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| Pro Racquetball Academy Camp |
What is the Stockton Style? It’s a form
of racquetball domination that unnerves opponents with aggressive play, deceptive
serves, center court control and laser-guided passing shots. It’s also the style of play being taught at
the most dynamic racquetball camp in the country.
Stockton’s three-day Pro
Racquetball Academy camp is a game changer for any racquetball player who’s
ready to take their game to the next level.
Whether you’re a club novice, junior’s champ or open tournament regular,
legendary pro John Ellis, USAR national team coach Dave Ellis and their
renowned lineup of the best young IRT pros in the world teach the Stockton
Style with so much fun and passion that the weekend feels more like fantasy camp.
Located at the nine-court In-Shape
West Lane Athletic Facility in Stockton, California, the PRA camp begins Friday
at noon with videotaped play of all 18 camp participants, followed by
introductions, situational drills, stroke mechanics and game time with the pros. Saturday’s full-day session focuses on serves,
return of serve and doubles play, while Sunday is all about shot making,
practice drills, limited serve games and indispensible one-on-one video analysis
with John Ellis.
The camp is well-organized,
fast-paced and geared toward the player who prefers learning on the court
instead of listening to lectures. The degree
of personal attention every player receives is phenomenal. Each morning, Pro Academy instructors go over
the day’s schedule and cater their instruction to each member of the camp so
that everyone gets as much out of the day as possible. With so many top-tier instructors eager to
offer pointers, the potential for improvement seems limitless.
IRT #4 ranked player Jose Rojas
made minor adjustments to my drive serve, resulting in more power, accuracy and
deception. California State singles
champion Bobby Horn showed me a reverse drive z-serve that is already throwing
off my opponents. National Juniors champion
Jose Diaz modified our practice drills in such an intuitive way that the drills
have become an integral part of my practice sessions. Junior World champion Markie Rojas encouraged
me to elevate my lobs serves for a higher arc, making them more difficult to
cut off. Coach Jody Nance gave me
valuable tips for doubles play. John
Ellis demonstrated the effectiveness of favoring the cross-court passing shot
in order to set up the down-the-line pass, and Dave Ellis offered pointers when
playing against an opponent who likes to cut off ceiling balls.
Then there’s IRT pro Jose
Serrano, who’s so articulate and enthusiastic when presenting his ideas that I
wouldn’t be surprised if he eventually sets a new standard for racquetball
instruction in the future. He’s that
good!
PRA’s in-house trainer Jesse
Serna covers conditioning and tournament preparation with an efficient 30-minute
warm-up routine.
My one-on-one video analysis
with John Ellis was a real eye-opener and helped identify small corrections
that have already translated into an extra point or two in my singles game.
It’s mindboggling how much is
covered in a weekend, but racquetball improvement is only part of what makes
PRA’s camp so special. What
distinguishes this camp from all the others is that unless your name is Kane or
Rocky, there’s an instructor here who can beat you. In fact, unless you’re a top-20 pro, six of
these instructors can beat you. No other
camp in the country can make that claim.
I was given so many pointers and new ideas from these amazing players
that within one week after camp I was already elevating my game from “A” to
“Elite.”
There’s one more component to
the Stockton Style that makes a weekend in Stockton an absolute must for any
racquetball enthusiast. It’s not just
camp, but participation in a vibrant extended family that reaches beyond the insights
of John and Dave Ellis, the delicious lunches provided by John’s mother Pat
Ellis or the friendly banter with former pro Nick Irvine who sells racquets and
gear from his makeshift pro shop.
What happens at the In-Shape
facility after hours when a camp day is done can only be described as
magical. The courts come alive with
racquetball play that spans the spectrum of the sport. Some of the best players in California, along
with racquetball newbies, hit the courts ready to play. On court 4, a father and his happy young daughter
hit the ball back and forth. On court 2,
Jose Diaz played left-handed against an accomplished handball player. On court 1, two of Chile’s finest young
racquetball players played doubles with 14-year-old Daniel Rojas (another
future racquetball star) and open champ from Hawaii Rob Collins, who plans to
make Stockton his home later in the year.
On court 3, 13-year-old junior camper Mitchell Turner from Oregon played
singles with another young prodigy his age, and for a few minutes in court 2
after Jose Diaz took the game left-handed in a squeaker, I tapped the ball to a
young toddler so new to walking that he still had sea legs but was already
holding a racquet and chasing down the ball as if his life depended on it.
It’s this kind of atmosphere
that makes the PRA three-day weekend so memorable.
My camp experience ended Sunday
afternoon after three quick singles games with John Ellis, who ran me around the
court like a confused beginner. He used
all the shots he and his pros had taught us, including his ruthlessly effective
cross-court passing shot. After scoring
a handful of points to his 45, I was completely exhausted, my legs spent and my
head overwhelmed with new serves, new drills and new ideas to plug into my game.
For the racquetball player who
wants to take their game to the next level, John Ellis and his team at the Pro Racquetball
Academy offer the best racquetball camp in the country at an incredible value. It’s a weekend every racquetball player should
experience. I can’t wait to do it again!
