by Tom Rall Phoenix, AZ - Racquetball players in Arizona were treated to being part of the making of a Racquetball Training Video that will be released in the next few months nationwide. Sports Video, Inc. made the video. The day of the shooting was July 25th, a Sunday, and it lasted the entire day from 8am to 5pm. City Square hosted the event, which was arranged by Darold Key (Arizona State Racquetball President). Player participants represented nearly all levels, genders, backgrounds, and ages. Participants included Tom Fuhrman (National Champion & Professional Player), Damien Zamorano (State Open Runner-Up), Simon Cardenas (Grand Canyon Games Champion), Chris Jorgenson (LA Fitness Professional), Dr. James D. Loo M.D. (Open Tournament Champion), Tom Rall (8-Time National Champion), Ryan Capps (Beginner Player and Enthusiast), Karen Key (State, National & World Champion), Danielle Key (National Juniors Champion), Michelle Key (State & Regional Champion), Mike Myer (ASU Racquetball Team Member), and Mahab Khatib (ASU Racquetball Coach).

The video was conceived and hosted by Jim Winterton, long time racquetball player, coach, leader, and pioneer throughout the racquetball community worldwide. Recognized as one of the best racquetball coaches in the world, with more than 30 years of experience coaching athletes from the beginner to the elite levels, Jim is director of the High Performance Racquetball Camp in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is also a coaching clinician for the International Professional Racquetball Organization, a certifying instructor for the American Professional Racquetball Organization, and has coached the U.S. National Racquetball team for 12 years. During that time, Jim coached both the United States and Mexico National Racquetball Teams to victories and is the only person to ever do so. He has been named Racquetball Coach of the Year by the United States Olympic Committee three times and was a Racquetball Hall Of Fame inductee in 1999. Never idle, Jim also runs a racquetball program at Gold’s Gym in Syracuse, New York where he shares his expertise with local players.

“The most difficult shot to execute in Racquetball is the kill shot”, Jim said. “They are very difficult shots to make. And to think you can hit them all the time is just not realistic.”

Arizona thanks Jim for taking the time to come all the way out here from New York. It was a long day at the Video Shoot, but everyone present learned something. With one of the best in all of Racquetball doing the teaching, how could we not? By the way, along with everything else he has done Jim can now ad Author to his resume. He has just finished writing a book. It’s all about how to play Racquetball. So if you want to learn how to play Racquetball the right way, if you want to learn from one of the best in the world, if you want to learn how to play better and enjoy racquetball more, you may want to get yourself a copy. It’s called ‘Racquetball Fundamentals’ and you can order your own copy from the Human Kinetics web site. In the mean time, have fun, keep the ball low, hit high percentage shots, and serve to their backhand!

Update as of Dec.3, 2004:
"The beginning video should be available in a few days. Sportvideo is currently authoring it to DVD. The DVD will be available in early January. The advanced video is expected to be released in March 2005."
Bill Richardson
Sport Videos