Racquetball

Players are craming the sign-up sheets to fill the courts with the vibrant sound of a league racquetball match.

With Racquetball's unofficial "summer offseason" coming to an end, it means it's time to pick up a racquet and get involved in the Life Time Fitness Racquetball Leagues!

The new session of leagues begins on September 7th, with registration closing six days prior on September 1st, and if you click here you can find some rules, regulations, and details about the sign-up process and how the Box Leagues work.  You can also click on the league sign-up banner at the top of the National Racquetball page to register your spot in a league.

Tom Sweeney warming up ahead of his Big16 Summer Shootout match at St. Louis Park.

An old adage tells us that "showing up is half the battle."  But with any athletic event, just "showing up" doesn't quite fulfill our body's (and our mind's) need to prepare for the inevitable exertion it will undertake.  Here are a few ways to get yourself ready for any racquetball match:

1. A healthy diet helps: Hydration is first and foremost.  Be sure to drink plenty of water before, during, and after a racquetball match to prevent cramping and increase endurance.  In terms of food, stay away from excess sugar and salt - these can stunt your energy levels.  Replace these with fruits, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates - these nutrients do far more for your match fitness and are easier for your body to digest.

2. Start with some light calisthenics: The goal here is to just get the heart pumping.  Jumping on a treadmill for a light 5-minute jog or just taking a 5-10 lap run around the racquetball court you will be playing on will do the trick (choosing the latter is preferable - it takes less out of you and will get you accustomed to the lighting/feel of the court).

3. Keep it simple when stretching: Stretching is an important step to get ready for a racquetball match - but don't overdo it!  The worst thing you can do is perform a stretch too intensely, which can lead to joint or muscle aggrevation.  For your arms, perform a few circular rotations - going from wider rotations to smaller - in both the front-to-back and back-to-front directions.  For your legs, bounce lightly on the balls of your feet.  Other stretches can be utilized if you have injuries or specific areas of your body that tend to act up during a match, such as touching your toes to stretch your back, or rotating your ankles to increase blood flow to the area.

4. Easy hits when you warm-up: When you begin to hit your practice shots, start with some low-velocity forehands and backhands to develop a rhythm.  As you go through these shots, you can ramp up your stroke speed to align it with in-match play.  You don't necessarily have to avoid practicing fancier shots during your warm-up, it's just not encouraged; remember, the point of the warm-up is to get you ready for the match.  Showing off your skills is nice, but it also might tip your opponent to how you play and aid his/her effort during the match.

A racquetball match can be turned on its head by the best of efforts or the tiniest of errors.  Something as minute as a poorly place pinch shot could affect an entire match - your opponent gains advantage off the poor shot, you are forced to hustle more to make up for the mistake, momentum shifts, and the match can be lost.  Hyperbole?  A bit, yes - but this can (and has) happened, in some shape or form, to many players before.  So let's discuss some simple steps you can take to improve your overall awareness and ability on the court to prevent, as best we can, this scenario from arising:

1. ALWAYS keep your eye on the ball: I never liked it when my baseball coach would tell me this back when I played 12-year-old recreation baseball, because it seemed like one of the biggest "duh" comments anyone could make.  "Of course I'm going to look at the ball," I would think.  "I have to in order to play the game!"  However, you would be surprised how few people actually practice this mantra (and my .220 batting average as a baseball player tells you all you need to know about my "eye on the ball" awareness).  It makes a huge difference in all sports, and it's even more important for racquet sports.  In racquetball, players tend to not watch the ball when the play is behind them (i.e. the ball is to be played by your opponent, and you find yourself between the front wall and your opponent) because it is a natural reaction to protect your face from a shot that, essentially, will be coming right at you.  Even in this case, you want to look at the ball - whenever you aren't looking at the ball in play, you lose a sense of where the ball will go, where you are supposed to go, and where the play is being directed.  So, if the play is behind you - cover your face with your racquet.  By looking through the strings and watching your opponent's shot, you can better judge the placement of the ball and react accordingly.  In addition to watching the ball off your opponent's racquet, see the ball to your racquet on any shot you take.  Your ball striking and shot accuracy will see a marked improvement.

2. Angles, not fireworks: Most unforced errors happen when a player overpowers his/her shot, or tries to go too low with their shot - the result being the ball buried into the ground before hitting the front wall.  Cut back on unforced errors by keeping calm and composed.  Use the angles of the court to get your opponent off balance instead of trying to beat your opponent with sheer power.  Check back at our TOW from July 5th for more on shot selection details.

3. A full follow-through on your backhand:  This is where another batch of unforced errors can happen.  Many players use more of a "punch" backhand, where the stroke begins at the back leg and ends at the front leg - resulting in a quick, and inaccurate, "punch" at the ball with the shot almost always going wide and weak to the player's backhand side.  This gives your opponent plenty of time to react and an easy shot to make.  So work on your backhand stroke: get a full wind-up, with your racquet over your shoulder and facing either the back-wall, or the opposite side-wall.  Swing through the ball (remember: keep your eye on the ball!) while making contact at your front leg.  These two quick alterations to your backhand will make a big difference in your stroke.

Starting in September, Minnesota Life Time clubs will experience a whole new world of racquetball.  Life Time is working with both USA Racquetball and our Minnesota Racquetball Association partners to offer exciting new programming that will grow the sport and increase its popularity.

In addition to a variety of league formats that are currently available at Life Time Fitness, a new city-wide team league will launch in October at St. Louis Park - the first of its kind in Minnesota.  The league be open to both members and non-members, and will offer entrant an opportunity to meet new players from all across the Twin Cities.  To continue the develop of racquetball, we will be expanding our junior programming with after-school events, high school teams, and summer camps.

Other features such as a new loaner racquet program, monthly socials, dynamic tournaments, and clinics with ranked professionals will be added in the coming months.  If you have any questions, contact your club's Racquetball Pro for more information or visit your club's Activity Center.

We welcome all players to join our National Racquetball Group for the most current information, and to get involved and stay connected by checking out your club's Racquetball Sub-Community.  We look forward to providing you an even greater racquetball experience in the near future!