43,000 Racquetball Serves

I stopped tracking at 43K serves because adding another 10K or 100K serves would not alter the results by much.

Conclusions:

1. Kane Waselenchuk should never serve anything but the DB, DF and GB. Kane thinks he is adding value when he throws in the occasional DBZ, HBL, HFL, HBN, HFN, MBZ, HBZ, MBL, and MFL but the truth is, statistically he is costing himself points. If he is not in shape to drive the entire tournament then he needs to get into shape like Cliff.

2. If your shoulder can't handle drives, it is recommended a person emphasize the HBL with an occasional forehand lob serve of your preference to mix it up a bit.

3. Coaches talk about nuances in deciding what to serve and preventing the returner from dialing in on serves (but that is all hogwash). The long-term numbers tell me to serve just the HBL and HFL which I aim to prove by beating someone in the top 20 in Canada when I am not suppose to be able to at my age (47 now). I noticed Kane over the last couple of years has mainly emphasized the HBL and HFL when he does lob serve so he got that right. In theory, if the ball lands just past the short line but still makes it to the back wall though barely, these are the two worse locations to have to hit the ball back from shoulder high.

4. If you play Kane, only serve the DB and DF. Can't even serve the GB. The IRT pro players are doing themselves a disserve by serving other serves. No human being will ever be able to beat Kane with a medium or high lob serve, any type of z-serve, or any garbage jam serve. People make decisions in their emotions--oscillating back and forth--which often gets the better of them, instead of trusting the data.

5. Lastly, start playing racquetball when you are 2 years old like Kane did. I started when I was 14 in grade 9. Lots of players started even later than that. Younger starters experience the ease of play compared to their elders.

Attachment 417

Results:

Let's think about the cost. If you decide not to DB, DF, GB exclusively then you are serving at an average of a 45% success rate. If you DB, DF, GB only you are serving at 51% success rate. If you have a close battle you will serve 30 times per game at least. 30*.06 ~ 2 points per game. I am playing to 13 where my opponent is playing to 15. I like that! That may not seem like much but it adds up over time and makes your life a lot less easier. 6 tournaments a year, averaging 4 matches per tournament, is 6*4*70=1680 serves. 1680*.06=100 free points in just one year of play. If you can only HBL because your shoulder is sensitive or you are not in good shape, you almost achieve the same result with the HBL because it's at 50%. And I am of the opinion if you master just 2 or 3 serves that will produce better results because nobody can be proficient at 5 or 10 serves.