In a perfect world.

Sometimes you just have to believe in what you believe or nothing will change. Anyone who is reading this blog knows of my promotion in Ektelon. Anyone who knows racquetball it is not for the money(there is none) lol. I have heard from so many players from years ago about how great this sport used to be. It must still be pretty special you old bastard,you are still playing I say. Do we have the number of people playing as years ago,approx 20 mil; and today 6.5 million today,no. Do we have the big prizes,no. The professional million dollar contracts,no. But I have some positive no's, if that is possible. Do we have to play tournaments until 4 in the morning,no. Do we have to pay for court time,no. Do we have to wait forever for a court,no. Do we wear those goofy 70's shorts, no. Finally do we have to play with those hammer heavy,shoulder tearing,skull crushing racquets, NO. So there is a perfect world for racquetball. We are in the infancy to build it to where it deserves to be. It is bigger than all of us, It is something I love and will not let diminish. So I invite anyone reading this, do something for the sport you love, besides complaining about lighting or other issues on court conditions. Build the sport and show the owners a reason to invest in, and keep the courts alive. Grab a junior, a newbie. Do whatever it takes. I am taking on extra responsibility for my passion,will you ? Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"

Is it a foot fault, or the feets fault ?

The first complaint of many non racquetball players is the inability to track the ball. I want everyone today to ignore the ball,the swing,the racquet,and even the follow through. I want you to watch only the feet of the players at your club next time you go. I have played people with "decent" racquet skills that dominate the "better" player. There are obviously alot of mechanics involved in a swing,but there are many other racquet sports such as squash,paddle ball and ping pong. All of these players who have played their sport for a while have developed decent foot work. I say anyone can swing a racquet but foot work is an acquired skill. When a person skips a ball or hits a pinch instead of a down the line,look at their feet. The feet tell all. The feet should in most instances face either wall on our shots. Again look at how many peoples feet are pointing to the front wall, especially on skip shots. The feet tell all. Focusing on your feet after a mistake will definitely help your game. Plyometrics, ladders, and speed and agility classes will elevate your game. This is a guarantee. If more people were facing the wall I guarantee people would almost never get hit with a racquet. Why do you think it happens at the lower level. Finally good footwork makes people look much faster than they actually are. So next time you are at your gym or a tourney check out your opponent feet. It could be their impediment. Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"

Happy Place

I try to keep this space to general things that happen in the racquetball community, and not a personal journal. Where is happiness found on the court? I think it truly depends on the intentions of the player. That's where I come into this question. I want to get better just as most tournament/league players want to. To answer my own question about the where, is a tough one. On one hand I like to win, at what cost ? Does a persons happiness affect their play ? I have seen some players like John Barrett shoot his best relaxed, just as many pros are relaxed, able to leave a loss behind . Then you have players like Sanjay who seem to thrive on the adrenaline in the match. That is during the game. I knew when I started dedicating time to improving my game that it would be a tough road, especially not being a young kid, and entrenched in my bad playing habits. I had a loss at my club in the men's A finals. I felt like I let down myself, my partner, and even my teacher. I beat myself up for two days, rehashing my mistakes and how I embarrassed myself. I had friends call me to try to help me through it, but nothing healed the wounds. Is that what I signed up for . I love this sport,is this who I am going to become in the pursuit of becoming a "champion". When I started this my teacher said patience is needed to see results. I had to take a big step back to realize that time is my enemy for now. It is easy to say "I am patient" but not as easy to live it. Like someone with a disease, there are good days and bad days. I just want to lick this disease, and move onto winning some matches. The good news I do believe that the cure is just on the horizon. Until then I will enjoy the sport that has given me so much, a huge group of good friends, and a way to stay physically fit. See you at a tourney soon. Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"

Wanted for Murder

Ever think about all the terms we throw around on the court ? We shall start with the obvious one which is kill. We want to kill a ball,first of all what did that poor ball do to us (unless of course it is one of those egg shaped Penn balls ;) ) Secondly how can we kill something that is inanimate, there are some issues here. Pinch shot, ouch, not quite murder but who wants to be pinched. It is so annoying. Splat shot, well thank God we are not mosquitoes. Around the world, sounds like something that Julia Roberts would offer Richard Gere and blue balls not even going to go there in this family friendly blog, and the last one I ripped down the line sent people scattering for a gas mask. So when the general population is walking by the court, and is staring at you it may not be that great shot, it just may be your lingo. Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"

My Blue Heaven

Most normal people have those special things in life that make them happy. My family ,racquetball and yoga are the three things in my life that give me happiness. Family is a selfless love that at times is challenging, but the reward is immeasurable. Yoga depending upon why you are doing it can be both physically and spiritually uplifting. But lets face it you know where I am going next,RACQUETBALL ! To this day when I am working or running around, I get a rush thinking about going to play that night. A typical day is me going over to my club and walking down the long hallway. I hear can hear the ball hitting the front wall. I listen closely, is it a heavy hitter tonight, or is the older set hitting the ball around. I break at the end of the hallway,down the three steps hang a right and in my view is such a beautiful site. Four glass courts, I have seen them a million times but I stare at each one,walking down to the last one just to make sure everything is intact. Funny thing is I was probably here just four hours ago. I say my hellos to the crew and try to decide what to play for the night. Whether it is hard core singles, or playing with the older, I mean uh experienced guys, I know it is going to be fun. Like a freshman at a keg party,I don't want to leave until I get my fill of play. Watching players drop off from fatigue, like frat boys dropping from the beer and yager. I love my family more than anything in the world but this is MY blue heaven,and everyone is entitled to this. Now comes my dilemma, Losing is not as fun as winning. As much as I am a goof, I take the sport very serious, more serious than most would suspect. I can lose, but not when I don't want to, if that even makes any sense. My solution was to take off most of the summer, take lessons,and in other words elevate my game. Dilemma number two: Losing hurts more when you are trying than when you are not trying. The proper solution is to at least play well even if you lose. What happens when you give all you got and then tank. The answer is for 300 Alex "What is my personal hell". I found it at the NJO. I played terrible in the second game of my finals match. There was no doubt to the onlookers whose fault this was. It took me about three days to get it behind me. That is the problem in making the court your panacea,you better be ready for a fall. I put things in perspective and no, not I have good health and life is honky dory, no. I listen to many songs on my ipod about overcoming defeat. Everyone has bad losses, but those songs and inspirational sayings can't be words, they have to be life. I have been doing my yoga, and playing a little racquetball with my daughter. Welcome back to my blue heaven Jon. "Hit Smarter not Harder"

If cleansliness is next to Godliness than what is racquetball ?

I woke up early this morning, being the insomniac that I am. My second passion besides r ball is yoga. It does not seem like the two have anything in common. Yoga started strictly as a spiritual experience for me, but has developed to become a tool for the sport that I love so much. I laid down the yoga mat and blanket about 6:30 this morning. I was surrounded by geese, and the frost was on the leaves and steam was rising off the lake. Not too many normal people are in the park at this hour so it was peaceful except for the geese. I watched the park slowly come to life with the joggers and walkers. So Panno, how does this help you smack a ball around at one hundred and something miles per hour ? Well for starters being flexible definitely helps with the injuries, and I feel keeps the muscles subtle, helping you to explode better. The deep breathing while exercising helps open up the bronchi , and increases air capacity, thus helping blood carry more oxygen. The end result is less fatigue. The most challenging part for me is the aspect of focus. In our daily lives we have so much going on with family,work,traffic,and many other things to generally piss us off. I think many people have a good idea what to do on the court, but just can not bridge that mental barrier. I believe that sometimes that is why people play better when they play longer, because they become more relaxed in what they are doing. Yoga is definitely relaxing, if not euphoric at times. But I feel that racquetball also has that same effect on many people, even when they are cussin and screaming at themselves. So yoga and racquetball do have many similarities at heart. Both yoga and racquetball in the end help calm you, but which one is gonna get you to heaven probably depends on your religion. Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"

Being human in Memphis

It is ironic that the blog I was going to write about is the aggressive personality of past male racquetball champions,sorry I do not know that much about the history of women players except a few. Lets go down the list of of past champions. Marty Hogan-Mr Humble personality, Cliff Swain-ego maniac with a temper personality, Jason Mannino-abusive to opponents and fans alike at times personality, Jack Huczek(sp)-the anti-fan personality, and Kane the thug personality. These are definitely the best players discluding Sudsy,always a fan favorite,who played the best ball ever seen. From pure power players, to great court sense , these players dominated for the past thirty plus years. Is it just coincidence that these players all share major character flaws ? This racquet fanatic does not think so. That same aggressive tendency off the court is carried onto the court. A win at all costs attitude. I will not mention names but there are many very good players I know who become way to timid on the court especially on tournament day. This costs them a mark in the win column. This brings me to Kane's game tonight against up and comer Jose Rojas. I never saw someone enter the "arena" more relaxed than Kane tonight. Of course he won, but he was helping Jose up after his dives and joking with him on the court about how to clean up wet spots on the court. He came out with Sudsy's bagel shirt to warm up and was chatting with Jason and Sudsy(they were commentating)between games. To put the icing on the cake he gave kudos to Jose after the game and told him he remembers what it is like to be an up and coming junior.HMMMMM what is this all about ? A) Kane becoming a father has turned him into a human being B)Jim Winterton has been telling him to straighten up his post game speech. C)He is getting bored of his Ali like speeches after his victories D)Big rumored Nike contract has a conduct clause. E) Someone slipped him some Prozac. You decide . Jon "Hit Smarter not Harder"