Almost two months ago one of the people on the court accidently hit me in the leg while trying to get to a ball that bounced out from the crack between the wall and floor.

His racquet created a small hole in my leg that is just now almost healed.

Amazing to me is that I didn’t realize how much damage his racquet did to me at the time it happened.

And that is the way racquetball is often played.

When we play, we enjoy the game so much that our adrenalin flows even when we are accidently hit by a ball or racquet.

We acknowledge the player who hit us.

He apologizes.

We say, “I’m okay. Don’t worry.”

We continue playing.

If we are smart we put ice on the area where the ball or racquet hit before we leave the sports club.

Ice can often be the magic cure for injuries or it can at least alleviate some pain or bruising.

Maybe you wait to put the ice on until you get home. It will probably not be as helpful then if you did it earlier.

Yet you didn’t remember that day because you were so excited about winning two out of three games.

Taking care of yourself is important if you want to play racquetball until you ­are ninety (or perhaps beyond). That includes taking care of yourself when someone hits you.

I am distressed that one of my favorite “older” players is sick, the kind of sick that results in a hospital stay. A hospital stay when you are past eighty-five Is not a good thing. In fact, it is generally a bad thing. I am hopeful that my friend’s playing of racquetball for the last decades will help him recover.

I’ve talked about staying healthy by playing racquetball. I believe that we, the generic we, and the specific we also, can stay healthy playing racquetball. It’s an aerobic sport that keeps our heart beating, our minds active, and our bodies alive and thriving.

Remember to stay healthy by playing racquetball. A slow racquetball game, even doubles, beats a heart attack most days. A singles game can keep our hearts beating stronger for a longer length of time.

My friend who is sick is a regular at our club, but he does not always play racquetball. The group of players he has been with has thinned over the last few years (and I mean few because it is only over the last year or so). Players have died, had to take care of ill relatives, and just tired out enough they no longer play.

But my friend has come to the club, performed his regiment of exercises, and then almost hobbled to the racquetball area to see who is around to play. Used to be that there were enough people that one or two had to sit out from doubles play. Now it can be a struggle to find four people to play a decent game of doubles.

So think good thoughts about my “elderly” friend. Stay healthy. Be happy. Love racquetball and let racquetball love you.

In the last two months I’ve hurt myself twice while playing. The kind of hurt that requires some attention, not the kind of hurt that comes from being hit by a racquetball.
The first time I ran to the back left corner of the court to get a ball that I knew was going to drop right into that corner. I hit the ball into the back wall (a shot hated by my sometime coach). After I hit the ball (which by the way was a good shot), when I tried to turn around to head back into the middle of the court, I could barely move as I had landed on the top of my foot
More recently the corner of my eye got in the way of a backhand. Actually it wasn’t my eye but the rec specs and then the bone at the edge of my eyebrow. I was wearing specs, of course. The blow to the specs caused them to push into my eye. I had a lovely black/purple eye for a week. Fortunately people asked about the eye if they noticed rather than making assumptions that could have reflected on my husband.
So two totally different injuries but I used one thing to help alleviate the pain and hasten the recovery – ice.
I’ve been fortunate in my checkered athletic career not to have many injuries. But I know from watching others and limited experience that ice is the first thing to grab.
I quit playing immediately both times I was injured.
I laid a bag of ice wrapped in a towel on top of the foot immediately. I sat for a while watching the others play. Eventually I hobbled my way to the locker room to shower and change. When I reached home I sat in a comfortable chair to read while icing my foot off and on. The incident happed Saturday and I was able to play Monday.
My black/purple eye also occurred on a Saturday. I didn’t realize when it happened that I would have such a spectacular shiner. I was more intent on the bruise developing above my eye.
I held ice in a towel on the area that felt bruised. I didn’t even think about the eye and I’m not at all sure how ice would be applied to an eye or around an eye without quickly becoming uncomfortable. I felt the bruise for several days and I had the black/purple eye. But it took only a few days to start healing.
Ice isn’t the answer to everything, but often it helps. I also took aspirin both times I was hurt but used it sparingly knowing aspirin can cause problems in one’s bod

Do you have a health ailment that you think will limit your racquetball playing? Maybe you think the ailment means you should stop playing.
If you have health concerns then maybe you should consider changing how you play racquetball, not if you play the game.
Today was my day to play with the oldest racquetball players I know. I retract that. The two gentlemen I played with today are in their mid-eighties. The oldest racquetball player I know is ninety-one, or maybe it’s ninety-two. And he plays handball and racquetball.
Anyway the eighty-somethings have health limitations, one has heart problems, the other macular degeneration. But they both still play.
I usually play doubles as the partner of the heart problems guy who can’t run very fast. I am his and my feet and legs. He has to be very careful not to run into anything because his medication is anti-clotting. A small bleed to you or me could be a gusher for him. That would not be good. The macular degeneration player can’t always see the ball but a lot of times when he can see it, then he hits a winning shot.
What’s important to both these men is that they are out on the court and playing.
One of the female players today has Parkinson’s. When first diagnosed years ago she stayed away from racquetball while her doctors tinkered with drug dosages. But she came back to the sport. It’s not always easy for her to be on the court, but she loves the game and has learned her limitations. Sometimes her enthusiasm overcomes common sense, but the common sense quickly returns as she plays.
So don’t let your health problems stop your playing. Learn to work around the limitations brought about by the health problems.
Playing racquetball may well prevent your demise for a long time from those health problems.

Welcome the New Year by making a racquetball resolution.
Here are a few ideas on what you can resolve to do:
• Play racquetball at least one more time a week. Personally I think this is the best resolution for any racquetball player. Maybe you can find a new opponent who will present you with a challenging game. Maybe someone you already play with is also looking for more play time each week.
If you don’t think you’re up for another racquetball session then start with an extra game, work up to two extra games, and then you may be ready to play another hour or so eventually each week.
• Bring someone new to the racquetball court. Have a friend who is always complaining about not getting enough exercise? Have them try a gentle game of racquetball. Make sure they have the proper footwear and eyewear before entering the court. If you want them to come back to the court then be kind as you show them how to play.
• Liven up your game with a different color ball. Always play with a green ball, try pink. Black your favorite color; change it up with a green. Ektelon is scheduled to come out with two-color balls this month, January 2015. The story I found about the new balls show red and blue as the colors, but there are pictures of other colors in a promotional piece at the bottom of the story. This may be a good choice for something different in your game.
• Your 2015 racquetball resolution may not be any of these, but whatever it may be, have fun on the court as you get your exercise and enjoy the conversation outside of the court.
And a toast to more racquetball in 2015:

I love to play racquetball. I don’t love drilling.
Drilling on the court can make my racquetball better. I know that. I’m just bad about drilling. To improve my racquetball and yours I’m going to talk about different drills.
When you want to practice setting up overhead passing and kill shots stand in the back of the court, toss the ball up high, let it bounce, reach up, and play the overhead passing and kill shot. You can also stand in the back of the court, hit short lobs or short ceiling shots to the front wall, let the ball bounce, and play overhead passing and kill shots.
The pinch shot can be drilled by standing near the center court but closer to one side wall, drop the ball low and hit pinch shots to the near front corner. You can use the same setup with the drop and then hit a reverse pinch to the far front corner.
To practice the wallpaper shot stand near a side wall and reach up as high as you can with the ball as close to the side wall as possible. Release the ball so it drops straight down, wall papering the side wall. Step back so you are an arm’s length from the wall and return the ball with a ceiling shot.
Stand near a side wall and toss the ball to the front wall to practice hitting a rebounding ball that hugs a side wall. Your toss should bring the ball back as a wallpaper ball that you want to return with a ceiling shot. You also use the drill but return the wallpaper ball with another wallpaper ball.
To hit a drop shot off a fast-rebounding back wall ball close to the front wall, stand in the center court facing the back wall and hit a medium to hard speed ball about ten to twelve feet high on the back wall. The ball will take its first bounce near the service area. Move with the ball toward the front wall and hit a drop shot.
All these drills should be repeated fifteen to thirty times when you are drilling.
Remember that drilling will make you play better.

The World Senior Racquetball Tournament has come and gone. If you missed it, you should start planning now to participate in the 2015 event the week before Labor Day.
Almost 140 racquetball athletes played in this year’s event in Albuquerque with ages spread from just barely above thirty-five to closing in on ninety-one.
Participants came from all over the world, many from Albuquerque, but also South America, Mexico, Canada, and other spots in the world.
This tournament can be competitive, but that’s part of participating in a racquetball tournament. What makes this tournament fun is the division into age categories. Eighty-year-olds do not compete against fifty-year-olds. Eighty-year-olds compete against people in similar age categories. And those eighty-year-olds, and older, can be very competitive.
Keep watching this blog for more information about the 2015 World Senior racquetball event.
On another note, I have become a regular playing racquetball, but the last two weeks life has gotten in the way. It’s okay when you can’t play racquetball in your usual habitual way. In fact, it’s sometimes good if you miss your regular Monday match with your favorite opponent or your Saturday morning play with several friends (you switch people in and out for doubles, play cut throat, or maybe play singles.)
When you miss your usual racquetball play you discover how much that event means to you. And you may find out how much it means to your fellow players.
One of the regulars at the club where we belong died this past month. Not surprising, he was in his eighties. But it hit me harder than I thought it would and I had to wonder why. Then I knew why. He was one of the most pleasant players I ever knew, always with a greeting and always smiling.
This man, his name was Carl, played both racquetball and handball. He loved both and played as much as he could, sometimes both sports on the same day. Six months or so ago he had major surgery, a valve replaced in his heart (this is how I remember it). He recovered and was back in the court, a little slower, more cautious, but loving every minute of hitting the ball, whether handball or racquetball.
When I read Carl’s obituary I understood why watching him play either sport was a joy. He had taught physical education. He loved sports. He loved people. He enjoyed being on the court.
Rest in peace, Carl. Hope you find that eternal racquetball/handball court.

It’s almost here — the World Senior Racquetball Tournament.
This year, 2014, marks the 30th anniversary of this event held in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The racquetball venue is New Mexico’s Sports and Wellness Midtown, Highpoint and Riverpoint clubs. The hotel headquarters is MCM Elegante on Menaul Boulevard near University.
The event is held the week before Labor Day with registration on Monday, August 25. Play starts Tuesday, August 26, and ends Saturday, August 30. Competition is in men and women’s singles as well as mixed doubles in five-year age increments. You can enter starting at age thirty-five (not exactly AARP material, but depends on how you feel). The oldest players are in their nineties.
Great group of people who come out to play and they are from all over the world, Canada, Mexico, several South American countries, a wide variety of states in the U.S.
The registration fee includes five lunches from the restaurant at the MCM Elegante and an ending banquet on Saturday night. The lunches are delicious and vary from a hamburger/cheeseburger with green chile (a New Mexico delicacy) to a humongous chef’s salad to a pasta dish that will keep you energized.
The Saturday night banquet celebrates the week’s athletic victories and the camaraderie between the athletes, volunteers, and other people who are part of the event.
A silent auction helps raise funds donated to the International Racquetball Federation, an organization that fosters the sport of racquetball around the world. The auction items range from racquets and balls to books to jewelry to hotel nights and much in between.
The Saturday night banquet features medal presentations to the players winning in their categories, a good dinner, and a small auction of select items, again to raise money for the IRF.
For more information about this fun (and exercise filled) event contact World Senior Racquetball Director Gary Mazaroff at 505 321-1110 or gmampro@aol.com.
Play safe. Bye for now!