RSSWacquetball: New Sport for Seniors
Dan Davis has been an avid racquetball player and instructor for years. Davis took on a novel project when he took Landmark Education’s Self-Expression and Leadership Program in Denver: He invented Wacquetball, a special version of raquetball with a larger, slower ball and a two bounce rule that makes the game easier for seniors, children, or the handicapped. The project was written about in the newsletter of the Colorado Racquetball Association. A modified version of the story appears below:
Silver Sneakers and New Racquetball Recruits
by Cindy Tilbury
While working on a thesis program recently, 65+ player and junior coach, Dan Davis, recently devised a version of racquetball that can be used in YMCA Silver Sneaker
programs. Perhaps you are familiar with the multi-bounce rule changes that accommodate the little players’ shortcomings. Dan’s new Wacquetball rules provide for the less mobile but more than eager senior club members’ special abilities. Wacquetball also appeals to young children just beginning and handicapped kids.
Wacquetball rules allow two bounces, but the biggest change from the regular racquetball rules is his creation of a special three-inch foam ball (the official color is yet to be determined) that is a lot slower, quieter and easier on the arm than the standard racquetball and will not bounce all the way to the back wall, no matter how hard you hit it into the front wall. Dan’s senior group absolutely loves the game.
Dan’s Wacquetball group was showcased on the local Denver news in April. This news piece can be seen at the following link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8X7gM0ziWOg
This could be the perfect program for you to fill up the courts at your facility during the day, before the high school players and the after-work crowd. Players may eventually want to play with the standard ball and rules, and we welcome the new recruits, but the important thing is to get them on the court and moving at their ability level.
For more information on how you to get involved with Wacquetball, contact Davis at dndvs1@msn.com.
Wacquetball: New Sport for Seniors
There’s a brand new sport out there for seniors or newcomers to racquetball: It’s called Wacquetball. Created by Racquetball coach Dan Davis in a Landmark Education program, the sport replaces the regular ball with a larger foam ball that is slower a…