So....what do you call when the whole court shakes and you miss the swing because the floor moved?
We'll need some clarification on earthquakes as hinders now I think.
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I've recently realized that my game is undergoing a "d-evolutionary" process, and shot selection is a major component of the change. I've been playing a lot of my age group,55 and 60+ players, and the ceiling ball shot that had pretty much disappeared in my 30's and 40's is definitely featured a lot more in this age group competition.
It used to be a last resort/off balance/out of position choice, and now I find myself mixing it in regularly because...it's effective again. "We" tend to be a little further forward because of the lost quick explosive first step. Back pedaling isn't as simple OR fast and often we barely reach a good set up position on this shot. Being as precise therefore isn't as much of an element...being a "pretty good ceiling ball" will get me the return I want, rather than a rollout.
And then I play a 35-40 year old, and have to evolve quickly or die (in a court sense...so far). I need to push myself harder on positioning, and re-evaluate shot selection to take into account their faster reaction times and foot speed.
It's interesting in the same way as watching that roadside accident cleanup crew seems to be for most people.
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Hilarious stuff. The walls get funky, the floor gets goofy...we really need to call it something else when it gets like that, which is all too often in this 95+ degree weather.
SlideBall? GoonywallBall?
Nick lobs turn into back wall sitters...wide angle passes come flying out to center court. It just turns into a laugh fest, and that's about all you can do is laugh, at least at my club.
We change courts every game when there's available space, but that isn't as often as you'd think, as the day care always seems to like to take one or 2 of them in the summer for their activity sessions.
Just us?
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Willie...can't access my Profile to change it. I get tired of my sig stuff, but it keeps coming up as a 404 error. It's been a couple weeks so I don't think its going away..
Any help/info would be appreciated! Thanks,
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I knew this would happen eventually. I've gone the way of the buggy whip and the 8 track. I upgraded one time too many, and now I am caught wondering when someone else will notice the truth.
My racquets are now too good for me.
I've heard the phrase hundreds of times, and I've used it myself in a financial sense, but now it's the dreaded "other" way. They can do things I can no longer require from them.
I once bought a new Cadillac back in the heyday of the money filled 90's and had a similar feeling. Heated seats and a hundred other options along with a dashboard that looked busier than an airplane cockpit panel. Ended up going and getting a Jeep rather than feel outmatched.
Now what do I do? Sell them? I *just* got them and I like the color pattern, which obviously is the way I will need to pick all future sticks rather than worrying about any other characteristics. They look good in the bag is now my operative catch phrase for why I have them. No more of the "They have a nice blend of balance and power and when I reach back I can really light it up without losing control" and so forth. Nope...it's just gonna be "Man...look at the way they shimmer in the light of the losers bracket board over there...nice,heh?"
They're not even close to the latest generation either, just to add another dollop of insult to the stew. Crap, if I dared move up to the latest ones, they'd probably crawl outta my bag and throw themselves down a garbage chute or something to put themselves out of their misery.
Pretty soon I'll be down to telling the indoor guys I switched to outdoors, and telling the outdoors guys I've decided "squash is better for me overall".
Time to get back to work and get myself worthy of my racquets...what a world.
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You just never know what will happen in sports...and that's one of the most interesting things about the whole thing.
Our city has it's YMCA, and as I've said it's "okay", but isn't really enthusiastic about racquetball, more like "tolerant". We win trophies, they put them in storage or out of sight for the most part. We don't feel the love really, but there's not a lot of choices, and there are certainly places a lot worse off in terms of having courts. We're not in an area that would attract an LA Fitness, so no real hope there for help. And across the years you just accept things as they are and work within the system to make them the best they can be at any point in time. We got some glass backs put on 3 courts about 4 years ago...never got the lights fixed, but still,...improvement. The club is way on the north side and has limited parking, generally older facilities, no bathroom on the 3rd floor where the courts are, much less a shower...but...there's courts.
This week though, a benefactor bought the Sports Racket Club here in town, and decided to donate it to the local university. It's very centrally located, and has 18+ acres and room for expansion as desired. It is a multi use place, with tennis, racquetball and weight training. The racquetball courts need a lot of work, especially the floors, and just can't be used reasonably as they currently sit, though Lord knows, we've tried.
Big article in the paper. Looks like they plan to renovate it completely, and use it to augment their Division 1 ( or soon to be I guess) tennis program, and perhaps also start a racquetball team for the college. The courts there are cement floored, but there's 5 of them, including one that is in the center all by itself amid the other courts. Could be redone into a 3 glass wall show court.
Big excitement at the Y...lots of questions...lots of hope for advancing the sport. Bunches of us willing to get involved and make sure the renovations are correctly "aimed" and address the players needs. Hopefully they'll hire a full time coach since it's a huge university with incredible resources and a reputation for wanting to compete at the nations highest levels. It's always been a mystery to us why they didn't have courts on campus anyway, but this certainly addresses it sufficiently.
So, for a few hours at least, we all dare to dream of a state of the art place dedicated to racquet sports becoming a reality here.
Cross your fingers for us...
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In the name of all that's holy, can someone set up a PayPal account or something so we can all send a few bucks in and buy Kathy a new keyboard, or at least an "L" an "M" and a "K" to replace the nonfunctional ones she has now?
I'm getting a headache figuring out her posts...
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Well, we had a good first round, but I *really* would have posted up even if we lost...probably...60 % chance or better.
This format is VERY enjoyable for those of you that may be looking for something to stimulate more club interest/racquetball enthusiasm. It allows you to play with players you normally play against, and of course it establishes a common goal and a sense of teamwork during the tryouts and setup and such. It also allows players who may not enjoy tournaments for whatever reason, (cost/length/pressure) to have a safer environment to experience the tense atmosphere and excitement portion of a big tourney.
Our format this year is 14 men and 4 women ( per the other clubs request...we could field 6-8 women easily), 3 points per match, 27 total matches across the afternoon ( 4 womens singles, 2 womens doubles, 14 mens singles, 7 mens doubles) for a total of 81 points per "challenge". 3 points if you win in 2 straight 15 point games, 2-1 if it goes to a tiebreaker to 11. We have 2 Open/Elite, 6 A, four B and 2 C/D singles match in the mens draw, but of course you can modify this as needed within the format to fit a smaller teams needs. Our goal is to be as inclusive as possible, but still have a strong element of competitiveness and of course a nice trophy to display if your city wins.
Home teams choice of ball, and responsibility to provide snacks and drinks. We have all our players chip in $5 each to cover for ALL our home matches and get a little help from local sponsors and such.
For some ridiculous reason, WE, despite being the home team, used the red ball that actually *IS* the other teams choice. It certainly at least surprised them as they had practiced with our normal choice, the Ek Blue, rather than that stupid Fireball. So, maybe our team captain knew what he/she was doing since we did win pretty big...but I think we just happened to have freebies to use up...whatever...water under the bridge, but that ball is really annoyingly bouncy and inconsistent.
Lynchburg 59 - Roanoke 22
Our women were dominant as usual, losing only one point. We have a very good club program of cooperation within the organization and our women get to play quality competition and level up as they can, which doesn't seem to be the case in the other cities, apparently. Another good reason to love this format as it will emphasize progress for everyone and the need to work on all your players games. We've been adding serves and discussing strategy this session, and it showed in their play and confidence.
Sadly we still are losing at the top of the mens ladder, and after the first 6 played we were down 11-7. That was our only bad area though, obviously, and this team we beat is generally considered the favorite since they have the largest club and largest city. If we can do well when we travel there you'd have to like our chances for the year. The rest of the "league" is usually easier...having said that I'll likely be eating crow when it turns out they've all improved greatly and hand us our tushes down the road..lol.
This must be how Kathy feels when she posts...loooong paragraphs....and my fingers hurt a little...must have to work up to it.
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Sometimes the essence of things ARE in the details. Changed out the grips on my racquets and I've been hitting it solidly all week. What a tiny little change...makes one wonder what else you can tweak for the advancement of your game, doesn't it? I also swapped out into new sneakers, so it may be a combo thing, but whatever it is...going to keep railing it and riding the happy train as long as it lasts.
I've even hit 4 out of 5 shoulder high reverse pinches for rollouts the last 2 days. Just feels like I have total control over the ball/game/court at the moment.
Happy Holidays!
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Yup...once again racquetball talk has fallen below General Discussion, which would be fine if this was a Chatty Forum, but it's a r-a-c-q-u-e-t-b-a-l-l forum primarily for gosh sakes, people!
Start liking or posting or whatever we need to do to restore the glory that was once so evident and personified by Racquetball Talk!!!
C'mon...it's Christmastime...you don't *really* have anything better to do by now. The shopping/eating/decorating is behind you...lounge around and hit the buttons folks!
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Yup...just venting. Not sure how it is in other clubs but *most* of the time I'm going at about 80% when I'm playing. Just not using everything in my bag, lobbing instead of driving, not always trying to end the rally at the first opportunity and so on...sort of what PhatLefty was chatting about in the other "Working On Your Game" thread. Playing all out every day just doesn't lead to mental health or social health.
BUT finally today I/we manage to set up a game of singles that is with another Open-ish level player...woohoo! His schedule is crazy and he has the hectic lifestyle of the *young*, so this is rare.
So, we play 3 long tough games, and I end up losing all 3...close 15-13, 15-12, 15-12 type games...games that I had the lead at 10 in every time!
So after wards I yak with my other elderly buddies outside, deconstructing the match as is our nature, and the same commentary comes up over and over. I take the lead using a junk slow down game...the Mannino half lob, ball control and superior positioning. BUT *then* I get the urge to play the power game...because I never get the chance against A's. And it's fun...and it's just the ape warrior that still lives in me and wants to get all Hulk ( green Hulk of course) and just enjoy that run and gun style. And he';s better at it, and can sustain it longer, so it's a losing strategy.
BUT IT'S FUN!!! AND I WANT TO DO IT!!!
Gotta love racquetball...venting over. Just basking in a good tough match kind of day.
Oh, and then to wash the bad taste outta my mouth/racquet I played Ironman against 2 of the A's and won both games, playing p-o-w-e-r!!!!!
BECAUSE IT'S FUN!!!
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Willie...can you boot/repair this function up so I can get rid of that ancient email address in case I ever need to get some news from here? That one is ancient! Thanks...
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Well, either they're for real or else I had a reaction to the flu shot I had about 10 days ago. During the tournament last week I just wasn't "feeling the magic". It wasn't enough to make me drop out but I just *knew* I wasn't hitting on all cylinders and couldn't put my finger on anything specific. There's always things wrong, especially when you're closer to 60 than 50, but that literally is normal for a tournament.
Are my strings in shape? Wonder if that racquet has a hairline fracture? Crap, these sneakers feel mushy, are my allergies acting up,and on and on, but this was just...weird.
Flash forward 5 days later and I step on the court and it feels as though I could run through the wall if it was necessary...just bursting with energy and ready to roll.
I want to be able to bottle that feeling and pull out the cork on demand.
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Next time you're feeling like it always "happens to you"...refer back to this thread!
The Asheville Citizen-Times
ASHEVILLE -- A Tennessee man says he planned to propose to his girlfriend along a North Carolina hiking trail when she was struck and killed by lightning.
Richard Butler, 30, of Knoxville tells the Asheville Citizen-Times that he took Bethany Lott to Max Patch Bald, near Asheville. He says that he wanted his 25-year-old girlfriend to think the two were only on a hike but that he had a ring in his pocket and was planning to ask her to marry him.
Heavy rain let up as the two walked toward the bald, but more bad weather returned.
Butler said Lott, who was ahead of him, turned around. "She said, 'God, baby, look how beautiful it is.' "
There were three lightning strikes. The third hit her and jumped to him.
"I was spun 180 degrees and thrown several feet back," he said. "My legs turned to Jello, my shoes were smoking, and the bottom of my feet felt like they were on fire."
Butler turned around to see Lott lying on the hill.
Butler suffered third-degree burns. Paramedics declared Lott, also of Knoxville, dead at the scene.
As rescuers tried to bring Lott back to life, Butler said he crouched near her body.
"I put the ring on her finger while the EMTs were working on her," he said. "They are listing me as her fiancé in the obituaries."
Is it just me or does it take at least 4 or 5 pretty good sessions before they start feeling...normal? I realize factory string isn't exactly the worlds best most of the time but it seems to happen with every type of string, setup and tension regardless of all the variables.
Or maybe I just adapt sloooowly....quite possible.
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Hey...it's not MY fault you're getting older. The knees don't bend quite as they used to...you make a squishy noise and don't get up very fast when you hit the floor...booking a court for one hour is plenty....you always know how many timeouts you have left...and so on and so on.
1972. I had a picture of me running up a side wall and hitting the ball and doing a flip off it back to center court.
2010. I can't remember where I left my glasses when I came off the court and need an extra timeout to find them.
Things change. They evolve and entropy (pause for entropy definition break!)
[en-truh-pee]
–noun
1.
Thermodynamics .
a.
(on a macroscopic scale) a function of thermodynamic variables, as temperature, pressure, or composition, that is a measure of the energy that is not available for work during a thermodynamic process. A closed system evolves toward a state of maximum entropy.
b.
(in statistical mechanics) a measure of the randomness of the microscopic constituents of a thermodynamic system. Symbol: S
2.
(in data transmission and information theory) a measure of the loss of information in a transmitted signal or message.
3.
(in cosmology) a hypothetical tendency for the universe to attain a state of maximum homogeneity in which all matter is at a uniform temperature (heat death).
4.
a doctrine of inevitable social decline and degeneration.
Where was I? (pause to re-read thread and remember my premise)
Oh yes, entropy as it relates to your body, your swing and your racquetball game.
*I* am closer to 60 than 50. I have had a "swing" of some sort for over 50 years, starting most likely with whacking my sister with a teddy bear and then moving to a baseball bat ( yes, probably at the sister also)and so forth through the 1950's/60's and up to the present day. Golf clubs, tennis racquets, bowling ball, various tools...we swing things for fun and work.
There is a point of decline however in this swinging "history". It's inevitable and preordained that you cannot continue to either improve or even remain stable forever. Hence, this thread is dedicated to the proposition that at some point we, as older players, must somehow discard our disdain of the pendulum swing and embrace it as a savior and a tool for continued competence. I've been gradually adjusting and adjusting and fighting the idea all the while I silently shift towards it. Doing this allows me to be able to get back to centered position without wondering if the fully bent knee I'd need for the old time flat swing is going to work one more time.
Heresy, I know...but survival knows no ideals.
Anyone else want to admit to it?
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