racquetball anyone?

Lifestyle Health & Fitness
1

I am picking up the sport to play on a more regular basis after a while. any regular players here?
my current raquet is ancient and is a head ti, weighing 220g before strings, been looking at eforce and head racquets..never really like ecktelon/prince, wilson and am nuetral about pro-kennex, my bros swear by it but just not me.

any ideas? I dont want to get top of the line ones right now because really by the time my game is at a level where I can use em, they would eb cheaper and new tech would be out. but then i dont want your bargain wallie worls ones.

plus if there are ppl who play regularly here, perhaps we can talk game as well.

2

Re: racquetball anyone?

oh yeah been looking at the liquidmetal line at head, except the cyber and blast ones (190 and 205g)
and also looking at eforce bedlam and launchpad (170 and 165 weights)

3

Re: racquetball anyone?

:khumar:

Ahan ahan. Can we come watch?

4

Re: racquetball anyone?

sure, although i know it will be rather hilarious for the first couple of weeks.
people say its frustrating to pick up a new sport, I disagree, i say its more frustrating to pick up a sport you used to be good at and with lack of practice and age you simply dont have the speed, agility you once had plus just relearning the strokes and all takes time, its like you know what you want to do, you have done it a thousand times before but mind and body just are not in sync.

I played competitive, was ranked #2 at my uni ..mostly a fluke because some of the tougher players ran into each other in earlier stages. I was in top 10-20 in my uni but not #2. Played in regional uni championships and all, but those were glory days when I was 20 :) played seriously until I was 23 or so, but then stopped and casual pick up games with pals or recreational level leagues, but i really miss playing.

5

Re: racquetball anyone?

I used to swim real well as a kid/teenager but many years later, I realized i didn't have the stamina to go though even one complete lap... but that's because I wasn't working out.

You'll get the hang of it with a few sessions of practice. You know the technique, you have the skill, you just need the practice.

6

Re: racquetball anyone?

stamina is critical. in racquetball that was one of my key advantages along with speed, I played against people who had better technique the advantage i had was stamina because I played for the uni soccer team and had no problem running non stop for 90 minutes. I would get to anything ppl would hit and hit it back even if my stroke was not as good as theirs. of course years later when that speed and stamina is a thing of the past and I have to return to technical expertise, I was never that technical to begin with compared to similarly ranked players.

I am looking forward to it, actually very excited to get back into it. i know it will be frustrating, but I miss reaaaally playing it, u know not just utzing around with ppl but really getting into it.

will keep y'all posted.

anyhoo seems like no other racquetball players here right now, so will check back later.

btw..ppl..its a great sport to get into,

7

Re: racquetball anyone?

racquetball ............
yeh kia hota hey

Ghareeb ka dil
8

Re: racquetball anyone?

it is similaer to squash in some ways although it grew as a sport out of paddle ball and handball ( the one where you hit a ball to a wall, not the one where you run with a ball and throw it in a goal)

9

Re: racquetball anyone?

Have played it only once when a fellow squash player asked me to try it.

But squash has been my best sport, though unlike you, i rely on my accurate drops, lobs a powerful backhand and on picking up on opponents weaknesses.

10

Re: racquetball anyone?

I dont have the speed and stamina that I had when I was 19-20, I have to rely on a more technical game now also. but I am working on getting the most out of speed by specific drills for explosive bursts of speed. lets see how well the work or dont work :)

we should start a separate thread for squash players here. I played squash before I started on racquetball, but when i moved to US my uni did not have squash courts so I picked up racquetball. did not play squash for many years until i moved from midwest to east coast and then I played off and on.

My gym now has both types of courts so getting a squash racquet as well, my buddy is a sqush player so we will probably do some of that as well.

11

Re: racquetball anyone?

I am not sure about racquet ball bcoz the ball moves faster compared to squash, but in squash a good ffotwork can go a long way. I used to watch Jansher a lot, specially his videos, the guy moved in court like an octopus, never really running yet he reached four corners of the court. It helped me tremendously

12

Boy, I love racquetball. My company has a beautiful gym and there are two racquetball courts in it. So I play it but my other colleagues play so much better. Esp some has such a great power in their shots that amaze me. I'm still far from that level.
One other problem here is that I've got some wieght which kills me when I try to move quickly or rotate the body to hit the ball.... :(

But still, I just love this game!

13

in racquetball you want to be center court and keep your opponent off balance by making him be defensive and esponding to your shots, so you want the person to move..
so technical play..footwork, shots are all very important. with the ball being fast it is easier if you really want to try and throw the other person off balance as well. That is what helped me what they would think I would drop, I would get to it and then make them run to the front or make a quick retreat to the back.

14

as far as power goes, honestly aside from how they are hitting it and how hard they are hitting, do you know what racquets they use? I am tossing my old racquet because the newer technology has improved so much, look at some of the newer racquets by e-force, ektelon and head, and not the ones at target, go to sports authority etc atleast and see.

better racquets reduce the vibrating you feel, how stiff teh frame is, size of sweet spot, how much energy of yo stroke actually gets transferred to the ball are all important..weight of the racquet, how the weigfht is distributed, is it head heavy or balanced? diff ppl like diff balances.

and make sure you get the wrist snap down, most ppl try to just use the force of the swing..

there are shops that can send you a bunch of racquets to try out and then make a decision. but defintely see what you can get.

Ihave been researching racquets recently since I want to get a new one, so if you tell me your style of play and price range, I could suggest a few you can check out.

the serious players dont even usually like generic strings and get them restrung at higher gauge better strings. even for head the 35 dollar and 200 dollar racquet look the same, but they are worlds apart.

you basically want a racquet as light as possible which absorbs shock as well as possible and has as large a sweetspot as possible and converts as much of your shot energy into the speed of the ball as possible.

Timepass - October 2012
15

Re: racquetball anyone?

just so you know I am getting a head liquidmetal 170 racquet, its a few year old technology but leaps better than what I had and the top of the line ones are not something I will make full use of in terms of capabilities.

here it is

http://www.head.com/racquetball/racquets.php?region=us&tag=classics&id=371

I like head racquets, have them for tennis too, there are two more economical models in the liquidmetal range, cyber and liquid metal blast. I would atleats get that level.

if you want a fantastic racquet for the peirce look for head liquidmetal fire, which is a sepcial edition made for big 5 sports and is just a repaint of the liquid metal 170. while the 170 is a list price of 200 or so, you can get the fire at 90, and on ebay you can get it around 60.

I got the liquidmetal 170 for 100 at a sale so grabbed that.

eforce and ektelon have good racquets too, I despise wilson so dunno about their stuff.

16

Yep, the same goes in Squash.

In squash in addition to trying wrong foot the opponent, aim is to make him run front right corner to back left corner and same on the left front and right back corner, coz thats the maximum distance in court.

Disguise is important, but only helps upto a moderate level, coz a good player will pick it up in one or two games.

17

Re: racquetball anyone?

two players being of almost similar level, the one with speed and stamina will win.
in my uni I beat players at my level or even higher because of that advantage.

got my racquet friday, so starting in a few days.

18

Re: racquetball anyone?

I am having a blast..the strokes are back for the most part, getting all kind of trick shots, using walls, amking ppl run like crazy, kill shots on high balls ..which is very unexpected. I would say i have 75% of my strokes, except for serves where i have a bunch of work to do.

the speed and stamina is an issue, playing someone at a lower level I am doing very well, but someone my level or better..like i had tonight..damn I was exhausted.

proper equipment and gear is critical, was in a hurry so put on cotton low socks which are supposed to be for sports but damn, comared to the nike and underarmour moisture wicking stuff, these things sucked.

I am glad I splurged on the racquet, although I need a backup one.

playing with my pals is an issue, one has strange work hours, another one works evening shifts..so now am getting tio know other ppl at the club I can get a match with. still trying to find someone who can play 9 p.m. :D

19

Re: racquetball anyone?

racquetball........u mean like badminton? Oooooh, I used to play that a lot at school. I thought I was pretty good at it. But it's been years since I've played.

jee chahta ha
20

Re: racquetball anyone?

:smack:

NO..how do u use walls and balls in badminton :stuck_out_tongue:

racquetball is closer to squash..

Timepass- December 2012
Timepass- December 2012