my understanding is that the opponent(s) must give the straight in and the cross court to the opposite corner shot - that is how I play.
however, playing doubles, a ball came to me in mid-back center court and one of the other guys was directly in front of me and he jumped - I didn't take the shot and he said that it wasn't a hinder because he jumped
but, I said I wasn't hitting low, I was going straight in but to the ceiling to jam him since he was leaning forward
His point was that he was giving me the straight in shot (low) but I was going high and hard to the ceiling and I was saying that the straight in hinder isn't just for low shots, it goes all the way to the ceiling
who was right?
At the risk of sounding "old school", what are these new fangled divisions "Elite, AA"?
Back in the day, it was D, C, B A and Open and Pro
If you weren't good enough to play Open, you played A.
If you thought you were good enough, you entered Open. If you got your rear end handed to you, the sanctioning body reclassified you down.
It's like Little League, coddling players with special divisons. Is it about a trophy?
Maybe it's the word "Elite" that bothers me - Elite means exceptional, not "not quite good enough to play Open or Pro".
At my club, the "Elite" league division includes dudes that play B at state tournaments. It chaps my rear end to hear guys say they are "Elite" when they are average B players.
Back in the old foggie days in the 80's at my club, there were only a handful of Open players and when there was a league, they played each other and if you didn't play Open or were of Open caliber, you didn't play Open - period.
When did Elite become a division and why?
I vote to get rid of it.
I went to the Racqueball Warehouse website but can't find any IRT t-shirts.
I've got an old IRT Varsity Racquetball shirt that is just about worn out and was looking for IRT shirts.
How often are doubles played by pros at IRT stops or are there doubles only tournaments? I'd enjoy watching quality doubles by top players.
I was considering asking a local top 50 pro if he'd play doubles with me at the club and I'd pay him just for the instruction and critque.
Any idea where I could find instructional information or strategies etc on playing doubles?
I learned doubles from 3 open friends so I can hang on the court, even though I'm a B singles but I find that most players treat doubles as if it were singles.
Are doubles videos available?
Tks
at my club, there are some dudes who are always decked out in E-Force, Ektelon or Wilson gear and say they are sponsored - which I kinda doubt - one trunk rep for Gearbox says he's sponsored and he's a low C player and I say....what?
From what I hear, only the top pros actually receive sponsor money so what are these guys at my club receiving?
Plus, they never play tournaments or do anything to promote the brand.
One Elite player "sponsored" by Wilson is one of the biggest jerks in the club, he has utter disdain for anybody on what he considers his challenge court and has told average players like myself that we aren't good enough to play at peak hours and really represents the Wilson brand poorly.
So, what is up with the apparent casual way manufacturers dole out these sponsorships?
Is it just discounts or what?
I will never play with Wilson because their "sponsored" player at my club never does anything to help other players or grow the sport. I will never play with E-Force because the sub-A level guys at my club, all wearing E-Force apparel will not play with anybody outside of their click and have bad promotional attitudes, basically prima donnas and they never ever play tournaments.
I asked an E-Force sponsored Elite player why they don't serve to either side in doubles like in real doubles and he said they dont' want to get hit...which I had to laugh because he's "sponsored" and he is afraid to play the game correctly? Jeez, I'm a B level player and my group serves where ever because that's how the game is played and none of us are "sponsored"
Let a C player walk on the challenge court at my club and the Wilson guy will roll his eyes and play like a douchebag and won't take one second to help the C guy out. What Wilson doesn't realize is that us C and B players are the real market - not the Elite players.
Despite being a Cliff Swain fan (we have his poster in my garage), I'll never use anything Wilson because one of the dirtiest arrogant jerk off Elite player at my club wears Wilson. I actually want to call Wilson and tell them they ought to cancel his sponsorship. Because of the Wilson guy at my club, if somebody asks me about Wilson I try to say the brand isn't that great, just because of their player at my club - but that's Wilson's problem, they sponsor the jerk.
I think that the racquet manufactuers would do themselves a better service by really limiting the discount or free shirt sponsorhips or doing away with them all together. At least make them sign a sportsmanship contract or make them jump through some hoops to call themself sponsored.
Or at least have some type of criteria like these so-called "sponsored" players have to play a minimum of 6 tournaments a year and be an ambassador of the sport.
I've sold sports sponsorships before so I already know that these guys aren't sponsored but why do manufacturers think that not controlling who has their logo on his/her back helps them sell racquets?
I'm not sponsored and I've taken at least a dozen kids to play racquetball for the first time and introduced them. But the Wilson dude at my club doesn't do anything to help promote his brand.
I'm not sponsored and if a D level player asks me if I want to play and I'm not drilling, I'll play because I was there once.
I guess this is more a rant but still, don't the manufacters realize that they might be doing more harm than good by tossing out "sponsorships" like candy - it actually devalues the image of the brand.
Manufacters, make them earn it by playing regularly n tournaments and make the free merchandise players quantify how often they play, do they actually sell a racquet or what justifys them receiving a "sponsorship"
What blows me away are how many E-Force sponsored guys at my club have really lousy backhands and cuss on the court - makes E-Force look really good to the D player watching from outside the glass.
I dont see any ProKennsex or Head logos at my club so they must have it right - keep the brand aloof and let the pros do the marketing - not some yahoo at the club.
tried to post this but haven't seen yet so if it's a repost sorry
anyway, I was playing club doubles with B players like myself and the other team hit a shot that I heard as a skip and they all saw good so it was okay - i heard skip and then the ball hit the wall and they only saw the ball come out
but when they were asking "did u see it" I said, "I heard it skip" to which one player just kept badgering me because he said it's impossible to hear a skip, you can only see a skip and thought it was stupid that I could say that and a "sponsored" E-Force said I was wrong that it was impossible to "hear" a skip
sorry, I put "sponsored" in parentheses because he gets discounts, never plays tournaments and tells everybody he is sponsored but never promotes the gear, but I degress
when I first learned racquetball 30 years ago, I had some open level friends and I heard them call skips based on the sound and not how the ball necessarily came out
so, my question to pro and open players, can you actually hear a skip on a extremely close shot and would you call it?
Is it just me or can a player actualy hear a skip ball?
When I first learned to play, the open players I played with would call skips because they heard the ball skip in inches from the front wall.
I was called an idiot (which may be true) by some B level players (like myself) because they all reacted to a ball coming off the wall when I heard it skip in. It was close enough to play over but when I said I heard it skip even though we were replaying it it becaame a huge arguement because another player thought it was impossible to hear a skip.
So, I'm asking the Pro and Open players, can you actually hear the ball skip in and if u did would u call it?
Sure, we play them over at our B level but still I was taught you can hear a skip and not always see the skip.
Thanks
Is it just me or can a player actualy hear a skip ball?
When I first learned to play, the open players I played with would call skips because they heard the ball skip in inches from the front wall.
I was called an idiot (which may be true) by some B level players (like myself) because they all reacted to a ball coming off the wall when I heard it skip in. It was close enough to play over but when I said I heard it skip even though we were replaying it it becaame a huge arguement because another player thought it was impossible to hear a skip.
So, I'm asking the Pro and Open players, can you actually hear the ball skip in and if u did would u call it?
Sure, we play them over at our B level but still I was taught you can hear a skip and not always see the skip.
Thanks
