Bellingham Athletic Club

Bellingham Athletic Club Logo
(360) 676-1800
JOIN NOW
MEMBER LOGIN

Racquetball

Congratulations to BAC Players at the WA State Doubles Tournament

by

Seventeen BAC members traveled south to Seattle to participate in the 2013 Washington State Doubles Tournament. The tournament was located at the Washington Athletic Club. We are proud of our members not only for their efforts but also for their sportsmanship displayed, making it known State wide that BAC not only can win but also have fun while doing it!

Participants: Rowena Birnel, Jake Birnel, Don Birnel, Nick Birnel, Keith Turley, Lori Turley, Wanda Collins, Jessie Scott, Carlos Scott, Ryan Lawson, Gary Olson, Olivia Nicholes, Bob Alejandre, Victor Guthrie, Triston Guthrie, Jett Guthrie, Brian Dunbar

Top Finishers:
Don and Jake Birnel: Third Place Men’s Elite
Ryan Lawson & Olivia Nicholes: First Place Mixed A
Ryan Lawson & Gary Olson: Consolation Finals Men’s Elite
Victor & Triston Guthrie: Second Place Men’s A
Bob Alejandre & Jessie Scott: Consolation Finals Mixed A
James Kimball & Lori Turley: Consolation Finals Mixed Open
Lori Turley & Rowena Birnel: First Place Women’s Elite
Brian Dunbar & Billy Johnson: Consolation Finals Men’s Open

Racquetball Winter League

by

Winter League is open to all levels of play. League runs from January 9, 2012 to April 3, 2012. Matches are played on Wednesday evenings. Each week you will be assigned a different opponent and match time. New faces are joining all the time! Would love to see YOU on the court! For more information, Contact Olivia Nicholes.

Christmas Eve Rball Doubles

by

Don’t miss out our BAC tradition – From 7:30 a.m. -11:30 a.m. on December 24, 2012 all racquetball players are welcome to play some doubles. The courts will be filled with Christmas cheer and friendly faces, welcoming all levels of play! So bring your favorite holiday snack to share, take a break from shopping, and come play some racquetball!

Complete Swing

by

Using a complete swing when hitting the ball can provide a wealth of benefits:

  • It will help you to keep your racquet level – which eliminates hits into the floor, or shots that fly too high.
  • It increases the speed at which you can hit the ball.
  • It will improve your consistency.

 

There are a few tips you can try to help you finish your swing:

  • When you practice hitting the ball, tell yourself to hit THROUGH the ball, not AT the ball.
  • Your swing is finished when your racquet travels around to point at the back corner of the court. When you practice, check out where your finish point is: what is the racquet pointing at?
  • Tell yourself when you swing that the head of the racquet should point at 3 different walls during its travels: the side wall, the front wall and the other side wall behind you.
  • Imagine that the ball is lying on the top of a table and your job is to sweep the racquet around to hit the ball without touching the tabletop.

 

A smooth, repetitive stroke that uses these techniques will cut down on your errors and make you a better player.

Racquets Without Borders 2012-2013 #1

by

Bellingham Athletic Club was host to the 10th Annual Racquets Without Borders Junior Tournament on Saturday, Oct 27. This is a two part competition with Team British Columbia vying with Team Washington for individual awards as well as the perpetual team trophy. Washington currently holds the trophy from last year’s win – you can see it on the wall behind our racquetball courts. At the end of the day, Team Washington was leading with a slim margin of 36 points to 34 points. The Washington players will travel to Burnaby, B.C. for Part II of the competition on Saturday, December 8. We invite all Junior BAC players to join us there to keep the trophy on our wall! You can play even if you did not play on October 27, and there is scholarship help to pay for all or part of the entry fee. Join everyone for some great racquetball, a T shirt and a pasta lunch in Burnaby! Here’s how Washington players fared:

Results of the Girls Events:
Girls 8 and under multi bounce – 1st Place – Barrett Cerenzia (BAC); 2nd Place – Cade Guthrie (BAC)
Girls 10 2 bounce – 1st Place – Margo Gilliland (Olympic A/C – Seattle); 2nd Place – Kristin Hoekema (BAC)
Girls 10 – 2nd Place – Kristin Hoekema (BAC)
Girls 12 – 2nd Place – Paige Guthrie (BAC); 3rd Place – Hannah Rhoades (BAC)
Girls 14/16 – 1st Place – Hollie Scott (BAC)

Results of the Boys Events:
Boys 12 – 2nd Place – Ryan Holz (BAC); 3rd Place – Nick Birnel (BAC); Con. 2nd place – Jett Guthrie (BAC); Con. 3rd place – Brannon Shrock (BAC); Con. 4th place – Micah Miller (BAC)
Boys 14 – 2nd Place – Ryan Holz (BAC); 4th Place – Tyler burns (BAC); 5th Place – Brannon Shrock (BAC)
Boys 16/18 – 1st Place – Jake Birnel (BAC); 3rd Place – Triston Guthrie (BAC)

To check out the slideshow, press here.

Making Your Backhand Better

by

I can’t count the number of players who are looking for tips to make their backhand better. Players who are self taught have some obstacles to overcome to improve their stroke, but the most important one is something they overlook: you have to be willing to make some changes to your current comfort zone. This might mean a different stance, stroke and timing. You might have to train your body to move differently. This takes patience and a lot of practice outside of a game playing situation. Players need to play less and practice more when working on a skill. It can reap big benefits down the road in your matches, but requires that you feel uncomfortable for a while. That’s a hard pill to swallow because it means that you’ll be worse before you become better.

Start with a check of your grip. A forehand grip should feel like you’re shaking hands with the racquet (NOT the flat side, but the frame edge of your racquet). When you need to hit a back- hand, that grip should rotate ¼ turn (or so) to the left, if you’re right handed, or a ¼ turn to the right if you’re a leftie. If you don’t change your grip, you will be more limited in your ability to hit flat, level shots without contorting your arm. This can cause a lower percentage of success and possible pain in your arm and elbow over time. Switching to a backhand grip is an essential part any game.

Wilson Hope Racquetball Tournament Results

by

The 2012 Wilson Hope Racquetball Tournament was a great success for the local Bellingham Cancer Center! Olivia Nicholes and Wanda Collins put together a fundraiser that netted a little over $900 for the new center. Thanks go out to Lori and Keith Turley for their volunteer time to help run the desk and record scores. And a big thanks to Wilson Racquetball for donating a lot of great door prizes that were given out during the event.

Players from British Columbia and the Seattle area joined BAC players in a full day of racquetball play. In Men’s Open Singles, players were competing for a free entry in the Northwest Open Racquetball tournament. Vince Kiteley of Everett took home the free entry pass, while Favian Elmore finished second in a tiebreaker match with Kiteley, to win half his entry cost to the Open in March.

First place finishers in other singles divisions were:
Les Powers in Men’s A
Viron Elmore of Stanwood in Men’s B
Wanda Collins in Women’s Open/Elite
Kelli Holz of Lynden in Women’s A/B
Rhonda McInturff of Bellingham in Women’s C.

In the Mixed Doubles events, Diana Hambley of Abbotsford, B.C. teamed up with Favian Elmore of Everett to claim first, while Favian’s dad, Viron Elmore, and his partner Rhonda McInturff took first in Mixed A/B Doubles.

Thanks to everyone who participated! We hope to see you at next year’s event.

Check out R2 for all the Results