I miss playing racquetball. It seems like forever since I held a racquet in my  hand, hit a ball, ran  across a court, kept score, or any number of things I did for several hours four times a week while playing racquetball. It kind of is forever. It’s now been going on five weeks since  the State of New Mexico went on lockdown, its citizen told to shelter-in-place and many businesses  shut their doors to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The health club where I play racquetball closed its doors, just as many other similar facilities did across the nation. Closing health clubs makes sense. How coronavirus spreads is still a mystery.

A health club offers a variety of activities where people are close together. Being close can spread all kinds of not-very-nice microbes. Four people on a racquetball court can be very close together.

So I wait, along with my racquetball buddies, for the quarantine to end so we can play our favorite sport again. But I want to do it as safely as possible. My need to play is not so great that I would jeopardize my health by playing too soon although I think it’s going to be tricky knowing when the time is right to open up any business again.

I wish no more people would get sick or die from this thing we had not even heard about a year ago. I hope the medical people, first responders, law enforcement officers, and all others involved can continue to help the sick without becoming afflicted themselves. I hope we all get back to normal one day, whatever that normal might be.

Stay Safe. Stay Healthy. Be kind.

I play racquetball three mornings a week with the same group of people. Not the same people on the court because there are enough people that we can play with different folks for several games.

Playing with different people is good for your racquetball and your psyche because it can make you play with different skills. Playing with different people who have different skills is even better. And it’s good to play with different age categories too.

It can be easy to get stuck in a rut, playing with the same people every time you’re on the court. You may know what shot they will hit when so you feel as if you are always prepared to get their shots. Perhaps you have fallen into that rut of always hitting the same shot or serve.

It can be more challenging changing up your shots and serves. More challenging for you and your opponent, for you and your partner with your opponents. and it can be challenging playing with people of different age groups.

The morning group has lots of people fifty and older. But that’s the result of playing early mornings when those of a working age are doing just that, working. Throw in a sixteen-year-old who is home schooled and the racquetball can be more interesting.

The sixteen-year-old is fast and we oldsters have to hustle to keep up with her. She makes it an exciting game and forces us to think outside the box. She makes us go beyond what we’ve become used to and that’s good for all of us.

I’m going to try harder to play with different people and vary my shots and serves. And I’m going to have fun doing it.

Your equipment can enhance your racquetball game or it can be your downfall!

When I first played racquetball  I used a racquet that had been used by my husband. Nothing wrong with that except it was weighted to what he needed. And it turned out that weight was heavier than I needed or was good for my arm, shoulder, and elbow.

Wish I could remember who taught me that racquets come in different weights, but somewhere along the line I discovered my husband’s racket was a 175. What I needed, and still use, was a 160 which it took me a while to find out.  Once I started using a 160 racquet then my arm, shoulder, and elbow did not hurt.

I wear a glove when I play. I know those who do not like to wear a glove. It’s an individual taste. I feel I have a better grip playing with a glove. Others only find a glove a hindrance. There are people who wear gloves on both hands although I am not sure what purpose that has since the racquet is generally only in one hand.

What one wears when playing is an individual preference as long as it is clean, and not so full of holes that private parts are visible. Footwear is integral to the racquetball player, not only to enhance the playing but the footwear must be safe. Recently I replaced my footwear not because the soles were wearing out, but because the inside heel area of the shoes was falling apart and had been for months. I felt I was living dangerously by not replacing the shoes. What if I slid around in them and skidded across the floor so I fell? Maybe that wasn’t possible, but after hearing horror stories about people injuring themselves under various circumstances I decided buying new shoes was the best thing to do.

The ball is part of the equipment. I like to play with pink balls but these may no longer be found. I also like the red/blue ones but not everyone likes the double color in one ball. I think that the color of a ball is indicative of its speed or heaviness. Others sneer at my belief which only proves each to her own.

And each to her own on making your equipment work in the best way to improve your game and keep you safe.

You’ve been playing racquetball, switching partners, for an hour this morning.

This particular game has had some good rallies, the four people on the court seem about evenly matched, and everyone has been hitting the ball to the wall, rather than in the floor.

The game is now tied at 14. It’s a tossup who will win.

Your partner serves the ball

You keep your eyes on the ball, follow it back to the front wall after the return of serve.

You make a clean shot when it comes off the front wall.

Your opponent hits it back. Now it’s coming your way, but you can’t quite reach it.

It goes by you.

You decide you’re going to hit it into the back wall.

You raise your racquet, turn to hit it, and realize your racquet is only a few feet from your opponent’s face.

Can you stop your swing before you hit that opponent with the ball or the racquet?

Maybe you believe the opponent should not be so close. You might be right. But you should be aware of where all the people are in the court.

And you have to stop when a dangerous situation develops.

If you can’t stop then you can do damage to someone else on the court.

You may feel angry at this person for getting in your way.

And she may feel the same way about where you ended up. She might have wanted to get around you, but perhaps you did not move.

Just remember, no point, even the winning one, is so important that someone gets hurt.

When it is winter I am grateful that I play racquetball.

If I was an outdoor exercise fanatic I would have a difficult time getting my exercise during those cold dreary months that are part of the season when the sun comes up late and sets early.

I would certainly not be one of those people who bundle up in flannel sweats with a big parka and heated socks to run on an icy sidewalk.

I don’t mind driving in my nicely heated car to the racquet club and walking across the parking lot in the cold winter air to enter a warm indoor facility.

I take off my pants and jacket to play on a nice warm court in my skort and short-sleeve top.

No need to keep the sweats on to play like people do on the tennis court in the dead of winter.

I don’t know that I could run in sweats although I have seen plenty of people doing just that outside on that tennis court and often when it is dark and they see by artificial light.

I like the indoor racquetball court even when it is a bit chilly because it is expensive to keep a racquetball court warm with that high ceiling.

But start playing, running across that court, and you warm up quickly enough.

Soon it will be spring. The warm weather fanatics will be getting ready to run without worrying about wearing sweats. I will continue to play racquetball indoors.

This past summer I fell and hit my head on a concrete wall. I then spent time in the emergency room where doctors put 14 staples in my head to repair the gash.

The staples felt weird so I was glad when my primary care physician pulled them about ten days after the accident.

The doc is aware of my love for racquetball. She told me point blank I could not play for another week to ten days. Then she recommended I wear a helmet for a week or so when I started playing again.

A helmet!?

I evidently had a stricken look on my face at her recommendation.

“If the ball hits your head in just the right spot there could be serious damage,” she said solemnly. “This way you can play and be protected.”

I thought about the staples she had just pulled from my head. All 14 had been taken out. There were scabs on my head. I could feel them through my hair (my head had not been shaved).

Could a direct hit by a very fast ball cause a scab to bleed? Could someone hit me in just the right spot to damage my brain?

I thought a helmet was dorky. Then again, dorky vs. damaging my head forever seemed an easy choice. I chose a helmet.

Someone loaned me a helmet so I didn’t have to buy one. About five days into my return to the court, I was hit on the head.

It was a light tap by the ball, not a hard slam that can sometimes happen. I was glad I was wearing the helmet.

I no longer wear a helmet but I will if I must to protect my head.

It’s dorky. It’s a safety consideration.

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The 33^rd annual World Senior Racquetball tournament is over.

The event,  held in Albuquerque, drew some 180 players. The youngest was perhaps mid 30s. There were many folks who were over 50.  The ones I admired most were thiose who were over 80. And there were a few who were in their nineties.

Yes, nineties. And several were spryer than some 70-something-year-olds.

The local media did great stories about the ninety-year-olds. One was of them was quoted as saying he wanted to be playing in the World Senior Racquetball Tournament when he turns 100. This energetic guy might well make it.

Is it the racquetball that keeps the 95-year old running across the court? I think so.

This guy plays a couple times a week. He plays in a tournament held in the Phoenix area in the fall that is only for men over eighty. There is quite the turnout for this event.

We racquetball players need to work at being sure our courts are maintained for as long as we continue to play, even if it is until we reach 100.

One is never too old to learn to play racquetball. One is never too old to get on the court and hit the ball.

Just keep the 95-year old who wants to play at 100 in mind. He’s a great role model.

The National Senior Games is coming to Albuquerque in 2019 and now’s the time to start preparing.

The National Senior Games will be held in Albuquerque in 2019 with all variety of sports played competitively, not just racquetball.

The Games, a 19-sport, biennial competition for men and women 50 and over, is the largest multi-sport event in the world for seniors.

The games started with the “Lifetime Sports” program developed in the mid-1960s by the National Recreation Association, now known as the National Recreation and Parks Association.

Lifetime Sports emphasized individuals becoming involved in sports which they could compete in throughout their life span.

As the concept developed across the country in the mid-1970s, middle aged amateur athletes of the mid-1960s were became mature senior athletes.

In 1970 Warren W. Blaney, a Los Angeles businessman, staged the first “Senior Olympix” in Los Angeles.

The first National Senior Olympic Games was held in 1987 in St. Louis with more than 2,500 competitors in 15 sports.

The second Games also took place in St. Louis in 1989, hosting 3,400 senior athletes. The event received significant national media coverage by the New York Times, ESPN and ABC’s Good Morning America.

The Games now move to a different city every two years to stimulate more awareness and participation around the country.

In 1990, an agreement was reached with the United States Olympic Committee based on its objection to the use of the term Olympic in the organization’s corporate name, and the name was changed to the U.S. National Senior Sports Organization.

The event is now known as the National Senior Games and the organization does business as the National Senior Games Association (NSGA).

Been a while since I have written, but I’m still playing racquetball three to five times a week.

Played this morning and, as usual, played one more game than I should have.

What is it about racquetball that those who play it become addicted to the sport?

Or is not just racquetball but every sport that becomes addictive? Or is it that anything one enjoys becomes addictive?

I don’t have an answer to those esoteric questions, but I do know that I constantly find racquetball players are ready to play “Just One More.”

I’ve played for an hour and half, ready to quit, sitting in a comfortable seat in the corridor preparing to pack up my racquetball bag. One of the players from my last game says, “Come on, Sandy, play just one more.”

I pick up my racquet, slip a glove on my hand, and place my rec specs on my face to return to the court.

Three games later, I finally quit for the day. That afternoon my legs ache. When I stand up from my desk I start out walking slowly because I spent that extra three games running across the court.

Do I regret the extra three games? Of course not. I might have played more if I thought I could get away with it. I’m still addicted to racquetball.

Just finished the World Senior Racquetball Tournament in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

With just shy of 190 players a lot of racquetball was played the week before Labor Day.

You can be as young as 35 and play in this tournament. But it’s not the “youthful” players I’ll tell you about, it’s the oldsters.

A couple ninety-year-old men played as well as a few in their late eighties. And, yes, they did play. They did not hobble around the court. They ran to get the balls and returned them to their opponents with the skill that comes from playing for years.

The women topped off in the late seventies. They were athletic and fun to watch as they boogied around the court.

This event has been around for 32 years, held every year the week before Labor Day.

One player has participated every year since the beginning.

The event raises funds for the International Racquetball Foundation.

The International Racquetball Federation (IRF) was formed in 1979 with 13 National Racquetball Federations across four continents before quickly expanding to over 70 countries.

The IRF was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1985, one of the youngest sports ever to receive this recognition.

Racquetball was one of the charter members of the World Games first held in 1981.

It has been included in five IOC-Recognized Continental Games, including the Pan American Games, since 1995.

Since 1989, the World Senior Racquetball Council has used silent and verbal auctions to help raise over $400,000 for the IRF Development Fund.

Monies are used to underwrite training and travel expenses for athletes of qualifying nations and for the development of an elite officiating corps.

Why don’t you plan on being at the 33^rd World Senior Racquetball Tournament in 2017 in Albuquerque?

Lots of racquetball, great camaraderie, and more!