Raquetball for training?

[Gunfighter01]

Do you think playing raquetball could be used as training? It builds up cardio, works on footwork, for not only lateral movement but, quick burst speed, and is great for improving hand/eye coordination. What are your guys' thoughts on this,????

[Skydiver]

Yes, for the physical aspects. I'm not so sure about the visual training part. Unless you are shooting Open where it's eye focused on target, for the other divisions you need the ability to do the quick changes from distance to near, then back to distance again.

As for picking up another sport for training and recreation in general, go for it! Sometimes that break away from our regular sport teaches us new things, or reminds us of things that we knew, and then forgot.

A quick aside: not exactly sports related, but sort of on the vision and hand-eye coordination thing. The year before, I spent about a month away from my guns, but was behind a DSLR for most of the day taking a lot of candid photos, and photos on the move. This completely screwed up my shooting for two weeks because the "follow through" that was good enough to get a good stable snapshot without motion blur on a DSLR is nowhere close to what is needed to get a good shot with my gun. Maybe I should have lowered the ISO setting on my camera to slow it down.

[Sarge]

Raquetball might not help much with the visual aspects but it is one heck of a workout. I think you are on to something with it being great for footwork/speed.

[Chris Keen]

For those who don't think it helps improve or bring out hand-eye coordination I beg to differ ...... Racquetball is such a fast paced sport that if you dont keep your eye on the ball, and follow thru with your racquet while still keeping your eye on the ball, you'll never keep a volley going more than one or two returns at best. Racquetball is such a great workout, but also great for training fast-burst movement. I even like playing it by myself, just keeping the ball bouncing off the back wall, once to the left, then to the right, then back to the left again ... trying to plan my movements in order to be in the right place when the ball gets there. You can really work up a sweat in about 10-15 minutes. Besides running or cycling it's probably THE single best workout you can do to train for USPSA type shooting.

[Not-So-Mad Matt]

For those who don't think it helps improve or bring out hand-eye coordination I beg to differ. Racquetball is such a fast paced sport that if you dont keep your eye on the ball, and follow thru with your racquet while still keeping your eye on the ball, you'll never keep a volley going more than one or two returns at best.

You're right that racquetball is a fast-paced sport that requires hand-eye coordination. The question though is whether playing racquetball improves the hand-eye coordination you use in practical shooting.

And even if racquetball can improve your shooting, can it improve your shooting anywhere near as much as more shooting?

[Paul Santiago]

Racquetball is great for training for the physical demands of this sport. It does have a high risk of injury though! Torn ligaments, bruised shoulders from running into walls, sprained ankles.. or that's just me.

[Dragon11]

I played rachquetball growing up and agree it would help your skills alot. I have also heard, and am not ashamed to admit, that table tennis is suppose to be great for helping with shooting, especially with the hand eye coordination.

[Steve Anderson]

The best training for shooting is shooting.

Other activities can be helpful for sure, but there's no reason to start playing raquetball to improve your shooting. Improving your physical fitness is always a good idea, however.

When I began running 5 miles idea a few years ago, I didn't necessarily run any faster at matches, but I did notice I never got tired at matches. That's pretty valuable.

[Not-So-Mad Matt]

The best training for shooting is shooting.

Wait, I thought the best training for shooting was dry-firing.

[Rob D]

I've been doing this for a while. I think it really helps with burst speed, agility, and flexibility. I also really like that you have to anticipate where the ball will be, run into place, and set up your shot before it gets there. Racquetball has more in common with the physical movement required for practical shooting than any other sport I can think of.

[Steve Anderson]

Dry firing is the best ecconomical way to train for shooting.

If you could afford afford to shoot for 2 hours a day that would be better than dryfiring.

[kylehb]

I don't know that the hand eye coordination aspect of it would be very applicable to action pistol, but the speed and agility work required would definitely be very beneficial.