight. We tied at 13. We exchanged a couple service breaks. I got 14. He got 14. He served, i hit a beautiful return...and he somehow got to it and hit a perfect kill shot to win the game.
It made his night much better and the games got better after that as he scored about 10 or 12 points in each of the next two. Then I was up something like 4-2 and said, "Lets see if I can run this out."
Dropping low, stepping into the serve, angling it just so...the serves were low, fast and vicious. Every so often I would throw one to his forehand or hit one moderately high and off speed to throw him off.
Even when he returned them they were soft and perfectly positioned for either a pinch shot or a passing shot. I reeled off about 6 straight, he got a service break, I broke him back, went to about 14-2 and he scored a couple, then I served an ace.
Next game, more of the same. But he was discovering something. I love playing up by the wall. When he tries a passing shot, I leap sideways, usually reverse it to the far wall, and spring back to the center with a side shuffle leap.
He started hitting great passing shots beyond my reach. Some were perfect, bouncing twice before the back wall. Others I got to off the back wall, but now he had position and I had to hit defensive shots. More and more often, though, he did not let me get to them.
Still, it was another brutal beat down.
We decided to play one more.
He hit one of those trouble serves. 1-0.
He tried to sneak it to my forehand and I hit a perfect roll out to get the break.
My serve was low, hard, pinched the sidewall. 1-1. We then had a really fun side to side, back to the back wall, up to the front wall volley. He won it.
He went up 2-1. I tied it at 2. I started to creep away. 3-2. 4-2. 4-3. 5-3. 6-3.
The thing is, though, it was a point here, a couple service exchanges, a point there, a couple service exchanges...this was a tight, well played game.
We both were doing better at getting to the back wall in correct position and taking it off. We had a couple defensive ceiling exchanges. We had a lot of passing shot attempts. We had some cool kill shots.
8-8. It was tight. 10-8. 10-9. 11-9. 11-10.
This game was different. Usually when there is a game that is tied or close to it that late it is because I am in "cocky" mode where I just believe I can take the game and win it at any time, from any place. This time we were both trying extremely hard and he was playing as well as he has ever played.
But then my serve busted him twice. 13-10. A fun rally took it to 14-10. He broke me one last time with a beautiful passing shot return to my backhand off a nasty serve. I returned the favor.
I did a change of pace serve, he returned it, I moved him to back court with a decent passing shot, he tried a passing shot to my backhand which I turned into a night-ending corner pinch shot.
Overall, I think I had some solid improvement. My passing shots are more and more often bouncing twice before the back wall. My pinch shots are hitting the wall lower more often, being more difficult to return. I am doing a better job of reading where the ball will land, not where it will hit the wall. I am also selecting the correct shot more often instead of attempting low percentage shots.
But I am still hitting too many passing shots that go long, I misread a lot of shots as going to bounce off the back wall but not doing so, so being just a hair out of position, and I too often go for scoring shots from back court. So strategy will be a major working point the rest of the week.
And I will keep enjoying the game.
He has excellent reflexes, good speed and the ability to read where the ball is going and get there. His shot selection is a little weaker than mine and his shot accuracy is pretty close to even.
I have three advantages over him;
1) I have a much, much stronger serve. He will occasionally hit one that gives me trouble, but it is seldom worth more than 2 or 3 points a game whereas when i bear down on my serve it is often worth 6 or 8 points, often even more.
2) I am just a hair quicker with longer reach...not much, but enough to make a noticeable difference.
3) I generally have better court position...though that is changing.
Anyway, game one was brutal. My serve was on, my return of his serve was on...he scored about 4 or 5 points but it wasn't that close. Did not even break a sweat.
Second game was more of the same. The funny thing is...he was actually doing a really good job of returning my serve but it left him out of position and usually gave me a good shot at either moving him side to side or else going for an outright winner.
As the third game was turning into a third demolition, I started experimenting with my serve...trying z-serves, varying the height and speed of my serve...and trying to set up rallies. I wanted it to be more of a game. And then I started getting sloppy in various areas of my game.
Instead of moving to the proper place to return serves I tried to reach for them. Instead of going after every ball I gave up on them if I did not think they would "get there" or if I thought I would not get there...when I lunge for those I get them as often as not.
And suddenly it was a dogfight. We tied at 13. We exchanged a couple service breaks. I got 14. He got 14. He served, i hit a beautiful return...and he somehow got to it and hit a perfect kill shot to win the game.
It made his night much better and the games got better after that as he scored about 10 or 12 points in each of the next two. Then I was up something like 4-2 and said, "Lets see if I can run this out."
Dropping low, stepping into the serve, angling it just so...the serves were low, fast and vicious. Every so often I would throw one to his forehand or hit one moderately high and off speed to throw him off.
Even when he returned them they were soft and perfectly positioned for either a pinch shot or a passing shot. I reeled off about 6 straight, he got a service break, I broke him back, went to about 14-2 and he scored a couple, then I served an ace.
Next game, more of the same. But he was discovering something. I love playing up by the wall. When he tries a passing shot, I leap sideways, usually reverse it to the far wall, and spring back to the center with a side shuffle leap.
He started hitting great passing shots beyond my reach. Some were perfect, bouncing twice before the back wall. Others I got to off the back wall, but now he had position and I had to hit defensive shots. More and more often, though, he did not let me get to them.
Still, it was another brutal beat down.
We decided to play one more.
He hit one of those trouble serves. 1-0.
He tried to sneak it to my forehand and I hit a perfect roll out to get the break.
My serve was low, hard, pinched the sidewall. 1-1. We then had a really fun side to side, back to the back wall, up to the front wall volley. He won it.
He went up 2-1. I tied it at 2. I started to creep away. 3-2. 4-2. 4-3. 5-3. 6-3.
The thing is, though, it was a point here, a couple service exchanges, a point there, a couple service exchanges...this was a tight, well played game.
We both were doing better at getting to the back wall in correct position and taking it off. We had a couple defensive ceiling exchanges. We had a lot of passing shot attempts. We had some cool kill shots.
8-8. It was tight. 10-8. 10-9. 11-9. 11-10.
This game was different. Usually when there is a game that is tied or close to it that late it is because I am in "cocky" mode where I just believe I can take the game and win it at any time, from any place. This time we were both trying extremely hard and he was playing as well as he has ever played.
But then my serve busted him twice. 13-10. A fun rally took it to 14-10. He broke me one last time with a beautiful passing shot return to my backhand off a nasty serve. I returned the favor.
I did a change of pace serve, he returned it, I moved him to back court with a decent passing shot, he tried a passing shot to my backhand which I turned into a night-ending corner pinch shot.
Overall, I think I had some solid improvement. My passing shots are more and more often bouncing twice before the back wall. My pinch shots are hitting the wall lower more often, being more difficult to return. I am doing a better job of reading where the ball will land, not where it will hit the wall. I am also selecting the correct shot more often instead of attempting low percentage shots.
But I am still hitting too many passing shots that go long, I misread a lot of shots as going to bounce off the back wall but not doing so, so being just a hair out of position, and I too often go for scoring shots from back court. So strategy will be a major working point the rest of the week.
And I will keep enjoying the game.
Friday
Racquetball Chronicles IX
Tonight was playing a guy I was introduced to through a mutual friend. I was very upfront about my playing ability...sort of. See, when we first planned this, it was a week ago...and I have played thrice since then.
I get better every time I play. Much better.
Anyway, he said something along the lines of, "Oh, it's okay...I will play left-handed to make it a game."
Sure enough, adjustments had to be made to make it a game. When I was ahead about 10-3 I severely relaxed my game. The funny thing is...my game was not particularly "on" tonight. I was not hitting strong kill shots or spectacular passing shots.
I was simply getting to every single ball. Hit it high off the ceiling? I drift back, hit a rocket that made him hit a defensive shot. Hit it low off the front wall? I return the favor and move you side to side. Get caught on one side of the court and out of breath? Even a mediocre passing shot to the far corner will either score a point or a side out.
The problem is...I am not yet a skilled player, just an energetic one. So taking my foot off the gas turns me from a dominating player into a mediocre player. And he turned it into a real game, scoring I think 13 before we were done.
Once I slowed my frenetic pace I could not turn it back on that game.
Second verse, just like the first...I rushed out to a commanding lead, started experimenting...I tried developing a z-serve but was struggling with my placement. I tried (and missed) kill shot after kill shot.
He crept back into it and again scored a lot. At one point we were deadlocked at 11-9 for probably 10 minutes. It was ridiculous.
In the end, it was a relatively comfortable win, he might have scored 10 or 12 points but I always believed I could get the serve back and put him away.
By game three he was totally gassed. I was deliberately taking my time between serves and points to make sure we both had energy for the points, but as the game went along he let more and more shots he would have hit earlier get to the floor.
But before that, we exchanged service breaks three or four times apiece at nothing apiece. We then had an awesome rally. I blistered a strong serve, low to the backhand corner. He scraped the floor with his return. I punched it to the forehand corner. He hit a ceiling shot. I hit a ceiling shot. He went for a kill shot. It was a great shot but a spectacular lunge and flick of the wrist led to a passing shot down the far side of the court. He somehow got to it and hit a passing shot on me that I somehow plowed off the back wall. he had another kill shot that I not only got to, I hit a passing shot that scored the point.
No kidding, we probably played that point for at least a minute with several great shots and spectacular saves by each of us. Loved that volley.
I smiled, laughed, slowly extended my forefinger. "One. That is all that counted for. One."
And served a nasty ace that pinched the side wall and bounced twice before the safety line. "Two."
Soon it was 6-0...though in reality I had scored about 9, but we were both a bit tired and I had no interest in a skunk. He ended up scoring about 8 in the game (2 of which I added to his score when he was not looking) but it was not that close.
Overall it was extremely fun. I can tell when he shakes the rust off and gets in a little bit of shape he will be a tough match up. For now I consider it a quality win over a quality opponent.
And I can feel myself improving not just every night but often enough every single game. And I love it.
I get better every time I play. Much better.
Anyway, he said something along the lines of, "Oh, it's okay...I will play left-handed to make it a game."
Sure enough, adjustments had to be made to make it a game. When I was ahead about 10-3 I severely relaxed my game. The funny thing is...my game was not particularly "on" tonight. I was not hitting strong kill shots or spectacular passing shots.
I was simply getting to every single ball. Hit it high off the ceiling? I drift back, hit a rocket that made him hit a defensive shot. Hit it low off the front wall? I return the favor and move you side to side. Get caught on one side of the court and out of breath? Even a mediocre passing shot to the far corner will either score a point or a side out.
The problem is...I am not yet a skilled player, just an energetic one. So taking my foot off the gas turns me from a dominating player into a mediocre player. And he turned it into a real game, scoring I think 13 before we were done.
Once I slowed my frenetic pace I could not turn it back on that game.
Second verse, just like the first...I rushed out to a commanding lead, started experimenting...I tried developing a z-serve but was struggling with my placement. I tried (and missed) kill shot after kill shot.
He crept back into it and again scored a lot. At one point we were deadlocked at 11-9 for probably 10 minutes. It was ridiculous.
In the end, it was a relatively comfortable win, he might have scored 10 or 12 points but I always believed I could get the serve back and put him away.
By game three he was totally gassed. I was deliberately taking my time between serves and points to make sure we both had energy for the points, but as the game went along he let more and more shots he would have hit earlier get to the floor.
But before that, we exchanged service breaks three or four times apiece at nothing apiece. We then had an awesome rally. I blistered a strong serve, low to the backhand corner. He scraped the floor with his return. I punched it to the forehand corner. He hit a ceiling shot. I hit a ceiling shot. He went for a kill shot. It was a great shot but a spectacular lunge and flick of the wrist led to a passing shot down the far side of the court. He somehow got to it and hit a passing shot on me that I somehow plowed off the back wall. he had another kill shot that I not only got to, I hit a passing shot that scored the point.
No kidding, we probably played that point for at least a minute with several great shots and spectacular saves by each of us. Loved that volley.
I smiled, laughed, slowly extended my forefinger. "One. That is all that counted for. One."
And served a nasty ace that pinched the side wall and bounced twice before the safety line. "Two."
Soon it was 6-0...though in reality I had scored about 9, but we were both a bit tired and I had no interest in a skunk. He ended up scoring about 8 in the game (2 of which I added to his score when he was not looking) but it was not that close.
Overall it was extremely fun. I can tell when he shakes the rust off and gets in a little bit of shape he will be a tough match up. For now I consider it a quality win over a quality opponent.
And I can feel myself improving not just every night but often enough every single game. And I love it.
Thursday
Racquetball Chronicles 8
I skipped reporting one session; we played two games of cutthroat and one singles game. In that, I played too passively in the first cutthroat game and the player I felt was the weakest of the three actually won.
In the singles game, I was against someone who has competed at a high level in the Oregon games and at least gave him a game, actually leading 13-12 before fading. He is too quick and I could not score off passing shots...which means I MUST develop an effective kill shot.
He did say he thought I was a really strong "C" level player so I feel good about that. He also strongly complimented my court positioning and ability to get to way more balls that I should.
The seco0nd cutthroat game I was ahead 14-8-4 when I stopped serving and started lob serving. This was residue of my game with T-mat. I never scored another point...
I am not a huge fan of cut throat. I do not go after the ball as aggressively and do not feel there is enough action. But I enjoy it enough to play again.
Anyhow, tonight I played Mr. J, the first guy I played.
The first two games showed just how far I have come. When I first started playing back on Dec 5th, scoring 6 points in a game was a great game for me.
Tonight I absolutely wrecked him in the first 2 games 15-3, 15-3...and neither one was that close.
First off, my serve is much, much better. I can consistently blast it down the wall into his backhand. Second, as he cheats further and further over, I just blast it into the opposite corner...his forehand, a right-handers backhand. And he is so far cheated towards the corner I typically serve to it is a virtually guaranteed ace.
Second, the serve that I initially could not return...low to my backhand corner...I returned every one including several outright winners and even the returns that were not winners drove him to the far back corner, allowing me to spring into my beloved mid court position.
Even when he hit solid shots that SHOULD have been winners, I was so quick I was getting to them and driving him to the back with passing shots wherever he wasn't. He was getting frustrated at his inability to get a ball past me.
So in serves, serve returns, court positioning and passing shots I was dominating. He hit more kill shots, but both games were absolutely devastating.
I could see he was getting down and that is not my intent so I did a couple things. First, I made sure to tell him a simple truth....he was inches away from every game being a competitive game. Hit the ball an inch lower and it is an impossible to return kill shot...hit it an inch closer to the ground from the back and I have to hit a defensive shot.
I also started experimenting...working on my z-serve, hitting fewer shots to the "ace" corner, etc. It is like practicing while playing a game. At one point I was ahead 12-8 and when he went to serve it was 8-11. I was okay with that. He scored one and at 11-9 we had about a half dozen service turns apiece.
He then scored a couple, I scored a couple...and relaxed thinking I could win the game at will. I did not use my advantages...speed, aggressiveness, and an attempt to get to every ball. He scored. He scored again. Suddenly it was 14-13, his lead. He served, I returned it, was set up to kill the point and win on my service turn when he hit his best shot of the night, a perfect kill shot.
Oops. Legitimately I should have won but got outplayed down the stretch when I relaxed and he took a hard-earned, well-deserved victory. Because the truth is, he tried harder and that is better play.
Also a lesson well learned.
All told it was a lot of fun and a great benchmark for me to see how far I have come.
In the singles game, I was against someone who has competed at a high level in the Oregon games and at least gave him a game, actually leading 13-12 before fading. He is too quick and I could not score off passing shots...which means I MUST develop an effective kill shot.
He did say he thought I was a really strong "C" level player so I feel good about that. He also strongly complimented my court positioning and ability to get to way more balls that I should.
The seco0nd cutthroat game I was ahead 14-8-4 when I stopped serving and started lob serving. This was residue of my game with T-mat. I never scored another point...
I am not a huge fan of cut throat. I do not go after the ball as aggressively and do not feel there is enough action. But I enjoy it enough to play again.
Anyhow, tonight I played Mr. J, the first guy I played.
The first two games showed just how far I have come. When I first started playing back on Dec 5th, scoring 6 points in a game was a great game for me.
Tonight I absolutely wrecked him in the first 2 games 15-3, 15-3...and neither one was that close.
First off, my serve is much, much better. I can consistently blast it down the wall into his backhand. Second, as he cheats further and further over, I just blast it into the opposite corner...his forehand, a right-handers backhand. And he is so far cheated towards the corner I typically serve to it is a virtually guaranteed ace.
Second, the serve that I initially could not return...low to my backhand corner...I returned every one including several outright winners and even the returns that were not winners drove him to the far back corner, allowing me to spring into my beloved mid court position.
Even when he hit solid shots that SHOULD have been winners, I was so quick I was getting to them and driving him to the back with passing shots wherever he wasn't. He was getting frustrated at his inability to get a ball past me.
So in serves, serve returns, court positioning and passing shots I was dominating. He hit more kill shots, but both games were absolutely devastating.
I could see he was getting down and that is not my intent so I did a couple things. First, I made sure to tell him a simple truth....he was inches away from every game being a competitive game. Hit the ball an inch lower and it is an impossible to return kill shot...hit it an inch closer to the ground from the back and I have to hit a defensive shot.
I also started experimenting...working on my z-serve, hitting fewer shots to the "ace" corner, etc. It is like practicing while playing a game. At one point I was ahead 12-8 and when he went to serve it was 8-11. I was okay with that. He scored one and at 11-9 we had about a half dozen service turns apiece.
He then scored a couple, I scored a couple...and relaxed thinking I could win the game at will. I did not use my advantages...speed, aggressiveness, and an attempt to get to every ball. He scored. He scored again. Suddenly it was 14-13, his lead. He served, I returned it, was set up to kill the point and win on my service turn when he hit his best shot of the night, a perfect kill shot.
Oops. Legitimately I should have won but got outplayed down the stretch when I relaxed and he took a hard-earned, well-deserved victory. Because the truth is, he tried harder and that is better play.
Also a lesson well learned.
All told it was a lot of fun and a great benchmark for me to see how far I have come.
Saturday
The Racquetball Chronicles VI
Today was a game I was really looking forward to. I was playing my friend JJ, the guy I play tennis with frequently, who runs the softball team I play with some years. I really enjoy our games as he and I have similar outlooks at this point in life; we play for fun more than victory but still enjoy the win when we get it, just not at the cost of enjoying the process.
Early on I got a pretty good sense of our respective abilities. I had a vastly better serve and sense of strategy. We have similar reaction times, though mine are slightly quicker. He has slightly better control.
I softened my serve in the interest of volleys and it was an excellent choice. We had numerous volleys where one of us would hit a strong almost-kill shot, the other would return with a defensive shot that would put player A running back to the back wall for a long-shot attempt...there would be 4, 5, 6ish near winners that we somehow returned.
In other words, we had a lot of lengthy volleys including lots of running around and some pretty spectacular shots.
After four games we had one of "those" games where I just wrecked him. So I took a few moments to talk to him about little improvements he could make to his serve and sure enough, the next game he built about a 10-8 lead and it was a solid lead.
At that point I was working hard on proper serves...low, to the backhand corner...and he was making strong returns that had me running. We exchanged the service three or four times, then he scored to go up 11-8. I was playing full out and falling further behind.
Then he struggled to return a couple of brutal serves, I won a volley. He got the serve back, then won a point. It was 13-13. I got an ace, then we had a spectacular ralley that ended with me hitting a corner kill shot, him returning it deep and me getting the best passing shot I have ever had.
We finished with a 6th game that was tight but saw both of us, tired out by our 2 hour match, playing a lot of position racquetball instead of running madly.
Very fun game.
I love playing with JJ and hope we get in many more games.
Early on I got a pretty good sense of our respective abilities. I had a vastly better serve and sense of strategy. We have similar reaction times, though mine are slightly quicker. He has slightly better control.
I softened my serve in the interest of volleys and it was an excellent choice. We had numerous volleys where one of us would hit a strong almost-kill shot, the other would return with a defensive shot that would put player A running back to the back wall for a long-shot attempt...there would be 4, 5, 6ish near winners that we somehow returned.
In other words, we had a lot of lengthy volleys including lots of running around and some pretty spectacular shots.
After four games we had one of "those" games where I just wrecked him. So I took a few moments to talk to him about little improvements he could make to his serve and sure enough, the next game he built about a 10-8 lead and it was a solid lead.
At that point I was working hard on proper serves...low, to the backhand corner...and he was making strong returns that had me running. We exchanged the service three or four times, then he scored to go up 11-8. I was playing full out and falling further behind.
Then he struggled to return a couple of brutal serves, I won a volley. He got the serve back, then won a point. It was 13-13. I got an ace, then we had a spectacular ralley that ended with me hitting a corner kill shot, him returning it deep and me getting the best passing shot I have ever had.
We finished with a 6th game that was tight but saw both of us, tired out by our 2 hour match, playing a lot of position racquetball instead of running madly.
Very fun game.
I love playing with JJ and hope we get in many more games.
Thursday
The Racquetball Chronicles Round 5
Tonight I was matched up against T-mat, a guy from work who used to play regularly but took about a three year sabbatical. I figured I would score a few points but probably lose handily.
I was also a little concerned because when I set it up, I had forgotten he said he used to regularly plunk guys in the back who set up in position.
Well, the first game started out with him jumping out to a 3-0 lead as I played the back court and got spanked for it. Then I started working the mid court and got the serve, reeled off a bunch of points and was up by a comfortable 10-3 or so.
We then exchanged serves a couple times, but I was not worried because I was winning the volleys and he was struggling with his serve.
I finished off the game with a convincing 15-3 win and was feeling pretty good. Maybe I have improved that much. Sure, it was hard for him to score since his first serve was long the vast majority of the time, allowing me to get serve after serve I could handle. Regardless, I was winning most of the volleys.
Game two, he got his serve down. He was using a drive serve that was actually not legal as it screened me but I was complacent, thinking I would win anyway, and thought it would be good for me to work on my return game.
He was mixing up his serve well between drives down the forehand wall, drives down the back hand wall, and drives that just ate me up right into my chest. Even when I did get a return, it was a week one that consistently had him taking shots from scoring position.
When I tried pinch shots I angled them poorly, thus bouncing right back up waist high to his forehand and when I tried passing shots, I over hit them, allowing him to stay at mid court and hit kill shots.
Only my speed and agility allowed me to keep a lot of balls in play and his rust had him miss a few easy shots so it was a respectable score...something like 15-10, but he won. It was a really fun game because we had several rallies that included multiple points where we both had shots it seemed like we had put away for a winner, only to see the other guy hit an even better shot that we somehow returned...I loved, loved, loved it.
As the set wore on, I noticed an error I kept making. I have been working on using the walls more to create angles to make my shots harder to read. However, he is so good at reading them that all I was doing was giving him to set up in the mid court and blast perfect shots...but I kept hitting that shot. I really need to work on my in-game adjustments.
The third game was really back and forth. He built a 4 or 5 point lead, I fought back to tie it, he scored a couple, I took a small lead, he took a small lead, tie, I took a 10-9 lead, he took a 12-10 lead. I then scored 4 straight.
We were both gassed. It had been an incredibly tense game. I was sweating so bad that three times the racket came out of my hand. This new racket has a grip that gets super slick. I will either have to purchase a glove or regrip the racket. I NEVER had that problem with the old racket.
Anyway, at 14-12, I hit a gorgeous serve that bounced about an inch past the service line and bounced a second time short of the receiving line...a perfect ace. He flipped the ball back to me like you do when the ball is short so I shrugged and went back to work.
Unfortunately, I had assumed the game was over and, my head not on straight, served up a lollipop. He hit a kill shot, I went to return it...and the racket came completely out of my hand.
He then served an ace of his own, another point, then served an ace.
I started to go and he said, "this ain't tennis. You gotta win the last point on a rally."
Aha. Now I get it. My serve HAD been good but he had a house rule that I was not aware of. Fair enough.
Still, could not get my head back in it, and did not even go after one shot in the next rally that was not only eminently hittable, it was well set up for me to hit my most effective shot...a backhand pinch shot to the far corner.
He just outworked me after I thought the game was over. Even without that, he is a better player than me all around...he has a stronger serve, better kill shots, better position...so I feel good about the games and best of all, worked my tail off for an hour.
Also, it was good because I learned more about the game. My regular playing partner hits it to the same corner, but his shots tend to bounce off the side wall and/or back wall. So I was setting up to return those.
T-mat, however, keeps them scraping the side wall or bouncing dead at the back wall, so where I was setting up to play the rebound, there was none so I was out of position. So I need to read the ball angle better.
Then B showed up and we played. I fell into some bad habits because I was trying to keep it interesting. Instead of working on my shots, I was trying to set up rallies.
Even so it is such a mis-match that I wrecked him 2 games in about 15 minutes.
I then started serving more seriously which, counter-intuitively, he seemed to have an easier time returning than the lollipops I was serving earlier and suddenly we started getting a few rallies going. I still won pretty handily, but it was a better game.
We still had 25 minutes to go or so, so I took out a few minutes to help him work on his serve.
And he promptly serves time and again that I struggled to get to. Unlike some of my games with him, every point he got in this game was legit...I simply could not return those.
We had several good rallies, he was up 11-9 and serving many I could not handle...probably 9 of his points were off serves I could not return. I was winning most of the rallies and losing to his serve.
We closed out with a handful of good rallies and I walked off a 15-12 winner in the last game.
I need to remember to work on my ball control when I play B...not just try to get rallies, but work on hitting passing shots hard enough to get by the opponent, not so hard they bounce off the back wall. I need to work on the kill shots. The angles.
I also need to make him work harder because he plays better when I do.
Overall an exceptionally fun night of two hours of racquetball and I am spent.
I was also a little concerned because when I set it up, I had forgotten he said he used to regularly plunk guys in the back who set up in position.
Well, the first game started out with him jumping out to a 3-0 lead as I played the back court and got spanked for it. Then I started working the mid court and got the serve, reeled off a bunch of points and was up by a comfortable 10-3 or so.
We then exchanged serves a couple times, but I was not worried because I was winning the volleys and he was struggling with his serve.
I finished off the game with a convincing 15-3 win and was feeling pretty good. Maybe I have improved that much. Sure, it was hard for him to score since his first serve was long the vast majority of the time, allowing me to get serve after serve I could handle. Regardless, I was winning most of the volleys.
Game two, he got his serve down. He was using a drive serve that was actually not legal as it screened me but I was complacent, thinking I would win anyway, and thought it would be good for me to work on my return game.
He was mixing up his serve well between drives down the forehand wall, drives down the back hand wall, and drives that just ate me up right into my chest. Even when I did get a return, it was a week one that consistently had him taking shots from scoring position.
When I tried pinch shots I angled them poorly, thus bouncing right back up waist high to his forehand and when I tried passing shots, I over hit them, allowing him to stay at mid court and hit kill shots.
Only my speed and agility allowed me to keep a lot of balls in play and his rust had him miss a few easy shots so it was a respectable score...something like 15-10, but he won. It was a really fun game because we had several rallies that included multiple points where we both had shots it seemed like we had put away for a winner, only to see the other guy hit an even better shot that we somehow returned...I loved, loved, loved it.
As the set wore on, I noticed an error I kept making. I have been working on using the walls more to create angles to make my shots harder to read. However, he is so good at reading them that all I was doing was giving him to set up in the mid court and blast perfect shots...but I kept hitting that shot. I really need to work on my in-game adjustments.
The third game was really back and forth. He built a 4 or 5 point lead, I fought back to tie it, he scored a couple, I took a small lead, he took a small lead, tie, I took a 10-9 lead, he took a 12-10 lead. I then scored 4 straight.
We were both gassed. It had been an incredibly tense game. I was sweating so bad that three times the racket came out of my hand. This new racket has a grip that gets super slick. I will either have to purchase a glove or regrip the racket. I NEVER had that problem with the old racket.
Anyway, at 14-12, I hit a gorgeous serve that bounced about an inch past the service line and bounced a second time short of the receiving line...a perfect ace. He flipped the ball back to me like you do when the ball is short so I shrugged and went back to work.
Unfortunately, I had assumed the game was over and, my head not on straight, served up a lollipop. He hit a kill shot, I went to return it...and the racket came completely out of my hand.
He then served an ace of his own, another point, then served an ace.
I started to go and he said, "this ain't tennis. You gotta win the last point on a rally."
Aha. Now I get it. My serve HAD been good but he had a house rule that I was not aware of. Fair enough.
Still, could not get my head back in it, and did not even go after one shot in the next rally that was not only eminently hittable, it was well set up for me to hit my most effective shot...a backhand pinch shot to the far corner.
He just outworked me after I thought the game was over. Even without that, he is a better player than me all around...he has a stronger serve, better kill shots, better position...so I feel good about the games and best of all, worked my tail off for an hour.
Also, it was good because I learned more about the game. My regular playing partner hits it to the same corner, but his shots tend to bounce off the side wall and/or back wall. So I was setting up to return those.
T-mat, however, keeps them scraping the side wall or bouncing dead at the back wall, so where I was setting up to play the rebound, there was none so I was out of position. So I need to read the ball angle better.
Then B showed up and we played. I fell into some bad habits because I was trying to keep it interesting. Instead of working on my shots, I was trying to set up rallies.
Even so it is such a mis-match that I wrecked him 2 games in about 15 minutes.
I then started serving more seriously which, counter-intuitively, he seemed to have an easier time returning than the lollipops I was serving earlier and suddenly we started getting a few rallies going. I still won pretty handily, but it was a better game.
We still had 25 minutes to go or so, so I took out a few minutes to help him work on his serve.
And he promptly serves time and again that I struggled to get to. Unlike some of my games with him, every point he got in this game was legit...I simply could not return those.
We had several good rallies, he was up 11-9 and serving many I could not handle...probably 9 of his points were off serves I could not return. I was winning most of the rallies and losing to his serve.
We closed out with a handful of good rallies and I walked off a 15-12 winner in the last game.
I need to remember to work on my ball control when I play B...not just try to get rallies, but work on hitting passing shots hard enough to get by the opponent, not so hard they bounce off the back wall. I need to work on the kill shots. The angles.
I also need to make him work harder because he plays better when I do.
Overall an exceptionally fun night of two hours of racquetball and I am spent.
The 2012 Racquetball Chronicles Round 4
So tonight I was playing opponent B. A few things about B.
Whereas opponent a was indisputably better than me when we started and won 2 or 3 games by legit 15-1, 15-3 type scores, the me that started Dec. 5th would indisputably dominate B. It would not even be close.
And the me of today is 3-2 against A this year...which means I have gotten much, much better very very quickly but B is honestly not a challenge.
It says something about how I have grown the way I play B.
Whereas in my youth I would have "spotted" him or given massive advantages to him, then absolutely wrecked him anyway, the more mature me plays him straight up...I just play admittedly soft.
See, I think the "spot you 10 points and the serve, then win 15-10" guy is unintentionally being a jerk. He is saying I can give you any amount of advantage and still win because I am just that much better than you.
Well, we started playing and early on I was playing soft but practicing my serve to the backhand. Not the hard serve...just a high, defensive lob serve that I can use when I play right-handers. It will be months before I develop a solid serve to right-handers, but it is imperative I develop at least a defensive serve.
B was struggling with it and there were not many volleys. A quick 15-4, 15-1 demolition later, I switched up my strategy.
I wanted to work on a couple of shots. First, I want to work on the wall shot designed to be a passing shot. I typically hit it too hard...it rebounds off the back wall, giving them plenty of time to get to it. When I do not hit it too hard I hit it too soft and it becomes an easy mid-court shot for them. So I wanted to work on hitting it hard enough to get past them but soft enough to bounce twice before the back wall.
Second, I wanted to work on the corner kill shot.
The best way to do that is get into some rallies. So I started hitting high soft lobs to his forehand.
Unfortunately, I also got int he habit of not playing position. On the bright side we got in some volleys and he hit several nice winners. On the dark side, being out of position let me practice neither of the shots and I was playing too lackadaisically, not getting the workout I wanted.
He even led 10-7 in the third game, though there was no realistic danger of me losing. He ended the game with 10 by the simple expedient of me moving to center court and regaining my position. So it was good practice for that.
Game 4 was more of the same. I kept letting him have the front court and lounging in the back court. And here is where I figured out a valuable lesson.
Player A has a better kill shot than me. Not a massively better, but he hits say...30% kill shots when given the opportunity, and I hit maybe 20%.
Early on he had a much better serve. I struggled so much to return it his serve was often worth 10 points per game.
He also is slightly better on passing shots than me...lets say he hits 20% winners on those, I probably hit 15%.
So the edges he has are not all that many. I counteract many of them with superior speed and agility.
So why was he so dominate at first?
The same reason B scored 12 on me in the second game.
Position.
When one player is in the mid court and the other in the back court, it makes the player in the front court 50% or more better. They have the best scoring position, the best defensive position, and the biggest margin for error.
So when I allow myself to get distracted and stop moving to center mid court at every opportunity, I squander any advantage I have and suddenly small advantages for the opponent become huge advantages.
That is the single biggest shift in the outcomes of my games with A. Once I seized mid court I continue to hit a low percentage of winners via kill shot or passing shot...but I have many more opportunities.
A powerful lesson indeed.
It is one thing to read about the importance of position, another thing entirely to see the difference in live action.
At some point I will probably have a losing streak to A again, and I hope that when I do, I will return, read this, and reclaim the center mid court.
Meanwhile, I finished off the 4th game with a beautiful passing shot that was exactly what I wanted..low to the ground, lightning fast, bounced once inside the first service line and once just past the receiving line when I had driven him to the far side of the court...a great way to finish.
Whereas opponent a was indisputably better than me when we started and won 2 or 3 games by legit 15-1, 15-3 type scores, the me that started Dec. 5th would indisputably dominate B. It would not even be close.
And the me of today is 3-2 against A this year...which means I have gotten much, much better very very quickly but B is honestly not a challenge.
It says something about how I have grown the way I play B.
Whereas in my youth I would have "spotted" him or given massive advantages to him, then absolutely wrecked him anyway, the more mature me plays him straight up...I just play admittedly soft.
See, I think the "spot you 10 points and the serve, then win 15-10" guy is unintentionally being a jerk. He is saying I can give you any amount of advantage and still win because I am just that much better than you.
Well, we started playing and early on I was playing soft but practicing my serve to the backhand. Not the hard serve...just a high, defensive lob serve that I can use when I play right-handers. It will be months before I develop a solid serve to right-handers, but it is imperative I develop at least a defensive serve.
B was struggling with it and there were not many volleys. A quick 15-4, 15-1 demolition later, I switched up my strategy.
I wanted to work on a couple of shots. First, I want to work on the wall shot designed to be a passing shot. I typically hit it too hard...it rebounds off the back wall, giving them plenty of time to get to it. When I do not hit it too hard I hit it too soft and it becomes an easy mid-court shot for them. So I wanted to work on hitting it hard enough to get past them but soft enough to bounce twice before the back wall.
Second, I wanted to work on the corner kill shot.
The best way to do that is get into some rallies. So I started hitting high soft lobs to his forehand.
Unfortunately, I also got int he habit of not playing position. On the bright side we got in some volleys and he hit several nice winners. On the dark side, being out of position let me practice neither of the shots and I was playing too lackadaisically, not getting the workout I wanted.
He even led 10-7 in the third game, though there was no realistic danger of me losing. He ended the game with 10 by the simple expedient of me moving to center court and regaining my position. So it was good practice for that.
Game 4 was more of the same. I kept letting him have the front court and lounging in the back court. And here is where I figured out a valuable lesson.
Player A has a better kill shot than me. Not a massively better, but he hits say...30% kill shots when given the opportunity, and I hit maybe 20%.
Early on he had a much better serve. I struggled so much to return it his serve was often worth 10 points per game.
He also is slightly better on passing shots than me...lets say he hits 20% winners on those, I probably hit 15%.
So the edges he has are not all that many. I counteract many of them with superior speed and agility.
So why was he so dominate at first?
The same reason B scored 12 on me in the second game.
Position.
When one player is in the mid court and the other in the back court, it makes the player in the front court 50% or more better. They have the best scoring position, the best defensive position, and the biggest margin for error.
So when I allow myself to get distracted and stop moving to center mid court at every opportunity, I squander any advantage I have and suddenly small advantages for the opponent become huge advantages.
That is the single biggest shift in the outcomes of my games with A. Once I seized mid court I continue to hit a low percentage of winners via kill shot or passing shot...but I have many more opportunities.
A powerful lesson indeed.
It is one thing to read about the importance of position, another thing entirely to see the difference in live action.
At some point I will probably have a losing streak to A again, and I hope that when I do, I will return, read this, and reclaim the center mid court.
Meanwhile, I finished off the 4th game with a beautiful passing shot that was exactly what I wanted..low to the ground, lightning fast, bounced once inside the first service line and once just past the receiving line when I had driven him to the far side of the court...a great way to finish.
Monday
The 2012 Racquetball Chronicles Round 3
My regular partner is planning to ski this weekend and wanted extra time to recover so asked if we could play earlier this week. I love to play...I would play pretty much every available day if I could find opponents, so of course I responded in the affirmative, booked the court and we were set.
When I got to the gym things started to go wrong. I forgot my towel and lock. That meant leaving my wallet with my grocery money in it and my I-phone in an open locker...not something my mind was at ease about.
Then I could not get into a rhythm with the weights and ended up doing weird sets...instead of 3 sets of 7 at 110, I did 3 sets of 20 at 80 on the preacher curl, for example. And they all felt weird.
Then on the leg kick it started to hurt. The bench press I dropped 20 pounds off my normal weight...and then could not even finish the third set. It was bizarre.
The leg extension I could not adjust the seat so cut the weight in half (!) and still struggled to complete the reps.
I quit. No sense pushing and hurting myself.
I went downstairs and watched basketball for a bit, then the racquetball court opened up so I headed on over and started working on controlling the location and speed of my shots for about 10 minutes.
Then my partner showed up and...had left his racquetball gear in his car. So we got off to a late start.
After warming up for a few minutes, he hit a horrible lag for serve. And I promptly hit an unbelievably bad one that did not even get to the front wall. Ouch.
He started out hot. His serves were perfectly placed for me to crush passing shots down the line to his forehand he could only possibly return if I hit them too high and so they went all the way to the back wall. Instead I mis-hit off my frame over and over until he was up 3-0.
I came back to take a 5-3 lead with a couple nice volley points where I seized center front court and ran him side to side until i could squeeze a pseudo-kill shot he was too winded to get to or else a passing shot he just missed.
Then he got a couple strong serves I could not handle and won a couple volleys off weak returns to go up 8-5.
We went at it pretty strong until he had a 10-7 lead and then something happened I could not believe.
I have had great wind for about a year now. Between biking with Fluffy the Cat and playing tennis at every opportunity, I developed tremendous stamina.
Until tonight when, inexplicably, I developed a side-ache and complete fatigue. I actually had to take a time-out.
Now getting to the ball was tough, and instead of using position and planning my shots, I just tried to get to them and wrist them away from him. I actually thought to myself, "He is winning this game because of my conditioning."
What a huge switch. Always before he has won with a better serve, return and better shots. My massive advantage was speed and endurance.
He built a 14-10 lead and had a tremendous serve that I somehow got to, he hit a kill that I somehow got to and it was my serve.
Ace. 11-14.
Perfect serve down the line he muffed. 12-14.
Great line serve, he returned weakly, corner kill. 13-14.
Perfect serve down the line he muffed. 14-14. Ace. Game.
I scarcely moved from 10-14 until I completed the 5 point comeback. What a great, back and forth game that he should have won. I was ecstatic...he was a bit disappointed. We both knew he should have won and said so.
After a quick break he came out on fire. He always gets very intense after he loses a game. He ran off 7 points and it was not close. I was muffing the easy serves and not even getting to the hard ones.
Part of it was strategy. Late in the first game I had gone for a shot I have been working on. He is to my right waiting for me to hit it down the line to his backhand. I am center back mid-court and the ball is belly button high to my backhand. I like to hit it about 5' from the corner off his back hand wall. It then squirts to the center of the center wall and pinches against the side wall, becoming almost a passing shot kill to the mid court and virtually impossible to return.
Except I mis-hit it and smashed him in the side of the face.
So now when his serve got passed me and I spun, waited and wanted to hit it to his backhand corner, I kept seeing him in the line of my shot. Instead of calling a hinder as I should have, I repeatedly altered my shot and hit a soft shot to his forehand that repeatedly let him smash kill shots.
Worse, when I did return one with a solid defensive shot, I failed to seize the center court forward position. I was playing fatigued and he was putting on an old-fashioned tail-kicking.
I got the serve, dropped an ace, a tough one he gave me a good set-up and I won on a passing shot, and another service winner to come back to 3-7.
Then I could not handle his serves again. 3-8. 4-8. 4-10.7-10.
he went on a run and got to game point, 14-7.Ugh. It was a whipping and no mistake.
So was he and I won a couple of quick serves to get to 10-14. "At least I hit double digits," I commented.
Then we developed a crowd. See, the racquetball court has a glass back wall. It is right next to the girls locker room. And about 6 of them stopped and watch a point. It was the perfect point to watch...
I smashed about as good a serve as I ever have, coming low and hard and would have bounced twice before the back wall, about an inch from the wall. He got to it and squirted it to the back-hand, low and left. I tried a passing shot to the far wall. He got to it and caught me leaning the wrong way, hitting a passing shot to my forehand. As I ran to the back wall, I saw people watching but still flicked a no look over the shoulder that was going to come off the front wall soft. He charged for the kill, I charged to center court. His kill shot skipped, I plowed it into the far corner, he got to it and I hit a beautiful passing shot down the line that was as pretty a shot as I have ever hit.
It was probably the best rally we have ever had, with both of us returning 2 or 3 almost sure-winners hit by the other. After that fantastic display, our audience left...and it was good that they did because he then muffed a poor serve, I put away a quick winner, we had a short, ferocious rally that ended when, in front of him, I leaped and hit the perfect overhead smash into the pinch corner and, at 14-14, won on a service winner.
Yep. I scored 8 straight points to win a game he had in hand.
Wow.
He does not like to leave on a loser, so we had just 10 minutes left, we were going to play to time (even though in reality I suspect he would be ahead and want to finish the game.)
Again and again I muffed cake serves...waist high, easy to read, 4' off the wall. He was winning 5-0 before I returned a serve. I quickly scored a couple, he then scored an ace on a great serve and garnered another point on a serve that pinched off the side wall straight into me...two very good serves in succession.
Then he served a nasty driving serve to my backhand corner which I got a good ceiling defensive return....but he pulled a muscle in his....well...lets just say posterior.
And it was over for the night.
Looking back I really can see how much I have improved but another huge weakness has developed.
I fell in love with a shot that bounces off this back-hand wall, off the center wall, off his forehand wall. But I was hitting it poorly and he was able to stand at center court and hit numerous winners off that. I hit it too high and too far back.
Second, when I got tired I played a lot of back-court instead of trusting my reflexes. Once I started bouncing it to the back wall and sprinting to the mid-court I dominated. It was tough for him to dislodge me from that position, tough for him to get a ball past me without resorting to a high lob off the back wall...which I had more than ample time to get into position to hit scorching passing shots which allowed me to seize the center mid-court.
I need to stop letting him jump to big leads and learn to handle those z-serves, particularly on a night like tonight when his serve was not nearly as strong as it normally is.
Still, I feel great about coming back from 4 and 7 points down to win in adverse circumstances.
I also am going to work on my wind. Back on the bike I go.
Great night, lots of fun.
When I got to the gym things started to go wrong. I forgot my towel and lock. That meant leaving my wallet with my grocery money in it and my I-phone in an open locker...not something my mind was at ease about.
Then I could not get into a rhythm with the weights and ended up doing weird sets...instead of 3 sets of 7 at 110, I did 3 sets of 20 at 80 on the preacher curl, for example. And they all felt weird.
Then on the leg kick it started to hurt. The bench press I dropped 20 pounds off my normal weight...and then could not even finish the third set. It was bizarre.
The leg extension I could not adjust the seat so cut the weight in half (!) and still struggled to complete the reps.
I quit. No sense pushing and hurting myself.
I went downstairs and watched basketball for a bit, then the racquetball court opened up so I headed on over and started working on controlling the location and speed of my shots for about 10 minutes.
Then my partner showed up and...had left his racquetball gear in his car. So we got off to a late start.
After warming up for a few minutes, he hit a horrible lag for serve. And I promptly hit an unbelievably bad one that did not even get to the front wall. Ouch.
He started out hot. His serves were perfectly placed for me to crush passing shots down the line to his forehand he could only possibly return if I hit them too high and so they went all the way to the back wall. Instead I mis-hit off my frame over and over until he was up 3-0.
I came back to take a 5-3 lead with a couple nice volley points where I seized center front court and ran him side to side until i could squeeze a pseudo-kill shot he was too winded to get to or else a passing shot he just missed.
Then he got a couple strong serves I could not handle and won a couple volleys off weak returns to go up 8-5.
We went at it pretty strong until he had a 10-7 lead and then something happened I could not believe.
I have had great wind for about a year now. Between biking with Fluffy the Cat and playing tennis at every opportunity, I developed tremendous stamina.
Until tonight when, inexplicably, I developed a side-ache and complete fatigue. I actually had to take a time-out.
Now getting to the ball was tough, and instead of using position and planning my shots, I just tried to get to them and wrist them away from him. I actually thought to myself, "He is winning this game because of my conditioning."
What a huge switch. Always before he has won with a better serve, return and better shots. My massive advantage was speed and endurance.
He built a 14-10 lead and had a tremendous serve that I somehow got to, he hit a kill that I somehow got to and it was my serve.
Ace. 11-14.
Perfect serve down the line he muffed. 12-14.
Great line serve, he returned weakly, corner kill. 13-14.
Perfect serve down the line he muffed. 14-14. Ace. Game.
I scarcely moved from 10-14 until I completed the 5 point comeback. What a great, back and forth game that he should have won. I was ecstatic...he was a bit disappointed. We both knew he should have won and said so.
After a quick break he came out on fire. He always gets very intense after he loses a game. He ran off 7 points and it was not close. I was muffing the easy serves and not even getting to the hard ones.
Part of it was strategy. Late in the first game I had gone for a shot I have been working on. He is to my right waiting for me to hit it down the line to his backhand. I am center back mid-court and the ball is belly button high to my backhand. I like to hit it about 5' from the corner off his back hand wall. It then squirts to the center of the center wall and pinches against the side wall, becoming almost a passing shot kill to the mid court and virtually impossible to return.
Except I mis-hit it and smashed him in the side of the face.
So now when his serve got passed me and I spun, waited and wanted to hit it to his backhand corner, I kept seeing him in the line of my shot. Instead of calling a hinder as I should have, I repeatedly altered my shot and hit a soft shot to his forehand that repeatedly let him smash kill shots.
Worse, when I did return one with a solid defensive shot, I failed to seize the center court forward position. I was playing fatigued and he was putting on an old-fashioned tail-kicking.
I got the serve, dropped an ace, a tough one he gave me a good set-up and I won on a passing shot, and another service winner to come back to 3-7.
Then I could not handle his serves again. 3-8. 4-8. 4-10.7-10.
he went on a run and got to game point, 14-7.Ugh. It was a whipping and no mistake.
So was he and I won a couple of quick serves to get to 10-14. "At least I hit double digits," I commented.
Then we developed a crowd. See, the racquetball court has a glass back wall. It is right next to the girls locker room. And about 6 of them stopped and watch a point. It was the perfect point to watch...
I smashed about as good a serve as I ever have, coming low and hard and would have bounced twice before the back wall, about an inch from the wall. He got to it and squirted it to the back-hand, low and left. I tried a passing shot to the far wall. He got to it and caught me leaning the wrong way, hitting a passing shot to my forehand. As I ran to the back wall, I saw people watching but still flicked a no look over the shoulder that was going to come off the front wall soft. He charged for the kill, I charged to center court. His kill shot skipped, I plowed it into the far corner, he got to it and I hit a beautiful passing shot down the line that was as pretty a shot as I have ever hit.
It was probably the best rally we have ever had, with both of us returning 2 or 3 almost sure-winners hit by the other. After that fantastic display, our audience left...and it was good that they did because he then muffed a poor serve, I put away a quick winner, we had a short, ferocious rally that ended when, in front of him, I leaped and hit the perfect overhead smash into the pinch corner and, at 14-14, won on a service winner.
Yep. I scored 8 straight points to win a game he had in hand.
Wow.
He does not like to leave on a loser, so we had just 10 minutes left, we were going to play to time (even though in reality I suspect he would be ahead and want to finish the game.)
Again and again I muffed cake serves...waist high, easy to read, 4' off the wall. He was winning 5-0 before I returned a serve. I quickly scored a couple, he then scored an ace on a great serve and garnered another point on a serve that pinched off the side wall straight into me...two very good serves in succession.
Then he served a nasty driving serve to my backhand corner which I got a good ceiling defensive return....but he pulled a muscle in his....well...lets just say posterior.
And it was over for the night.
Looking back I really can see how much I have improved but another huge weakness has developed.
I fell in love with a shot that bounces off this back-hand wall, off the center wall, off his forehand wall. But I was hitting it poorly and he was able to stand at center court and hit numerous winners off that. I hit it too high and too far back.
Second, when I got tired I played a lot of back-court instead of trusting my reflexes. Once I started bouncing it to the back wall and sprinting to the mid-court I dominated. It was tough for him to dislodge me from that position, tough for him to get a ball past me without resorting to a high lob off the back wall...which I had more than ample time to get into position to hit scorching passing shots which allowed me to seize the center mid-court.
I need to stop letting him jump to big leads and learn to handle those z-serves, particularly on a night like tonight when his serve was not nearly as strong as it normally is.
Still, I feel great about coming back from 4 and 7 points down to win in adverse circumstances.
I also am going to work on my wind. Back on the bike I go.
Great night, lots of fun.
Saturday
The 2012 Racquetball Chronicles Round 2
One of the guys from work has been wanting to get into racquetball to get back into shape. This morning we had an 8 o clock game set up.
Before the game we hit it back and forth for a bit and a few things were readily apparent to me. One, he has lost a fair amount of his agility and ability to hit the ball but it will come back quickly. Two, if I went all-out this would not be much fun for either of us. So I resolved to set up rallies and work on my serve location to a right handed player since my normal playing partner is leftie.
I had him serve first and worked on serve position, shot selection, and shot execution. The ball was certainly coming back at slower speeds, but it gave me the time to think about where I wanted to be on the court.
I was doing a good job of moving into the aggressive fore-court position and my reflexes were letting me not just get to the ball but actually think about where I wanted to hit my return. When he lobbed it over me, i was able to get to the back wall, think about my next shot, and was doing a good job of playing a defensive shot instead of always trying for an offensive shot even when out of position.
I also was able to recognize how important it was to re-lob it to him. This allowed me to get off the back wall and back into my prime position in fore-court, ready to take any low shot off the wall and put it away for a point.
I did score a lot of points off serves close to either wall he struggled to return so I spent a lot of time working on lobs to either corner to experiment with where to serve to a right-hander.
This is not a knock on him. He has not played in nearly 30 years, I am younger, quicker, in better shape, and have been playing for over a month...I should and did badly outclass him. I was able to toy with him, work on my game and still completely dominate the match.
I won 15-4, 15-6, 15-6.
He then wanted to work on his back-hand. I offered to just hit it around but he wanted to play another game so we did. He jumped out to a 1-0 lead on one of those z-serves I struggle so much with. I then took a 3-1 lead. And then he had a string of serves and a couple volley put aways. I was working hard on hitting it to his back hand and forgot to play position. So he was in front of me and I was struggling to put away winners.
Once I remembered to get back in position I kept pounding his backhand and ran out the game 15-6. He broke my serve a couple times but could not score off me again once I remembered to seize center court forward.
Overall it was a great time. Even though I was never in danger of losing a game, it was a good workout and allowed me to work on several weaknesses much more than working on reinforcing any particular strengths.
We did have several fun rallies involving getting to shots it seemed impossible for either of us to get to and I thoroughly enjoyed those.
I also had a really fun shot that was tight to my backhand when I was at the dotted line just left of center court. I pulled it tight and low, garnering a pretty good kill shot in the low right corner that bounced twice within about 8" of the wall. Probably the best shot I have hit yet.
So overall a fun day that i think improved my game a lot.
Before the game we hit it back and forth for a bit and a few things were readily apparent to me. One, he has lost a fair amount of his agility and ability to hit the ball but it will come back quickly. Two, if I went all-out this would not be much fun for either of us. So I resolved to set up rallies and work on my serve location to a right handed player since my normal playing partner is leftie.
I had him serve first and worked on serve position, shot selection, and shot execution. The ball was certainly coming back at slower speeds, but it gave me the time to think about where I wanted to be on the court.
I was doing a good job of moving into the aggressive fore-court position and my reflexes were letting me not just get to the ball but actually think about where I wanted to hit my return. When he lobbed it over me, i was able to get to the back wall, think about my next shot, and was doing a good job of playing a defensive shot instead of always trying for an offensive shot even when out of position.
I also was able to recognize how important it was to re-lob it to him. This allowed me to get off the back wall and back into my prime position in fore-court, ready to take any low shot off the wall and put it away for a point.
I did score a lot of points off serves close to either wall he struggled to return so I spent a lot of time working on lobs to either corner to experiment with where to serve to a right-hander.
This is not a knock on him. He has not played in nearly 30 years, I am younger, quicker, in better shape, and have been playing for over a month...I should and did badly outclass him. I was able to toy with him, work on my game and still completely dominate the match.
I won 15-4, 15-6, 15-6.
He then wanted to work on his back-hand. I offered to just hit it around but he wanted to play another game so we did. He jumped out to a 1-0 lead on one of those z-serves I struggle so much with. I then took a 3-1 lead. And then he had a string of serves and a couple volley put aways. I was working hard on hitting it to his back hand and forgot to play position. So he was in front of me and I was struggling to put away winners.
Once I remembered to get back in position I kept pounding his backhand and ran out the game 15-6. He broke my serve a couple times but could not score off me again once I remembered to seize center court forward.
Overall it was a great time. Even though I was never in danger of losing a game, it was a good workout and allowed me to work on several weaknesses much more than working on reinforcing any particular strengths.
We did have several fun rallies involving getting to shots it seemed impossible for either of us to get to and I thoroughly enjoyed those.
I also had a really fun shot that was tight to my backhand when I was at the dotted line just left of center court. I pulled it tight and low, garnering a pretty good kill shot in the low right corner that bounced twice within about 8" of the wall. Probably the best shot I have hit yet.
So overall a fun day that i think improved my game a lot.
Friday
The 2012 Racquetball Chronicles Round 1
With the onset of winter I really wanted to keep playing tennis, but my potential opponents were few and far between. Knowing a former co-worker was a racquetball aficionado, I suggested to him we play weekly.
He accepted and we decided to play each Thursday evening. We started Dec. 12th and, as I suspected, my advantages of speed, agility and endurance were no match for his advantages of experience and skill. I scored 6, 2, and 6 points the first week.
The second week I scored 10, 2, and 8. Both times there was a game in there where he just crushed me.
The third week in the second game I was ahead 12-1, scored a point, he mis-remembered the score and it stayed 12-1. I care more about playing than winning, so I let it slide. Ironically, after he mounted a furious come-back, when I scored to go ahead 14-13 it should have been game over...I should have had my first win. But that uncounted point would never be scored and he won 15-14, then absolutely wrecked me in the next game.
I then injured myself off-court and did not play for a week. When I did it was against my father in law.
John is an avid racquetball player, playing three times a week. If you suspect me getting my tail kicked was the probable outcome you guess correctly. I think I scored 6, 7, and 10 points or something like that. We then played 3 games of doubles.
We won 2 of those 3 games, but that was almost entirely John's efforts. I hit a few nice shots and missed a lot of shots. It was fun and my foot was one massive bruise when we finished.
Still, it was so much fun that the next Saturday we went down for some planned doubles with some of his regular partners. The first game I was partnered with a guy who played a style I had not seen and I loved it.
He stayed about mid-court, maybe a step or two towards the front wall,and relied on his quickness to get to seemingly every ball hit off the front wall.
We dominated the first game. By the time I partnered with him again he was too tired to play that way and the other 5 games, the losing team had something in common; me.
My game is quite technically weak for several reasons. First, I have no serve to a right handed player. Second, I tend to hit the ball too high and return it to center court. Third, when I do keep it to the wall I tend to hit it too hard, allowing it to bounce off the back wall and set my opponent up for a solid return. Fourth, I have tremendous difficulty reading the angles the ball will come off the wall.
However, I spent a lot of time thinking about how they played, where they positioned themselves, the way they hit their shots and planned to put them in practice this week against my regular playing partner.
He jumped out to a small lead but I was making progress. Typically when he serves I stood deep in the court close to the wall he correctly drops his z-serve off relentlessly. My thought process was this gave me more time to react to it.
After watching the guys John plays with, I instead took a couple steps in and towards center court. The z-serve still gave me problems, but whereas before I seldom successfully played a return, now I at least was returning it and getting to play volleys. Instead of him having 4, 5, 6, 8 point scoring runs just off his serve without having to expend energy, now he was working for those points.
He still has the advantage as he is more accurate with his shots and more skillful in correct court position, but actually putting the ball in play was letting me think about more than just trying to figure out how to return the serve.
He led the entire game and won something like 15-11. It was a tough, hard-fought game and the second best game I played against him.
Game two would show the results of game 1. This time I would be able to use the lessons I learned and the experience I gained in game 1.
First, I used the correct serve. He is left-handed so I relentlessly pounded my first serve hard and soft down the line, scoring several winners and, even when not a winner, forcing him to hit a defensive shot.
Later I will learn the z-serve as a change up, but for now I need to go with the best serve I have, even as he adapts to it.
Second, I was immediately moving to a position similar to what John's friend used; center court, a step behind the servers box. I am trusting my quickness and agility to let me get to any shot. This allowed me to set up passing shots and force him to run side to side, expending energy while I conserved my own while being in great position to hit the next shot.
I still need to master the kill shot and get better at both my drop shot (feathering the ball off the front wall when he is deep in the court) and passing shots, but the improvement was immediate and vast.
Third, I was using the side walls to ricochet the ball around and make it more difficult for him to set up the kill shots he is so good at.
I built a lead, but he battled back. He took a 5-3 lead. I have never come back from a deficit to take a lead. I have tied him a few times, but never led. But this would be different.
These were not great passing shots but better than before. I used to hit them too hard so they bounced high off the back wall and allowed him time to recover and get to them. Then I hit them too soft, allowing him to charge the wall and hit a kill shot. Now I was hitting them so they bounced twice before the back wall and that made all the difference.
I took the lead 13-10 and then we had an epic back and forth where we broke each others serve about 10 times apiece. It felt like whoever scored next would win. He scored to make it 13-11...but then I took the serve back and managed the last two points to win, 15-11.
I was happy but he was quite disappointed. I think he expected to beat me every game for quite some time to come. And it is entirely possible he will go on a long winning streak..but I am working hard at the game and learning. By the end of summer I think I will win at least 30% of the time. Not yet...but later this year.
Anyway, he said, "There is no way I am leaving on a losing game," so we played a third.
Sure enough, he played with intensity while I somewhat was playing satisfied and he jumped out to a 13-1 lead. He was dominating every phase of the game. So I stepped back, went to work and fought back to 13-9 before I ran out of steam and he put me away.
For the night, I was very happy. The new position helped me be much more effective in returning the serves. The new mid-court forward position helped me control the action and allowed me to mitigate much of his superior shot-making while poking at his weakness of endurance. My better touch on my shots allowed me to hit both better defensive shots and more winners.
I am quite happy with the improvement shown. 2012 is off to a great start.
He accepted and we decided to play each Thursday evening. We started Dec. 12th and, as I suspected, my advantages of speed, agility and endurance were no match for his advantages of experience and skill. I scored 6, 2, and 6 points the first week.
The second week I scored 10, 2, and 8. Both times there was a game in there where he just crushed me.
The third week in the second game I was ahead 12-1, scored a point, he mis-remembered the score and it stayed 12-1. I care more about playing than winning, so I let it slide. Ironically, after he mounted a furious come-back, when I scored to go ahead 14-13 it should have been game over...I should have had my first win. But that uncounted point would never be scored and he won 15-14, then absolutely wrecked me in the next game.
I then injured myself off-court and did not play for a week. When I did it was against my father in law.
John is an avid racquetball player, playing three times a week. If you suspect me getting my tail kicked was the probable outcome you guess correctly. I think I scored 6, 7, and 10 points or something like that. We then played 3 games of doubles.
We won 2 of those 3 games, but that was almost entirely John's efforts. I hit a few nice shots and missed a lot of shots. It was fun and my foot was one massive bruise when we finished.
Still, it was so much fun that the next Saturday we went down for some planned doubles with some of his regular partners. The first game I was partnered with a guy who played a style I had not seen and I loved it.
He stayed about mid-court, maybe a step or two towards the front wall,and relied on his quickness to get to seemingly every ball hit off the front wall.
We dominated the first game. By the time I partnered with him again he was too tired to play that way and the other 5 games, the losing team had something in common; me.
My game is quite technically weak for several reasons. First, I have no serve to a right handed player. Second, I tend to hit the ball too high and return it to center court. Third, when I do keep it to the wall I tend to hit it too hard, allowing it to bounce off the back wall and set my opponent up for a solid return. Fourth, I have tremendous difficulty reading the angles the ball will come off the wall.
However, I spent a lot of time thinking about how they played, where they positioned themselves, the way they hit their shots and planned to put them in practice this week against my regular playing partner.
He jumped out to a small lead but I was making progress. Typically when he serves I stood deep in the court close to the wall he correctly drops his z-serve off relentlessly. My thought process was this gave me more time to react to it.
After watching the guys John plays with, I instead took a couple steps in and towards center court. The z-serve still gave me problems, but whereas before I seldom successfully played a return, now I at least was returning it and getting to play volleys. Instead of him having 4, 5, 6, 8 point scoring runs just off his serve without having to expend energy, now he was working for those points.
He still has the advantage as he is more accurate with his shots and more skillful in correct court position, but actually putting the ball in play was letting me think about more than just trying to figure out how to return the serve.
He led the entire game and won something like 15-11. It was a tough, hard-fought game and the second best game I played against him.
Game two would show the results of game 1. This time I would be able to use the lessons I learned and the experience I gained in game 1.
First, I used the correct serve. He is left-handed so I relentlessly pounded my first serve hard and soft down the line, scoring several winners and, even when not a winner, forcing him to hit a defensive shot.
Later I will learn the z-serve as a change up, but for now I need to go with the best serve I have, even as he adapts to it.
Second, I was immediately moving to a position similar to what John's friend used; center court, a step behind the servers box. I am trusting my quickness and agility to let me get to any shot. This allowed me to set up passing shots and force him to run side to side, expending energy while I conserved my own while being in great position to hit the next shot.
I still need to master the kill shot and get better at both my drop shot (feathering the ball off the front wall when he is deep in the court) and passing shots, but the improvement was immediate and vast.
Third, I was using the side walls to ricochet the ball around and make it more difficult for him to set up the kill shots he is so good at.
I built a lead, but he battled back. He took a 5-3 lead. I have never come back from a deficit to take a lead. I have tied him a few times, but never led. But this would be different.
These were not great passing shots but better than before. I used to hit them too hard so they bounced high off the back wall and allowed him time to recover and get to them. Then I hit them too soft, allowing him to charge the wall and hit a kill shot. Now I was hitting them so they bounced twice before the back wall and that made all the difference.
I took the lead 13-10 and then we had an epic back and forth where we broke each others serve about 10 times apiece. It felt like whoever scored next would win. He scored to make it 13-11...but then I took the serve back and managed the last two points to win, 15-11.
I was happy but he was quite disappointed. I think he expected to beat me every game for quite some time to come. And it is entirely possible he will go on a long winning streak..but I am working hard at the game and learning. By the end of summer I think I will win at least 30% of the time. Not yet...but later this year.
Anyway, he said, "There is no way I am leaving on a losing game," so we played a third.
Sure enough, he played with intensity while I somewhat was playing satisfied and he jumped out to a 13-1 lead. He was dominating every phase of the game. So I stepped back, went to work and fought back to 13-9 before I ran out of steam and he put me away.
For the night, I was very happy. The new position helped me be much more effective in returning the serves. The new mid-court forward position helped me control the action and allowed me to mitigate much of his superior shot-making while poking at his weakness of endurance. My better touch on my shots allowed me to hit both better defensive shots and more winners.
I am quite happy with the improvement shown. 2012 is off to a great start.
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