Racquetball Practice Strategy

If you find yourself with some free time before your racquetball opponent arrives at the courts, take advantage of this opportunity to get some valuable pre-game practice in. A solid 10- or 15-minute practice session can sometimes be the difference between a win and a loss. Along with stretching and plenty of water, a quick practice session can play an integral role in preparing you for your next match. Below is a list of effective practice drills/strategies.

1. SERVES

Serve five times from the middle of the court while aiming for a specific area on the back wall. Follow this by serving five times from the right side of the service area, and then five times from the left side. Practicing serves for a racquetball player is like throwing pre-game pitches for a baseball pitcher . . . no matter how long you've been playing, you need that "warm-up" time to get your rhythm going.

2. ACCURACY

Stand on the left side of the court and hit five line drive shots along the side wall. Your goal is for the ball to stay as close to the side wall as possible after bouncing off the front wall. Repeat this process on the right side of the court. This drill is vital for testing your accuracy. A good strategy in racquetball is key, but strategy without accuracy is virtually worthless.

3. RALLY

Rally with yourself. For approximately five minutes, hit the ball off the front wall. Don't worry about trying to prevent the ball from bouncing twice-your main goal here is just to get the blood pumping while working on your hand-eye coordination. Remember that this is just a warm-up, so don't expend too much of your energy before your actual match.

4. KILL SHOT

Stand in the middle of the court and attempt some hard-driving kill shots. Try to get them as low as possible, preferably only a couple inches above the floor. Continue to practice these kill shots until you successfully complete three of them. The perfect kill shots will bounce two times on the floor before reaching the service area. Remember to set your feet and bend your knees for these kill shots. Do not be lazy. If you are lazy in your practice shots, then you will likely be lazy in your game-time shots, as well.

5. EXPERIMENTATION

During the last couple of minutes of your practice time, have a little fun and attempt a new shot. You cannot expect to continually exceed with just one or two good shots. You always need to be looking to add to your arsenal. Perhaps you can craft a new Z-shot, a "dink" shot, a ceiling shot, or maybe even a "spin" shot, in which you take more of a sidearm approach to undercut the ball and cause it to curve as it approaches and bounces off the front wall. If you spend enough time experimenting, you are bound to eventually come up with a couple more "secret weapon shots" that will enhance your overall performance.