Taylor Knoth the Jr. World and National Champion 2010, National Intercollegiate Champion 2011 and made it to the quarter finals of the IRT Pro National Championships – a dream came true!

Beyond his wildest imagination, Taylor never expected to make it to the quarter finals of the IRT Pro National Championships; he knocked off the #9 and #10 seeds along the way before playing the #1 pro player in the world, Kane Waselenchuk. What an honor, privilege and experience that was for Taylor who just turned 20 yrs. old and finished the season ranked #23-his highest ranking ever! Besides all this, Taylor had a fabulous season as he won the Jr. World and National Championships 2010, National Intercollegiate Championships 2011 (earning a spot on the U.S. Team), USAR Regional Championships 2011, several IRT Satellite Events and even had a victory over the #15 IRT Pro Player-Charlie Pratt. To top it all off Taylor was selected to be featured in the Sports Illustrated section “Faces in the Crowd” in the April 2011 issue.

What a year Taylor has had and I am so PROUD of him and all the hard work he has done over the last 8 years. Taylor started working hard at age 12 and it has made him into a fundamentally sound player and it’s paying off with big dividends.
With an ‘all expenses paid trip’ coming up at the end of June, Taylor and Jose Rojas were invited to play in a tournament in Japan. The Jr. National Championships will be the same weekend and Taylor was torn trying to decide whether to go to Japan or stay home and coach some kids from his local club who would be playing in the tournament. We encouraged Taylor to go to Japan and not pass up an opportunity of a lifetime. Taylor has worked hard and deserves this trip!

You can watch Taylor’s match against Kane in the archives of IRT Network at www.IRTNetwork.com

Sharon Jackson, the 2009 Junior National Champion and the 2010 National
Intercollegiate Champion qualifies at the WPRO 2011 Pro National
Championships in New Orleans and takes home Gold and a Silver Medal at the
2011 National Intercollegiate Championships in Tempe, AZ.

There is no question that Sharon’s game is taking shape as she qualified
again at the WPRO Pro National Championships in New Orleans, LA before
losing to Samantha Salas, #3 WPRO Pro Player in the world. She finished this
year ranked # 25 on the WPRO rankings.

As a full time student at Alabama State University she cannot attend all the
WPRO events so Sharon plays in as many events that her school schedule
permits.

By: Diana McNab MEd, Sports Consulting & Life Coaching; a former 8 year member of The Canadian National Ski Team now working with Elite, Olympic, Paralympic and Professional Athletes.

NUTRITION Corner:

The number one cause of poor performance with most athletes is dehydration and a lack of proper nutrients that will enhance performance as well as heal and repair tissues and cells after practice or competition. All elite athletes start with Sports Nutrition and make sure that they understand what their body needs for strength, power, speed, finesse and recovery. Next they take their body weight and divide it by 2 ounces of water and that is how much water they need to drink every day! A lack of focus, concentration, energy and accuracy are all signs of dehydration!

CONDITIONING Corner:

Next comes cross training and conditioning for strength, speed, power, flexibility and co-ordination. Just playing racquetball is not enough. Elite athletes all work-out aerobically and anaerobically outside the court as well as use weights and pulleys for strength and power. Pound for pound you want to be long and lean and strong and flexible to outlast your opponent. Specificity of training is the key, so read Fran Davis’ “Championship Racquetball” Book for the ideal work-out!

Mental Skills Corner:

One must train the mind for Championship play! Focus, concentration, nostril breathing, visualization and pre-game psych plans are all learned skills. Once you have all the technique and shots…racquetball becomes a game of the mind. And an athlete’s mind needs to learn all the mental skills and techniques to stay in the “moment” and get into the “mental zone” of Championship Play.

These are all the things that we will be writing about in future Newsletters…so stayed tuned as we know these tools will assist you developing your “Championship Game!”

For more information on Conditioning, Nutrition, and Mental Skills e-mail Diana McNab at her e-mail address dmcnab1607@aol.com

“A GREAT Start to the 2nd Half of the Season”

Rocky has played three Tier 1 IRT events in January So. CA, NY and IN and not only made the finals of all three, but in the IN event he took Kane to a tie-breaker before losing 6-11 in the 5th game. Only a select few have even taken a game off Kane in TWO years, but in the IN event Rocky pushed him and had Kane on the ropes.

On February 13th at the National Doubles Championship at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ, Rocky and his partner, Jack Huczek, were crowned National Champions for the 4th time winning 11-10 in the tie-breaker against Shane Vanderson and Chris Crowthers. It was a GREAT match as Rocky and Jack were up 9-5, then went down 9-10. After tying it up at 10-10 Jack called a brilliant time out. They discussed what serve Rocky was going to hit. They decided to go with a hard drive z to the right which was to Chris’s forehand, as he played the right side. They chose that serve as they DID NOT hit it all match. Jack lined up in the doubles box as if Rocky was going to hit a drive jam, which they were using all match. This totally caught Chris off guard and Rocky aced Chris to win the tie-breaker and the title, 11-10.

In Rocky’s last Tier 1 in San Diego, CA, February 25-27, Rocky once again made it to the finals making it 4 straight pro stops in a row. In the semi-finals against Shane Vanderson Rocky fought off a match point in Game 4 and extended it to a tie-breaker. He was down 5-9 in the tie-breaker and with incredible gets and steady shots he beat Shane 11-9 to advance to the finals to play Kane. The finals was the best match of the season and both players were pushed to a 12-10 tie-breaker with Kane squeaking it out. This match was a barn burner as Kane has NOT been pushed and forced to play hard in 2 years other than the last time Rocky played him in IN where they also went to the tie-breaker. Rocky is clearly showing how the changes he has made in his game is making a HUGE difference in his performances. Remember, Rocky is the ONLY player on tour who is forcing Kane to play hard and is making him play under pressure….something Kane has NOT felt for over 2 years.

On the IRT Network Rocky is touted to have the Fran Davis Influence, “FDI”. In August 2010 Rocky hired me to coach him and in just six short months we have revamped his game and have added some very critical elements to his game that have been missing. When watching Rocky now you can clearly see his shots are more aggressive, he is using down the line more effectively, he is mixing up his serves well plus has added a new power drive serve and he is playing deeper center court position….and this is only the beginning.

Rocky shared with me this: “It’s amazing when you play day in and day out, pro-stop after pro-stop you sometimes slip back into some bad habits. I am guilty of that myself. This is the VERY reason I hired Fran Davis to get me back on track to some of the core principles of the game so I can continue to be fundamentally sound and build my championship game. Watching videos with Fran and doing video analysis of me playing has been the GREATEST eye opener for me. Thanks Fran the BEST is yet to come.”

Rocky why did you choose Fran Davis as your coach? ” My goal is to become #1 and I believe she can help me get there.”

Rocky is gearing up for a busy February getting ready to go to National Doubles with his long time partner, Jack Huczek, to regain their title as they did not play last year due to an injury which kept Jack from playing, the San Diego IRT Pro-Stop and the Seattle Open.

“Finally Back…Proved that by Beating Rhonda in back to back Tier 1 WPRO Pro Stops in the So. CA “Coast to Coast”, January 5-7, and in Miami, FL “Great Balls of Fire”, February 25-27, events. Both tournaments went tie-breakers, but in Miami Paola was down 5-10 in the tie-breaker and came from behind to win 12-10…a HUGE mental win for her.

Also, March 4-6 Paola competed in the Mexican National Championships and won BOTH the Singles and Doubles divisions which gave her a spot on the Mexican National Team and will represent her country at the Pan American Championships, October 2011, in her home country of Mexico, in the city of Guadalajara….what a HONOR that will be.

After tearing a ligament in her foot in May 2010 at the WPRO Pro Nationals in New Orleans, LA she has never been the same physically or mentally UNTIL the first pro-stop of the 2nd half of the season. When she came back to the courts in July 2010 she took 2nd in the singles at the World Championships in Korea losing to Rhonda, then proceeded to lose to Rhonda in the following WPRO events…TX in August, US Open in October and VA in November.

A true champion that Paola is she decided …NO MORE. She wanted to regain the confidence in her game that she had before she tore her ligament as she had won EVERY Tier 1 WPRO event from November 2009 (when she hired me) -May 2010. I put Paola on an intensive on court drilling regiment, she started working with her original conditioning trainer and used on court footwork drills I gave her and she began working with a sports psychologist. There is NO DOUBT in my mind that the combination of all three working together is helping her get back to where she was before her injury. This hard work and diligent practice sessions is allowing her to regain her confidence level…a KEY to re-building her championship game. What she is doing is living proof that the “Racquetball Success Triangle” works and works well.

Paola juggles ALL this being a FULL-TIME student. Here’s what she has to say about it: ” I’m in 6 semester of Ingeneer in Mechanic and Administration. I study on the school Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon and this school is in Monterrey,  Mexico. It’s difficult to combine school and racquetball, but I have the opportunity to have great professors that help me with exams and projects and they allow me to give it to them before or after the tourneys. The last semester I finished with grade of 8.8 and it’s pretty good because I passed all the classes and don’t need to take extra exams.”

Paola why did you choose Fran Davis as your coach? I choose Fran Davis to be my coach because I know she is the person that knows everything about racquetball. I asked her after the final of the Us Open 2009 and we made the commitment to work hard together so right know I really love the way we train together. It’s a little hard because of the distance, but I have sometimes the opportunity to fly to Seattle, WA and train with her. We have many goals in our minds and I know that both of us are going to work and fight hard to achieve those goals. She’s a great coach and friend ”

Paola is gearing up for a WPRO Pro Stop in Miami, FL the last weekend in February and in March she is heading to the Mexican National Championships in San Luis Potosi, MX (in her home town) to secure a spot on the team for the Pan American Championships in Guadalajara, MX (in her home country) in October, 2011.

“Gearing up for the National Intercollegiate Championships April 2011 in Tempe, AZ”

Taylor has not played many events after winning the Junior World Championships in November 2010 due to a heavy load in college, but the tournament he played in Corvalis, OR at the beginning of January he won beating Jeff Stark in the finals. Taylor just played in the Tier 3 IRT Satellite Pro-Stop, the Seattle Open, February 18-20, where last year he took Shane Vanderson to 5 games before losing in the tie-breaker. This year he took out the #15 IRT Pro Player, Charlie Pratt, in the quarter-finals and then lost to Rocky Carson in a well fought match in the semi-finals. He used the Seattle Open as a tune up for the National Intercollegiate Championships scheduled for April 6-9. Last year he made it to the finals and came in 2nd in 2010 as a freshman.

Taylor juggles playing racquetball with being a FULL-TIME student at Oregon State University and that is why he does not go to every pro-stop, even though his dream one day is to be the #1 Professional Player. His GPA last term was a 3.8 as you can see he takes school and playing racquetball seriously….a VERY dedicated and hard working individual

Taylor why did you choose Fran Davis as your coach? ” I chose Fran Davis because I saw her coaching many of the pros that I looked up to and knew that she had a lot of experience coaching players to the top. “

Sharon Jackson  Junior National Champion 2009, National Intercollegiate Champion 2010,  #25 WPRO Professional Player

“Gearing up for the National Intercollegiate Championships April 2011 in Tempe, AZ”

Sharon has not played many events after qualifying for the pro division at the US Open 2010 due to a heavy load in college, but the tournaments she plays in locally she plays in the Men’s Open division and usually can hold her own if not beat all the local open players.

She is currently training to win the National Intercollegiate Championships and defend her title she took home in 2010 as a freshman.  Right now she is working on conditioning and drills. She does the stair master for 30 minutes on speed 7, then runs 2 miles, and lastly does some fast feet at the end. As far as drilling she is like Paola working on the fundamentals like set up and shoot and then serves and returns. If time permits she will go to the MD WPRO Pro Stop in March and Pro Nationals in New Orleans in May.

Sharon, like Taylor, juggles playing racquetball with being a FULL-TIME student at the University of Alabama and that is why she does not go to every pro-stop, even though her dream one day is to be the #1 Professional Player.  School is definitely a challenge for her this year as she is taking 17 hours. Her current GPA is 3.694, but last semester she had a 4.0 and was on the President’s List. You can see she takes school and playing racquetball seriously….a VERY dedicated and hard working individual.

Sharon why did you choose Fran Davis as your coach? ” Fran Davis is one of the most successful coaches of all time. Everyone she coaches is very elite and gifted in the sport of racquetball and typically have won numerous national and world titles.  She’s very selective in her student’s and I’m honored to be one of them.”

In August of this year, 2010, Rocky and I started to work together and immediately he is seeing results in his game and ranking. This summer he was ranked # 3 on the IRT ranking and now he is # 2. He lost to Alvaro Beltran at the US Open in the 16′s and just s few weeks later he found himself facing Alvaro in the finals at the IRT Pro Stop in Mexico which was definitely to Alvaro’s advantage as that was his hometown. But Rocky was MUCH MORE prepared in November in MX as we studied the video of his match from the US Open and we made 4 adjustments to his game. Rocky went onto to beat Alvaro in 3 games, 11-3, 11-8, 11-8 to win the match.

Rocky told me, “I am so excited to play again. I know you are the coach that can help me achieve the #1 professional ranking. I have already started to see positive changes in my game from some of the key areas we tweaked over the past few months. Fran, you seem to make it so simple. I can’t wait to see how I play in a month, 3 months, the 2nd half of the season, then next season.

Paola Longoria, the WPRO’s number 1 ranked professional player, was named as the winner of the “Premio Nacional de Deporte” by the Mexican Government. This is the MOST prestigious award an athlete could get in her country. She received the award on November 20th from the hands of the Mexican President himself, Felipe Calderon. The presentation was made at the Residencia Oficial de Los Pinos, the Mexican version of the USA White House. Along with Paola, the archer Juan Serrano and Paraolympic competitor Mauro Maximo received similar awards. The award declaring Paola Longoria as Sportswoman of the Year is perhaps the most distinguished recognition of any racquetball player in the history of our sport. “CONGRATULATIONS Paola you DESERVE it”….Fran, Your Coach