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Winning
Racquetball : Skills, Drills and Strategies
Millions of Americans play racquetball, yet
instructional material is scarce. This guide, written by a veteran
instructor (Turner) and a ranked professional (Clouse) provides
tips for both the seasoned recreational player and the novice. They
examine everything from equipment to match strategy in straightforward,
conversational language augmented by more than 140 photos and line
drawings. Readers will learn how to select a racquet and a facility;
how to condition themselves specifically for the sport; and how
to avoid the most common types of injuries. There are also excellent
tips for doubles play, mental conditioning, and gamesmanship. In
addition, the authors break the game down into offensive and defensive
skills, an approach often overlooked in racquet-sport instructionals.
A key feature is the inclusion of drills to develop the recommended
shots and strategies. Too often players just play, forgetting that
even a minimal amount of time devoted to skill development can pay
huge dividends. In areas where the sport is popular, this is the
instructional of choice.
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Jordan has been teaching
pre-school age kids racquetball for 10 years.
For safety and sportsmanship reasons, I use a few different rules than
the
"Official USRA Rules".
I don't use the "One Swing" rule. I consider this unconstructive
when teaching
kids. Plus the safety factor, considering regular "one-bounce"
rules allow the
hitter to swing as many times as they want.
This could only confuse a player and result in one player picking up
a "dead
ball" while the other player is still swinging. Remember, these are
very young
children playing, half the adults can't remember the correct rules!
Another rule change is that a "ball rolling" is not a "dead
ball". I let kids
try to hit a rolling ball, can't hurt and helps keep players from "giving
up"
during a rally and keeps receiver "away" from ball and getting
hit.
I do not use the 1 and 3 foot lines since it is a negative reinforcement
when
kids "skips" the ball or other player has to get on 1 or 2 bounces.
Plus the
more rallies the kids have the more practice and better they will get.
Yes,
they rallies may be longer, but I use a different scoring method called
"Speed
Scoring" which makes the games run faster, even with the longer rallies.
The "speed-scoring" is the rule that awards one point to the
winner of each
rally, regardless if the winner was the server or receiver. This way the
games
run faster and kids play more. Kids that aren't good servers can also
score
points without being embarrassed while serving.
I teach all ages to work at their own skill level, regardless of their
age. I
offer Multibounce, 3, 2 or 1 bounce and force players at the end of each
class
to play at a higher level, or less bounces.
It is not uncommon to have one player playing 3 bounces while the other
plays
multibouncs. Each player tells the other, and referee, what number of
bounces
they will use.
Kids referee other kids games and do not allow any arguing. Referees
listen to
both players than explain their decision. Any questioning of the referee
after
that is answered with a polite warning they will get a "technical"
if they
continue to argue, followed by a forfeit for the second warning.
Our youth "Technicals", where the other player is "awarded
a point" is
different from the "Official USRA Tecnicals" where a player
loses a point.
Makes the games go faster and has worked fine. Many games have been lost
by
this rule, which also teaches "Good Sportsmanship" by not arguing.
Below is the web site for the Official USRA Multibounce Rules
http://www.usra.org/usra/pub&ref/rules/rule4_11.htm
Good Luck!
Jordan
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