February 2012…Mid-Winter Events

February began in classic style with members of my "Championship Team" fairing well in their events and interviews. Rocky Carson became the 2012 National Doubles Champion for the 6th time in his career, 5X with Jack Huczek and now 1X with Ben Croft. The tournament was held at Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, AZ February 8-11. This was the first time Rocky and Ben decided to team up and it proved to be deadly. With Rocky's brilliant leftside play and Ben's crushing forehand and diving ability they cruised through the tournament only losing 1 game. Their toughest match came

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January Madness 2012

January 2012...A Running Start Here we are in January 2012 and my "Championship Team" has had a great start. The first weekend in Janaury 5-8, Rocky Carson, Paola Longoria and Taylor Knoth all made it into the finals in the Coast-to-Coast California Open IRT/WPRO Pro Stop in Canoga Park, CA. Rocky Carson...IRT Pro Finals took 2nd place.   Rocky beat Taylor in the 16's, Shane in the quarter's, Ben in the semi's, but lost to Kane in the finals in a close 4 game match 7-11, 11-1, 11-8, 11-8. Rocky had his chances in games 3 and 4, but couldn't convert.

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November Madness 2011

My 'Championship Team:' Rocky Carson, Paola Longoria, and Taylor Knoth, all continued playing well coming out of the crazy  month of October with 2 major championships - the US Open Racquetball Championships (US Open) and the 2011 Pan American Championships (Pan Am Games). Rocky came in strong to the Seattle Pro/Am Racquetball Championships IRT Tier 1 event held in Seattle, WA, November 3-6, after mentally regrouping from the Pan Am Games. Visualization did him good as he did not drop a game on the way to the finals beating Chris Crowthers 3-0 in the quarter-finals (sweet revenge after losing to him

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Dan’s Tips on Conditioning

AGILITY for a racquetball athlete can be most clearly defined as the ability to maneuver your way around the court as you are getting into position to hit the ball as it comes off the wall at different angles, heights, and speeds while having a sense of where your opponent is on the court. We can also call this "being light on your feet" or being "on the balls of your feet", in other words being able to make adjustments "on a dime." If you can relate agility to a football player, it would best be described by a running

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Final Update…Pan American Championship Games

Guadalajara, MX October 17-25, 2011 5 Medals for my Championship Team...4 Gold Medals, 1 Silver Medal and 1 HAPPY Coach The ten day event is finally over and my students walked away from the Pan Am Games with 5 medals between them: Paola Longoria took home 3 Gold Medals....1 Gold Individual Singles and 1 Gold Individual Doubles Competition and 1 Gold Team Competition. Rocky Carson took home 1 Gold and 1 Silver Medal... 1 Gold Individual Singles and 1 Silver Team Competition Paola was the talk of the games as in November 2010 she won the Woman Athlete of the

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Pan American Championship Games in Guadalajara, MX

On Saturday, October 22nd both my players will be playing for a Gold Medal: Paola Longoria is in 2 finals for both Women's Singles and Doubles representing Mexico. Rocky Carson is in the Men's Singles finals representing USA. Being here in Mexico with them and watching them handle the pressure and raising their level of play is something I wouldn't have missed for the world. They are playing to sell out crowds. The energy, the cheering, the chanting, the clapping and doing the wave is incredible. This is how tournaments should be in the states. Hopefully I will have good

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US Open Racquetball Championships 2011…Trifector

I just returned from the 15th Annual US Open Racquetball Championships held in Minneapolis, MN and I am proud to say  my "Championship Team" lead by Paola Longoria, Rocky Carson and Taylor Knoth tore up the field as they ALL made it into the finals of their respective divisions....thusly the "Trifector". Along with them ten of my amateur students walked away with a medal around their necks...not too bad of a week's work. Rocky Carson made it to the finals without dropping a game and came out strong in the finals against Kane Waselenchuk beating him the first game.Rocky's new

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My Championship Team Summer 2011 Update

Rocky Carson wins the Outdoor National Championships in Huntington Beach, CA making it 8 in a row, after taking off 3 weeks from a grueling 2010/2011 professional indoor season where he was in 10 out of 12 finals. After winning the Outdoor Nationals his training regiment was like no other as he was not only getting ready for the pro season, but also he will be representing the USA at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, MX in mid-October. Paola Longoria wins the Mexican National Championships in singles and doubles and earned a spot on the Mexican National Team and

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Rocky Carson #2 IRT Pro Player

Rocky had an amazing season finishing as the #2 IRT Professional Player for the 2010/2011 season and winning one of the IRT Grand Slams and made 9 finals of Tier 1 events. Not only did he make it to 9 finals, but he pushed the IRT #1 Pro Player, Kane Waselenchuk, to 2 tie breakers before losing 10-12 in the 5th and also took Kane to 4 games in the Coast-to-Coast Canoga Park, CA, event. Rocky is now looking forward to some time off to rest his body and mind before getting ready to defend his title at the Outdoor

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Paola Longoria #2 WPRO Professional Player

WPRO Pro National Champion.. CONGRATULATIONS Paola you deserve it! Paola finishes the season winning the last event of the season on May 13-15 – the WPRO Pro Nationals, a Grand Slam held in New Orleans, LA, against a fierce competitor, Rhonda Rajsich. This was a sweet victory for Paola as she lost to Rhonda in Stockton, CA, just 2 weeks prior in a very close 11-13 tie breaker. It was great to be there in New Orleans coaching Paola to a 3-0 final. There is no question in both our minds that her visit to Seattle for training the week

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