Racquetball Tournament-More Power

In an effort to stay active, I've participated in a good amount of intramural sports while at BYU and now at the Univ. of Louisville. I really enjoy competing in sports. Earlier this week, I heard about the spring intramural schedule and saw that racquetball was one of the sports offered. I was excited to sign up and play a season of racquetball. Once I was signed up, I came to find out it was actually a weekend tournament I signed up for, not a league.

Not a big deal, I'll enjoy this one Saturday morning of games and it'll be good. I went to an informational meeting on Thursday at noon to get tournament rules and general info, and I have to say, I was feeling pretty good about my chances to go pretty far into this tournament. There were about 40 individuals all competing, so a big group, but when I was sizing everyone up, I wasn't too impressed. (Shouldn't have done that, you'll see why, keep reading)

I went this morning to the tournament, and to my surprise, all these non-athletic looking guys were all decked out in their sweatbands, sleeveless shirts, and kneepads. They came ready to play! My first game was against this guy named Ben. Once we were in the court, he was quick to inform me that he was a member of the racquetball club and that we would be playing according to USRA(United States Racquetball Association) rules. I asked him what that meant and he took that as an indication that he should descriptively explain all the rules to me. He showed me how to hold my racquet, where to serve from, what was a legal hit, etc. He even offered for me to serve first, so kind of him.

10 minutes later, the game was over and I beat him 15-1. I had about a 15 min. break before my next game. The next game was against Derek. Looking just as un-athletic as Ben, I felt good going into this game. We introduced ourselves, and he informed me he as also a member of the racquetball club and was a sponsored pro player. He wasn't kidding, he really was a pro. We went back and forth but he ended up winning 15-10.

After the game, there was a group of 4 guys outside the door, Ben being one of them. He introduced his buddies to me and said they were also members of the racquetball club. They invited me to come out for the racquetball club. That was very nice of them to invite me. I probably won't take them up on the offer, but I do appreciate the offer.

Ben: "You're a pretty good player."
Me: "Thanks, man. I appreciate that."
Ben: "You have great coverage."
Me: "What do you mean?"
Ben: "You can hit everything on the court. It's hard to get a ball by you."
Me: "Oh, right. Thank you. It's fun."
Ben: "You know, you do need to work on your power though. You don't strike the ball very hard and your hits aren't very powerful. You just need more power."
Me: "Oh.........., I'll work on that. Thanks"

So, the same guy, Ben, who I beat 15-1 is now telling me I need more power. I couldn't help but laugh about it. He was dead serious when he said it, so I had to wait until I left to laugh at it all.

So here's what I learned today:

• I'm lacking power in my racquetball game. Gotta hit the weights
• I can cover the court well
  
• I have no power in my game
• Non-athletic looking guys can be very good at racquetball
• Ben says I need more power
  
• Humble pie tastes better served. Don't judge a book by it's cover.
  

What a great tournament. I have nothing to show for it. I would have liked an intramural champion shirt, but I'll have to wait for soccer, handball, and dodgeball later in the semester for another shot at an intramural championship.

I'd like to thank Ben for helping me identify the weaknesses in my game. I'll never forget you Ben.

Kyle's First Update-I can blog too

I wanted to give this blogging thing a try. Hil's much better with the format and posting nice pictures, but I thought it would be fun to put some words down.

1 semester down, 3 to go (spring, summer, and fall). I'm on track to finish up with school by next December. That means I'll be taking classes all summer but it'll certainly be worth it. I'm very excited about the way it's all going so far. The coursework couldn't be more enjoyable and applicable to my career path. It was a leap of faith to come out to Louisville, Kentucky, but after one fall semester I am confident it's all worth it. The research projects, case studies, group projects, homework assignments, internships, assistantships, it all is setting me up to have the best opportunity for a long and successful career in collegiate athletics. I'm very happy in Louisville even though we're so far away from both our families.

The last time I enjoyed school this much had to be back when I was at Robinson Ranch. Those were the good old days of recess where we could run wild on the playground.

We're on countdown to December 2011 graduation. By then, I'll have completed my thesis project, all my classes and coursework, and we'll be on our way to work in an awesome collegiate athletics department, hopefully close to our families and loved ones back in the west coast.