RacquetWorld's Newsletter Racquetball Tip of the Month

A Racquetball Player's Mental Trap

I don't give a lot of lessons anymore. It really takes a special request to get me out there and under my rules it usually means I have you for a weekend. I'm not telling you all this to sell you a weekend lesson (I'm retired from lesson giving really). I tell you this because a few interesting items come to light when you can spend that much time with a player.

I was working with a younger right-handed player. We were charting his shot percentages from different places on the court. Essentially we divided the court behind the service line into 4 boxes. See pic. We played a match and marked down how each of his rallies ended. I didn't let him see the results. Then we talked about why he lost.

Looking at the chart (S - Skip, K - Kill, P- Pass) a couple things come to light. 

In general, he likes to make an ending rally shot on his forehand side…whether it's a good or bad outcome. He also steers away from shooting on his backhand side. (I did keep roughly an equal number of balls to each side of the court). The percentages of his success rate are as follows: I - 53%, II - 71%, III - 71%, IV - 75% with a kill or pass being a success and a skip being a failure.

Then I asked him why he lost….he blamed his backhand…Zone III (71%). I asked him about his forehand…he said he killed me on that side. It was interesting to note that a forehand splat winner from 39 feet in his mind offset 3 skip shots roughly because of the feeling that splat shot induced. It was very easy to beat him by feeding his obvious weakest zone….he also did not fight it because in his mind he was winning…the only thing that was off was the score.

This kid was trapped in a classical case. His strongest mental side was actually his weakest consistent side. In his mind he felt he could always shoot a winner from the forehand side and he took risks at every opportunity. He did make some unbelievable shots and that in turn fueled his desire to take more risk. All the time ignoring the skips.... His mantra…"everyone skips…not everyone can hit that splat from 39 feet."

I told him my mantra was a little simpler " If you skip, you lose"

How will all this help you? Well, first you should look at your game and see if you fit into this mold. Do you make unforced errors from what you think is your strongest side because in your mind a great shot outweighs a common skip? During your next game or two just keep track of your forehand shots….any shot that ends a rally…did you hit a winner or did you hit a loser? See your percentage at the end of the game.

Next, watch your opponents. Do not fear a good forehand that flat rolls 1 out of 4 if the other 3 are setups or skips. Your opponent will be happy to see the ball roll and you'll be happy to increase your score the rest of the time. There is nothing like seeing a happy opponent in bewilderment when he got to shoot from his "strongest" side all game but he ends up losing. The mystified look is worth the effort.

I'll actually be happy if you just realize this situation exists in many players. It's one of those situations where once you are aware of the problem, you should be able to address it. (ie Stop playing above your head on that side)

In the case with the junior player, I suggested hitting more pass shots…they skip way less. His percentage went up and he started to win more matches…although he thought he got less cheers.

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