Racquetball Strategy Blog: U.S.Open Final-Rocky Carson & Kane ...

The US Open racquetball final between Rocky Carson and Kane Waselenchuk came within a couple of points of becoming an all out barn burner. Rocky with a new widely diverse serving pattern produced just slightly off rhythm enough serve returns from Kane, and allowed Rocky to control enough rallies to win the first game 11-7; marking Rocky's first game victory in the last seven, or so, tournaments. Kane then took game two and three despite many side outs in game two in particular. Rocky was unable to convert serve opportunities. Game three much the same. Rocky got 2 and 4 points respectively. Game four looked much more like game one. Rocky had 5-3 and 7-7 but it slipped slowly away despite several side outs at seven's. Kane closed it out 11-7. Racquetball strategy was written all over this one, especially for Rocky as he continues to try and solve the "Kane Enigma". Wow, that could be a title for a movie or best selling book!

I decided, impromptu, to take stats on Rocky's serves and serve returns as game one got going. They are not exact (having only one live run at it) and I missed 3 serves over 5 games. These offensive stats however are very close and my main priority for this article. I was very happy to see Rocky's new approach to Kane. It was clear much thought went in to it. Credit to Fran Davis and Rocky for this.

Before you read the stats, a friend at the club today mentioned that I should challenge the readers who watched the match to guess which serves were the most effective for Rocky, and then read on to see if you were right. I thought that a great idea. There is too much conjecture in the racquetball game without the benefit of stats from all of us, fans, announcers, etc. This is understandable since it is impossible to be accurate from memory alone, but as you will see it is also an ineffective approach. That is why all major sports who can afford it; keep a book on player performance in every aspect of that particular game.?

The totals are as follows. First I will give you a key. The serves from Rocky are from a view behind the players.

• Drive line= drive serve down Kane's backhand line from Kane's backhand side
• Drive wide= drive serve to Kane's backhand side from Kane's forehand side. Cross court.
• Drive fore= drive serve from Kane's backhand side to his forehand back corner.?
• Lob=Any kind of lob serve
• Z fore= The classic Rocky Z serve to Kane's forehand (traditional Rocky Z serve position)
• Z back= Z serve to Kane's backhand
• Wrap= Any kind of wrap around serve that hits the side wall, then the back wall, that Kane has to spin around to hit, from either side.

Now the numbers for Game one. This game was very diverse and effective for Rocky; so was game four. I will use attempts/wins format. Wins equals a point for Rocky on that serve attempt. Final score went 11-7 Rocky

1. Drive line=2/2? This didn't hold up through the match but worked initially in this very diverse serve pattern
2. Drive wide=3/2 I like this serve because it can be used to stretch the court when mixed with the Z to Kane's forehand. (This combo accounted for 6 of Rocky's 7 points in game four. Rocky was three for four with each serve at that point in game four. He only used the drive wide after that, much to my disappointment, since Kane had skipped all three Z return attempts from his forehand side). I think he was feeling the pressure on that serve in particular, and I was hoping Rocky would bring it again. Rocky used only the drive wide and didn't convert the last three tries.?
3. Drive fore= 0/0 He tried this, I think, but hit short serves each time.?
4. Lob= 2/2 Rocky used a half lob to start the match and a high nick lob later. Both worked.?
5. Z fore= 1/1 The classic Rocky serve produced it's first point. It also factored successfully in the final game as noted above.?
6. Z back= 3/3 This one worked well in game one. When used now and then I think it has it's place.?
7. Wrap= 0/0
8. One unaccounted for serve for a successful point.

Game two. Rocky's serve pattern gravitated more to the drive serves, especially down the backhand line. Kane ate that serve up and got into a rhythm he kept for a 11-2 win.

1. Drive line= 5/0 Rocky returned to this too many times consecutively with poor results. It is the primary serve he used in the last 10 tournaments, and Kane loves, and is fully adjusted to it. I would hope it would be used sparingly in future.?
2. Drive wide= 2/0?
3. Drive fore= 1/1 If Rocky could get this serve in and hit the back wall before the side wall in Kane's backhand corner it could really keep Kane on edge. Rocky even used this serve taking something off it once or twice with good results, in terms of getting an off balance return.?
4. Lob=1/0?
5. Z fore= 2/0 Kane was on top of these, this game, like he was all serves.?
6. Z back= 1/0
7. Wrap= 1/1 Good serve to throw in once in a while.?

Game three. Another rough one for Rocky. Kane won 11-4. Rocky's serve pattern was more diverse but Kane was up to the task.

1. Drive line= 2/0 You will notice that Rocky appropriately limited use of this serve for the rest of the match.
2. Drive wide= 2/1
3. Drive fore= 3/2 Again I like this serve even though to Kane's forehand is used sparingly just to keep it in Kane's mind.?
4. Lob=0/0 As Rocky develops this new diverse serve pattern; I like maybe more use of this. Maybe even a high lob Z to Kane's backhand. I did some stats on it in a post a couple of times ago. In Tijuana he was successful with it I believe 4/3, or 75% wins.?
5. Z fore= 2/0 Didn't work here but just wait till game four. This has been Rocky's mainstay serve over the last few years. He covers the court very well with it very well and produces more long rallies than any other serve.?
6. Z back= 2/2 Contrary to commentary, this serve over the whole match was the most successful at producing points at 55% success rate. The Z fore which came second at 44% and should have been 55% as well, if not for Kane's incredible touch (bordering on a carry) shot from his forehand back corner in game two that make the instant replay highlight reels, and a racket clap from Rocky with appropriate groans and cheers from the crowd by partisan fans, and I impulsively yelled "lucky!", would have put Rocky in positive territory for both Z options. Smiles. Is any Kane shot truly lucky??
7. Wrap=2/0?
8. One extra unaccounted successful serve. Rocky scored 4 not 5.?

Game four. Nearly produced an electrifying conclusion to this still very interesting/entertaining match that ended 11-7 Kane.

1. Drive line=2/1 Rocky went heavily to other serves and produced a result that could easily have been another game one outcome.
2. Drive wide= 7/3 Rocky was 4/3 on this serve when the score was 7-7. I believe as I noted above that he should have mixed in the Z to the forehand of Kane for at least one, maybe two of the last three attempts here.?
3. Drive fore= 3/0
4. Lob 0/0
5. Z fore= 4/3 As Kane got maybe a little tired by now. I think Kane skipped all three of these, at least two. Looked frustrated. This was late in the match and Rocky was going back and forth with the drive wide from the same service position. The crowd was at it's peak excitement.?
6. Z back= 5/1 Kane's backhand return was on fire vs this serve this game. But this serve did well for Rocky. I don't like it near as much as the Z to Kane's forehand since Rocky's drive down the line and this Z to Kane's backhand has Kane leaning to his backhand for both. If Rocky polishes his drive to Kane's forehand from this same service position for all three the total combination could be useful.?
7. Wrap= 0/0
8. One extra unaccounted for point. Rocky scored 7 not 8.?

So here are the totals for all serves with percentages

1. Drive line=?? 11/3? 27.2%
2. Drive wide= 14/6? 42.8%
3. Drive fore=??? 7/3? 42.8%
4. Lob=???????????? 3/2? 66.6%
5. Z fore=????????? 9/4? 44.4%? Could have easily been 55% if not for that game two amazing shot.
6. Z back=??????? 11/6 54.5%
7. Wrap=?????????? 3/1? 33.3%

?Also another significant statistic. In games one and four which were Rocky's two best games by far, he had.

1. Game one- 5 drives and 4 Z's and 2 lobs and 0 wraps (on a 11-7 win for Rocky).
2. Game four- 10 drives and 9 Z's (Keep in mind that the wide drive and Z to Kanes forehand had produced 6 of 7 points when the score was 7-7) (on a 11-7 loss for Rocky)
3. Game two- 8 drives and 3 Z's 1 lob and 1 wrap ( Unbalanced in favor of drives on a 11-2 loss for Rocky)
4. Game three- 7 drives and 4 Z's and 0 lobs and 0 wraps (Unbalanced? in favor of drives on a 11-4 loss for Rocky)

From this I conclude that Rocky is more effective in this match when he stays balanced between the serves. The best percentages were from Z serves (excluding lobs which weren't used enough to factor in the match. Maybe they should be used more, like in game one!) When Rocky goes more to drive serves he gets eaten up versus Kane. Kane is too quick and when he can depend on a drive coming his way it's lights out for the server. The Z's and lobs when used alternately were effective at keeping Kane a little off kilter.

Here is a match video in the past where Rocky employed this more diverse racquetball strategy for serving. Rocky also won at least one game in this match from a few years ago.

There it is. Next time I will put in the defensive returns for Rocky

Source: http://racquetballstrategy.blogspot.com/2011/10/usopen-final-rocky-carson-kane.html

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