Product Description
Head to the court and learn to hit that winning kill shot in no time at all! Racquetball Fundamentals will have you playing and competing while you master the basics of the game.

You’ll learn shot techniques for the forehand, backhand, serve, return of serve, passing shot, side-wall shot, and kill shot. You will also become more competitive with instruction on shot selection, court positioning, and footwork. Soon you’ll be winning your share of matches as you employ those techniques with the tactics taught for both singles and doubles play.

More than 75 drills and games will speed your learning and improve your performance. You’ll also gain a greater understanding of the game’s rules, scoring, etiquette, and safety.

Racquetball Fundamentals is a better way to learn the basics in less time. Use it now and get a step--and point--ahead of your next opponent. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Basic concepts
It seems to be a really good book, specially for beginners who are worried about how to grasp the racquet, where to put the feet on the field, where to stand in order to be able to reply the ball. If you want to begin with "school" read this book to have a nice style at playing.

Not Recommended
I'm an advanced intermediate player with 16 years' experience but due to a lack of players in my area I often find myself playingopponents with beginner-level skills. Because unsolicited advice on the court is not always welcome or easily absorbed, I'd like to have a good book on fundamentals to suggest or loan to my friends. This isn't it. It's wildly scattered, rambling, and self-contradictory, with poor diagrams and useless photos. It jumps right in with drive-serve lessons without talking about fundamentals of grip, posture, body position, shot mechanics or footwork. The most common mistakes of beginners (apart from failure to get back to center court) are not strenuously identified and singled out for concentrated attention: watch your opponent make his/her shot; do not chase the ball, let it come to you; do not hit anything bound for the back wall at higher than waist-height - let it go to the back wall; the ceiling shot (hitting it and returning it) is the most important shot in the game at this level; always face the side wall when making a shot; aim your shot with your feet and body; hit drives and kills from knee-ankle height, etc. These are mentioned in passing (no pun intended) at random places and for sure there are bits and pieces of good advice (like the purpose of a return is to move the server from center court) scattered throughout the book, but they're buried in so much drivel, contradiction, and occasional downright misinformation that a beginner would never be able to tell what's important at their level and what's not. Mr. Winterton may be a fine player and coach in person, and his dropping names of top-level players may be impressive, but giving this book to a beginner would be doing them a genuine disservice.

Nothing Special
This book can often be confusing or long winded to get across points that should be simplistic.It will give you a couple beginning techniques, but did not provide the "best practice" advise I was looking for.

Great Book
I am a beginner at the sport and this book offers great insight and instruction on each aspect of the game.

Good entry level book
This book does a good job teaching the fundamentals and my game has improved since reading it. My only gripe is that I would have liked to have seen more diagrams in the book (particularly the chapters on serves and returns) rather than photos of players, in the book. Overall, good book for the money. ... Read more

Product Description
The Ultimate Guide to Weight Training for Racquetball and Squash is the most comprehensive and up-to-date racquetball and squash-specific training guide in the world today. It contains descriptions and photographs of nearly 100 of the most effective weight training, flexibility, and abdominal exercises used by athletes worldwide.  This book features year-round racquetball and squash-specific weight-training programs guaranteed to improve your performance and get you results.

No other racquetball or squash book to date has been so well designed, so easy to use, and so committed to weight training.  This book will have you increasing strength, quickness, agility, and endurance, which will lead to more powerful and precise backhands, forehands, and serves.  Following this program will allow you to compete with all of your energy from the opening serve until the final point.

Both beginners and advanced athletes and weight trainers can follow this book and utilize its programs.  From recreational to professional, thousands of athletes all over the world are already benefiting from this book and its techniques, and now you can too!

As an added bonus, this book also contains links to free record keeping charts which normally sell separately for $20. ... Read more

Product Description
Whether you’re a competitive tournament player or a recreational player, Winning Racquetball: Skills, Drills, and Strategies will help you improve your game.

The authors—veteran racquetball player and instructor Ed Turner and #9-ranked professional racquetball player Woody Clouse—show you all the shots and strategies for success on the court. Using more than 140 photos and illustrations, the book includes dozens of practical tips and 35 drills for better practice and performance.

Inside you’ll find valuable information on

• selecting equipment and facilities;

• injury prevention and treatment;

• conditioning to improve strength, power, flexiblity, and endurance;

• common errors and how to correct them;

• effective game strategies for doubles and tournament play; and

• mental training and outthinking opponents. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Too superficial for the better player
I regretably have to agree with an earlier reviewer who panned this book as being too basic to be really useful for the more advanced player.I figured that reviewer was looking for "shortcuts" to getting good, without the hard work of practicing the basics -- and I believe in the importance of working hard at mastering the basics.So I purchased the book.But, the problem is that the basics covered in this book are too basic -- like how to pick a racquet and the trajectory of a lob serve.Those are things the beginner needs to see, but the better player knows them in principle, but needs help in learning how to execute them better -- not the "what" of winning racquetball, but the "why" and the "how" so that the skills can be practiced and developed.It's not that there isn't good stuff in this book -- there is.It does a good job of treating the fundamentals, but that's where it stops. If you've already got a solid grasp of the fundamentals and are already playing at a reasonably advanced level, I would recommend the "Advanced Racquetball" DVD by Jim Winterton which demonstrates the mechanics and strategies that will allow better players to take their game up another notch.A word of warning -- Winterton's DVD is very good, but it is so loaded with specific coaching information that it can be hard to digest it all.Sometimes you just want to yell "explain that a little better before you move on!"But at least, when you've been exposed to Winteron's coaching comments you know what you're not doing right and need to work on, and because it is video rather than static pictures, you can play and replay the stroke mechanics being illustrated.

Not bad, could be much better
I would like to see stop action sequenced photos of the basic forehand and backhand strokes. There is no picture of a decent backhand stroke in the chapter entitled "Hitting Forehand and Backhand Shots" and only two instructional photos.

All instructional photos in the book are of Woody Clouse a LEFT-HANDED player. Why would you use photos that are appropriate for only 10% of the population?

The text presentation is quite good but the photos leave a lot to be desired.

Information that is Very Valuable
One has to apply the information that has been read from this book and use it on the racquetball court. The information is very direct, and their is no mystery to it. One of the authors who contributed information on this book [Woody Clouse] emphasizes that one has to practice hitting alot ofballs on the court, lift weights, and run sprints in order to get better asa player-Male or Female.International Racquetball commissioner HankMarcus along with Irt player Jon Ellis give this book a very positiveevaluation. The book has many pictures illustrating situations where onehas too be hitting the ball away from the player, etc. The book has severalchapters that emphasize all the aspects of game-conditioning, nutrition.The book also has several pictures of players who play on the professionaltour. Cliff Swain, Andy Roberts, Mike Ray, Drew Kachtik , and RubenGonzales are some of the player photographs one will see in this book.Ihave to say that my play was really very limited and highly primitive. Ionly knew how toserve the most basic serve in racquetball and that wasthe drive, and that was the only shot I knew since the beginning. I wasvery fortunate that when I was playing the game I purchased this bookduring the time to help improve my play. It has been a couple of monthsnow, and my play is alot better. I can do a Z-serve, a left and right driveserve, and my lob is coming there. I also learned to hit the ball away frommy opponent and not to hit the ball to him or her but away from myopponent. Alot of patience is needed, and alot of practicing if one desiresto improve. So if your a racquetball player who is from Moscow, Russia, orTijuana ,Mexico, or from Houston Texas who wants to be more knowledgeableplaying the game, I highly recommend this book too you.

Not much solid information here.
I was disappointed by the lack of advanced instruction in this book.Winning Racquetball includes precious little information that an intermediate player wouldn't already know.It seems this book is mostlyfiller.I was expecting insight on advanced strategies and how to improveon fundamentals.Instead I found a lot of information on how I should eatand what I should wear.

Superb. This book taught me a lot about the game!
If you gotta have just one book to win in racquetball-- this is it!My friends (after being frustrated with my newfound techniques) were surprised about my transformation... from a novice player to a real good contenderwithin a month.I plan to join tournaments soon and win.Thanks to thisbook. ... Read more

Product Description
This guide to raquetball uses the Personalized Sport Instruction model of teaching (PSI), which is widely respected as an effective, interactive, student-centered teaching model. This workbook, as part of a six-book series, features a common organization and framework for planning, managing, implementing, and evaluating the fundamentals of learning badminton. Each module includes specific directions for setting up learning tasks and criteria for demonstrating mastery. For anyone interested in the sport of raquetball. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Racquetball: Mastering the Basics~
Great book for all levels of racquetball players.Emphasizes the basics of the game and provides detailed strategies and exercises to practice. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excelente
Looking for a way to start playing racquetball?Well here's the book for you.This book teaches everything you need to know to get started.It also mentions subjects, such as psyching out your opponent, which other books fail to mention.I really like how the book was very well organized and there wasn't any difficult language.Drawings and pictures of this book help make the words come to life.Reading this book will put you two steps in the door. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Wow!
This was an amazing title!I never knew what I was doing wrong until, finally, I purchased and read this book.
What a difference it made!
Well worth the effort to find one.
Cheers!

This book saved my game!
This was an excellent guide for reducing injury on the court. I play several times a week and didn't realize what I was doing wrong! Now I am more confident and certainly prepared for anything!! I recommend it. ... Read more

Product Description
Racquetball is written for the beginning racquetball player to provide an introduction to the skills and techniques for a lifetime of play on the court. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

As far as you can go on paper
This book "Racquetball" by P.E. Allsen is part if the Sport and Fitness Series of Brown & Benchmark Publishers.As with other books in the series, it pretty much covers everything you want to know about the sport.

It covers history, rules, procedures, strategies, etc.There are monochrome pictures of how to stand and move.Along with this are several diagrams of angles best for different types of serves.The book covers rules of different groups and how to score.

A very important but overlooked part of the sport is warming up and stretching exercises.They are covered in this book also.
The only things lacking from the book are the strength and endurance drills that do not use the ball its self.

There is so much information in this 116-page book that it can make your racquet spin.This book is a must if you are even halfway serious.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

You get what you pay for...
A terrible book! The writing is poor, the illustrations are unhelpful, and the information is old.Don't get it.Instead, visit the USRA web page for tips and stuff.Also, I do recommend the book, Winning Racquetball, by Turner.You are warned! ... Read more

Product Description
Part of the "Learn-in-a-Weekend" series ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

i finally got to play real squash
other players got amazed when they saw my technics during playing,i havegot it allfrom this amazing book! ... Read more

Product Description
This guide outlines beginning through advanced skills and strategies and presents practice drills for each level. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Hogan does it again!
Nearly a decade after changing how the world thinks about racquetball, Marty Hogan has teamed up Ed Turner to revolutionize the sport once again. Learning the physical skills needed for success on and off the court is one thing, but somehow Hogan continues to transcend the sport itself. The strategies laid out in this book will help you win on the racquetball court, while also giving you the strategies needed to find peace and balance. ... Read more

Product Description
Mary Dee is thrown into the professional circle of a young sport through uncanny circumstances. She decides to make the most of it by becoming a student of the game. She finds her studies help her succeed in more than just this sport. She learns valuable tips for living a full and happy life. This inspiring true story has powerful tips for anyone desiring to move up the ladder of success. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Finding the Answer
Mary Kirchoff, a world champion athlete, tells a very honest story about aligning her body and her intention to improve her game and her life. The answer Mary finds is nothing less that how to navigate toward ones highest purpose following synchronicity and joy.

Finding the Answer is a great buy
This book is a remarkable combination of great insight and simplicity. The author takes us inside of her head as she explores her road to success and her rise to the top of her sport.WAIT--that description, though accurate, does not capture the essence of the book. It is her outlook, her concept of success, and the process that she goes through which is important.Her self examination, acceptance and ability to change and grow is inspiring.

The book is short and easy to read, but writing it off as overly simplistic and idealistic, will only shortchange the reader.Most of the concepts are easy to understand and agree with; applying them requires more.Also, underlying it all is a deeper concept, less clearly spelled out but more elemental.As I read, I felt as though the author spoke to a truth inside of me, and shone a light on my path.I'm grateful to Mary Dee Kirchoff for sharing her experience and insight, and for making it so accessible.

Whatever journey you are on, this is an essential travel guide. ... Read more