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.

Q

Actually a great shot early on to get them tired. Use a lot in the first game then less and less.

I love shooting from deep court so unless the ceiling shot is really good, I'll wait it out and shoot it from the back wall.

Beginners don't use this shot enough which is why the get owened by better players who camp out in center court.

In my opinion the ceiling ball is a defensive shot... When used as an offensive shot...it really is giving your opponent another opportunity.

Tim

Well...that's sort of the point. I don't know your age group, Tim, but I'm guessing sub-55. It's only very recently that the ceiling shot has become viable again, and as I said when I swap back to a younger crowd I need to put it away for the most part.

You go from being able to 'wait it out" as you said, to "just getting back to it in time to put a semi-coherent shot on it".

The realization amused me. Who knows what will come back into play next? Aging is fun for the most part...given the alternative.

Q

I'm 42 and I have always used the ceiling shot extensively...certainly far more than I should and my overuse of it is one of the many weaknesses of my game. Still, I have gotten pretty good at hitting it and in recent years have found pulling it over to the forehand side of my opponent is more effective against much higher level players (I think the higher level players have just seen so many ceiling shots to their backhand that they can judge better when to try to put it away and when not to).

Anyways, I have recently started playing at a new club in a new city regularly and the name of the game is doubles at this new club. I traditionally haven't played very much doubles. I think I am pretty good at position in the doubles game and some other aspects, but my shot selection is nothing short of horrific.

I tend to do a lot of cross court shots compromising my opponent and for reasons I quite frankly don't understand, hitting ceiling shots is borderline taboo. You wouldn't believe the crazy shots people take to avoid a ceiling shot, shots that under singles would probably be ill advised, but in doubles, are somehow more effective (I think it has something to do with how hard high passing shots take advantage of how crowded the court is, but I can't quite put my finger on it.)

Anyways, while I may generally overuse the ceiling shot, I think a lot of higher level players underuse it. The ceiling shot lets me get into perfect court coverage. I am very fast at getting the ball, and when I can get perfect coverage position and even a half-decent ceiling shot, I generally like my odds of them trying to shoot it. While I will certainly lose my fair share of rallies to the occassional roll-out, I also win a lot of rallies by getting to relatively good shots by my opponent and pinching them while they are still too far back to do anything about it.

Most of my opponents are solid tournament-elite level players in California (northern and southern), so I am not playing against chumps here either.

You must have a pretty good touch on your ceiling shot j if you're using it against A/Open/Elite players and not getting it rolled/put away a lot. In my 40's I loved getting a ceiling ball to me because it needed to be almost perfect to remove a good offensive opportunity.

I agree with the comment regarding c-shots to the forehand side. Most of us have drilled the backhand side to death and have seen 70+% of shots going there for a very long time as well.

Might I suggest the high Z in doubles? VERY effective, chaos causing sort of shot that throws even high level players off their game. Or, as mentioned in another thread, the reverse ceiling ball can have a similar effect due to the steepness of the angle.

Q

I never realized how important it was to have a good ceiling game til my 40's or so. I was way too offense-minded when I was young. Then I started to get an idea ... of playing folks with just a ceiling game ... once I played and beat my 45+ dubs partner with just ceiling shots ... we were state champs that yr.

I've tried to impress this upon my daughter ... but its a slow go when you can blast the ball from anywhere on the court. But if you watch her play ... each time she is slightly out of position to make a good return, she hits a lack-luster defensive shot which only makes things worse. It'll come though.

2 of my favorite drills are to 1) hit dtl ceiling, then cc ceiling, shot over to the other side and repeat and return ... back and forth. and 2) use 2 balls at the same time ... kinda like a juggler ... 1 ball is going up when the other is coming down. Helps with racquet prep.

And Q you're right ... careful with top players .. sometimes you can't help but to hit a ceiling ... then its just up to getting the best court position you can and be quick on your feet.

Are you guys racquetball gods I've never seen before? How often do you think you're going to roll a ceiling ball from 37 feet when I'm yawning in center court waiting for it?

The real problem with the ceiling ball is as jpetersen describes: Over-reliance, improper use of the shot, and making it part of a game of inferior shot selection.

Tim seems to think a ceiling ball is only defensive and not an offensive shot at all. While some of that can depend on how you want to define terms, I'm here to tell you that there are a lot of times I can hit a ceiling ball with all the effect and advantage of Tim's normal cross-court pass shots.

Sure, at lower levels a good ceiling ball can sometimes get you some weak returns and skips from your opponent that can lead to some easy points. But when you play higher up the racquetball food chain, a well-hit ceiling ball fares no better in a rally than a less-than-perfect pass -- the opponent can still execute a return good enough to turn the rally for a kill, or back decisively in his favor.

That means when you're playing upper level you have to calculate if the ceiling shot is the best you could have done, or whether you should have grown the balls to take a more aggressive shot that would have ended the rally or put more pressure on the opponent.

The key to avoid the trap of the ceiling shot is not letting it hypnotize you into being more passive and depriving you of other opportunities that would have given you better chance to win the rallies and the game.

Control Freak

How often do you think you're going to roll a ceiling ball from 37 feet when I'm yawning in center court waiting for it?

Really? You're going to be back in center court and yawning after I just hit a 3 wall boast followed by my patented high Z Death Corner to the hypotenuseal ( yes, that's a word...well, it's a word now that I've invented it) corner? Did you count the time you need to stop and hit the oxygen mask before getting back to center court?

I didn't think so.

There was a time ceiling balls were Pavlovian shots that made me drool.

That time seems to have passed.

Guess we have found some feet of clay on the racquet gods.

:-)

Q

not so much for adults but I've always taught my kids that if you're opponent gets in an extreme forecourt situation what do you do? Lots of times, since the entire court is pretty much open, they'll go for a shot and skip a kill or leave a pass up so it comes back to center court, etc ... I always tell them the easiest shot in that situation is a ceiling shot - "uh-oh??" ... nothing like watching your opponent scramble to the backcourt to try to save it ... even if they do, its another easy shot for you ... maybe upfront, watch your opponent scramble again, etc ... all in fun, of course :)

At least for me, the ceiling shot is an awesome defensive shot as long as you really know how to hit a good one. A short or long ceiling is basically giving a point away.

For someone with no patience (the player that tries to hit a 37-ft shoulder-high backhand splat), a good ceiling will either force a horrible ceiling shot, or he'll try to take it from the back-court and won't be able to.

Like any other shot, a good, effective ceiling takes tons of practice.

My two cents...

I think the Ceiling ball is an important part of the overall game strategy and will no doubt be used throughout the game which is why it should be drilled and drilled.

I actually only see more advanced players "Practice" hitting the ceiling ball.

The ceiling ball as an offensive shot I think reflects the level of competition you are playing.

I say it's defensive because advanced players "never" and I will say again "never" use this shot unless they absolutely have to. The repercussions of miss hitting a ceiling ball against advanced players justifies not using them all the time.

I know that I avoid the ceiling ball unless I am in a position that either I was NOT in position either due to my own fault or due to my opponent hitting a great shot.

If I'm in any position to take the "Offensive"..... the ceiling ball is the last arrow in my quiver that I'm gonna use.

Tim

You can actually use the ceiling ball shot as an offensive weapon. Today I had the delightful experience to play some doubles with a few friends ... unfortuantely, I had to talk my partner to play cause he has a bit of tendonitis in his wrist ... but he finally gave in. Our strategy was simple ... he stays back and hits forehand killshots to the right front whilst I run around keeping the rally going with ceiling balls.

Gotta say that this was a GREAT cardio workout ... and good practice for my ceiling ball game ... and I even score about 5-6pts from my ceiling shot.

I like the ceiling shot and I practice it. Like many other shots, its all about employing it in the right situation.

Since much of my 'advantage' is in outlasting an opponent, the ceiling shot can be a very effective tool to sap a little strength from someone.

Giving up a point or two short term can be worth it if you've worn your opponent down enough in the process.

If you're on the opposite side of the spectrum and overpower (vs outlast) most of your opps, the ceiling shot probably is a silly choice. Since I don't have that 'problem' I'll keep the
Ceiling shot in the arsenal.

Oh, and the high-Z is a personal favorite of mine, though it only really 'surprises' most once or twice.

If the 55+ crowd enjoys the ceiling shot game, I guess I should have plenty of practice at it by the time I play with them :)