Racquetball is great exercise and plenty of fun

Even though global warming has brought warmer and warmer winters in recent years, students still need to find a way to keep in shape when the cold sets in. One popular solution is racquetball, a sport enjoyed by a small but enthusiastic cadre of Oberlin students.

Senior Stephen Gross, one such enthusiast, is on the court everyday. "It's great exercise, and lots of fun," he said.

Though there were few players on campus during the summer, the return of students in fall semester made it possible to create a mailing list to organize games. Now, Gross has a dedicated group of a dozen partners on the court. When afternoon classes adjourn, the courts are quickly filled.

"It's exciting to see so many people turn out for the games," said Gross. "During the summer, it was usually just high-level players coming in. But now that winter's setting in, people of all skill levels, especially beginners, have been turning out," said Gross

The list makes it easy to find opponents. Many people, however, still don't know much about the sport. Though it shares some characteristics of squash, racquetball is a much faster, strength-oriented sport with longer rallies. Also, the racquetball court is slightly larger than the squash court, and with the exception of service limitations, there is no out-of-bounds. While at the tournament level, it requires just as much precision as any other racquet sport. It is much easier for novices to get started with racquetball than with tennis, for instance.

At Oberlin, the pool of players is by no means limited to students. Since there are not any other courts in the area, Oberlin's courts attract many non-students from the local community.

"I don't only play students. I've also played computer technicians and restaurateurs. There are also a fair number of Oberlin college employees who come in to play," said Gross.

He found these opponents by putting up posters, to which other enthusiasts quickly responded. Gross' mailing list now has more than 15 members. When one wants a game, they can arrange it in advance, rather than worry about finding opponents on the courts.

"I used to walk over to the gym and hope I would find someone to play," said Gross. "Now I've got a bunch of people who always want to play, and we can set up a time that's convenient for everybody."

New players continue to respond to Gross' advertisement.

"I was really amazed by the feedback I got. I discovered that there were lots of people who wanted to play, but who just couldn't find partners," said Gross. "It was cool that something so simple as a poster could have this effect."

Another benefit of having so many different players is that everybody has an opportunity to learn new techniques and strategies.

"Before I got this group going, I always played with the same guy. We got to know each other's styles of play quite well. When I first started playing other people at the gym, I lost a lot, because I had never seen any other strategies. After a while, I started to pick up on their secrets, and I've incorporated them into my game. I'm a much better player now that I've seen what good players do. Playing against talented players makes you a much better player yourself."

Those wishing to play racquetball may be interested in signing up for the upcoming intramural racquetball tournament, taking place later this month. Applications can be found at Philips Gymnasium.