Rhonda Rhasjich The Most Decorated Raquetball Player...Period.

You guys are gonna like this one. Rhonda Rajsich is the most decorated professional racquetball player, period. She drops by and she drops some truth bombs on how athletes at that level perform. She talks about her comeback stories, just getting into racquetball in general, and  why the windshield mirror is one of the smaller mirrors.

Check this one out and tell me what you think.  
Find her on IG @rhondarajsich

Transcript

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You guys are gonna like this one. Rhonda Raic is the most decorated professional racquetball player, period. She drops by and she drops some truth bombs on how athletes at that level perform. She talks about her comeback stories, just getting into racquetball in general, and why the windshield mirror is one of the smaller mirrors. Check this one out and tell me what you think. yo, yo, my sister from another Mister. What's going on, man? How are you? What's been going on? Oh, dude. A lot. What do you mean? How was, how was, um, what? What have you been doing? Nationals. I go. Nationals, uh, nationals was, um, unfortunate. Uh, I, I'm still qualified for the team. Let's go. Um, but definitely did not hit my ultimate goal of winning again. So, still, still a little sour about that, but I mean, you, you got, you just gotta move on. Can't hold onto it. Dude, that was still pretty crazy. Um, dude, you were laying out. It was pretty, it was pretty sick watching you. I'm like, holy shit. So this is, this is what I appreciate. And I was talking to, I was talking to Beacon about this too. Like there was a, a pretty cool moment. I think it was in the game right before the semi-final ones that you were in where, I think it was like in the, it was like the fourth, the fourth game or the, what is it? Fourth match. Fourth I, I mixed those up. Game. Yeah. The fourth game. So Ma Match is comprised of games. So there was like five games in a match. Okay. Yeah. So it was like, it was like the fourth game, I think it was. And um, you were kind of losing momentum and there was a bad call and I, I don't know, I wasn't very aware of what the bad call was, but, um, you took a timeout and after that you just like wrecked shop. I was like, what? Like what was that about? Um, it was more of a, it was more of a disrupting my opponent's momentum and also, you know, just kind of. Giving myself a few extra seconds to shake off the bad call and not let it follow me in like a, like a, you know, cloud coming in, following me around. Um, for the next few rallies, just get, you know, get, take an extra few breaths, take an extra little reset, change the scenery. Uh, doesn't take long. I mean, even, even in real time, like without taking a time out, once the rally is over. There's only, you're only allowed 10 seconds between the time that the referee calls the score, till the server has to put the ball in motion, like the, the server has to begin their service motion. So it's a very, very short turnaround between rallies, depending on, you know, the, the efficiency of the referee. Um, so, you know, you don't, you don't get a whole lot of time anyway, so we've been just taking a time out. And having like an extra 10 or 20 seconds I think. I think the timeouts are actually like a minute. I think we get like one, one minute timeout or something like that, which I don't need that long. I don't need that long. Just let me come out, get a sip of water, change my glove if needed. Change rackets if needed. Just you know, change something, change the pace, change you know, take retake control, you know, of getting my hands back on the steering wheel. Um, and then, and then step in, step back into a different space than the one I left. So do you have a coach there that like helps you? No. So that was all on you? Yeah. All is like, I have a, I have a coach, but he's, I mean, he's in his mid seventies, first of all. Second of all, um, you know, his wife has some health issues, so he doesn't travel as much anymore. And even at the tournaments that he is at, I mean, he's the best coach in the, in the game. Um, so he's, he's got several different athletes and. You know, he, he can't be in all at all of our matches when we play at the same time. So, you know, it's. It's not, I mean, I have a coach and we do work together and he's a great, he's a great guy. He's a great coach. He's, he's very much been, um, kind of a father figure in my life since I was 14. Totally. Um, so yeah, so we, we go way, way back. Uh, but he, you know, getting that one-on-one time during a tournament during my matches just doesn't happen that often throughout, throughout the year. Not that, not that he doesn't want to be there, not that I don't want him there, he just, He's only got got so much. Yeah. You know, he's only got so much of himself to give and, and especially, you know, the stage in his life and, you know, where he's at personally and stuff too. So I, I get that. But, um, yeah, I, I would say most of the time he's, he's, he's not there behind the court with me. That's, um, It was pretty cool. It was, it was almost so real in, in a way, because, you know, when I met you in Arizona, I was like, all right, so, so first of all, let's talk about like your energy that you bring, because when you walked into that house the first time, I was like, that's a bad motherfucker. I don't know what she does, but that's a bad motherfucker. Like, so there's like a, there's like a lot of confidence when you walk and you do anything. You just walk like you fucking own the shit. It's pretty cool. You know, and you know what that is, that's, that's not, there's, there's no posturing there. That's just, I just, I know who I am. I have, I have, as an only child, I've spent a lot of time alone and with myself and I, I just, I, I spent a lot of time learning and knowing and growing, uh, who I am. It's just a, it's just a self-awareness. Dude, it's, it's cool as shit to watch, but like, but watching like that person, it's like, and you're like a, first of all, like the sweetest person ever. And it is like really cool just hearing a bunch of your stories. But from, from going to that and then watching you, like take, take like methodical timeouts. I, I just start, you know, you. I, I watch other professional players and, you know, in golf and basketball and just their mindset and how it works. It's almost like, it's almost like universal. Somebody that operates at a very, very high level, they almost like, they do the same habits and they're very aware and very like, just in control. I mean, win or lose. But I mean, everything, everything has a purpose. Everything has a purpose. There's, there's a reason why I do certain things the way that I do them. Um, down to, um, you know, how I get ready, uh, the then for my mat for my match the next day. You know, other than I, I, I start my prep the night before as far as knowing what I'm going to wear, having my bag picked out, knowing which glove and which racket I wanna start that match with. Um, knowing, you know, whatever supplements I might need to take when. Um, having, having, you know, all, all the things that I need ready to go the night before, so I'm not, you know, arriving to the gym, even if I'm an hour early and then being like, oh shit, I forgot my shoes. Like, they were laying right next to my dad, my, my bag, and I didn't put'em in my bag. Like, that doesn't happen. Um, it's, it's just being, being prepared as quickly as possible and, and also having a routine. I think having a routine is important. However, I do caution ev against having such a rigid routine mm-hmm. That the slightest alteration, you know, something. So one little thing just doesn't, doesn't go just right, that it completely throws you off. Um, an example of that is I, I, I have a, a friend that, that used to play the Men's Pro tour. He was number one in the world for a time too. Also a very good player and somebody I've known again, 80, 85% of my life. Uh, we go way back as well. Um, His routine was, you know, laying his outfit out on the bed and then taking a shower and then coming out and getting dressed, and he was rooming with some other tour mates at a tournament and they had come in while he was in the shower and they messed with his clothes. Like they put his shorts or like maybe they turned him backwards or they put his shorts above his shirt or something like that, whatever it was. He knew that his clothes had been messed with when he got out of the shower, even though they had already left. Mm-hmm. And he came out and he saw what happened. He figured, you know, they must have came in and what messed with my stuff. He takes that whole outfit, throws it on the floor, picks out a new outfit, and starts all over again, and then gets back in the shower and takes another shower. Now, that's totally fine. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with that, but that's just a little bit extreme for me because I don't want to then be having to worry about. Well shoot, this is gonna take another 20 minute chunk out of my getting ready time like I would normally be at the club by now, right? Instead, I'm getting, I'm getting, taking my second shower because somebody messed with my stuff. So I, I prefer to keep it, you know, what I have in my routine serves a purpose for me, and sometimes it changes by venue, honestly. Like I've played at that club before. I know what that club is like. I know where I wanna warm up. I know how I wanna warm up. I know what I want to do. You know, pre and post match from knowing that environment. From knowing, knowing, knowing what I want to eat because I know the restaurants around that area, knowing, um, you know, what I'm gonna have for breakfast at the buffet, at the hotel, cuz I've, I've stayed there before. You know, there's a familiarity of the things. Now, if, if I'm in a new venue, if I'm in a, if I'm in another country, if I'm in a completely different, you know, set of surroundings, then obviously I'm just sticking with the routines that I have of all right. I know that. This is, this is the kind of meal. I might not know where I'm gonna get it yet, but this is the kind of meal I want to eat the night before. This is the kind of meal I want to eat. I know that I want to get up three hours before my match time. If I gotta play at 10, I'm gonna be up by seven. I'm gonna be, I'm gonna have food in my stomach by seven 30. You know, I know how I'm gonna spend that time before the match, even if I don't know exactly what my surroundings are gonna be. But, um, you know, I think having, having the routine is key and also auditing the routines. Sometimes, I mean, some, sometimes if, if, you know, you realize you're, you're doing all these things, but it's not necessarily generating. Whatever feeling you want it to, to generate within you. Mm-hmm. Like, like a certain playlist. If you find that your mind is wandering while you're doing your pregame pl playlist, your pregame playlist isn't, isn't, isn't pregame in you very well anymore. Find some new songs and I've done that. I remember my playlist. Yeah. Who's in there? Oh, there's a lot. I mean, there's, there's Metallica, there's Slipknot, there's Beethoven, there's um, architects lately. Um, there's, um, oh, what is that band? From New Zealand? From New Zealand. Um, yeah. Their, their big hit was Katan Gata. That's the name of the song. I can't think of the name of the name of the band. Anyway, so you got a white for everything. Yeah. Yeah. It's a pretty wide range. But again, like, if, if that's not, you know, buttering your toes to get you ready to play, then, then find, find a new sound. In fact, one of the things that used to just drive me for our US Open mm-hmm. Like what I spent most of the year on between us opens was what song do I wanna come out to? Because we, they, they do this whole like entrance song, like production and light show, and in, in intro, intro music. And, you know, it's this whole thing walking out from behind this curtain and going around and getting onto the court and hitting it. You know, you get like 30 seconds of a song or whatever to play Uhhuh and that was, that was kind of something that, that I enjoyed. As fuel between us opens for that whole year, like if a song came out or if this is, oh, this is gonna be my entrance song for sure, or this part of this song is gonna be, you know, what I come out to. Um, that was invigorating for me. And then when, when I actually get there and, and hear it and, you know, sometimes I had, I had multiple songs. Sometimes I'm like, okay, I wanna come out to this in the quarters. I wanna come out to this and the semis and I wanna come out to this for the final. You know, it would just has kind of depend. Um, but I remember one year in particular, in fact, it was the last time I did win the US Open. I could not get a certain song out of my head from the minute I woke up that morning. Like it was already there. Like it was in my dreams and it was already there. I was singing it in the shower and that was not going to be my, my finals song, but I'm like, I'm gonna go with it. It's stuck in my head for a reason. Hell yeah. I'm just gonna go with it. I'm gonna go tell the dj, Hey, switch it up to this and. That's what we did. And I mean, I felt great. Not saying that it was all just because of that, but it's like again, had a routine and it wasn't so rigid that I'm like, oh no, no, no. I decided on this song four months ago. I gotta stick with this one. No, I feel like this one now I'm in the moment, I'm gonna acknowledge the moment, I'm gonna honor the moment. This is what feels right, right now. And I was fine with it. You're probably the most self-aware person that I think I've ever talked to. Being able to switch it up just like that was like, Hey, this is what I feel right now. It's the third time I've actually heard that from somebody. Thank you. Oh, that's fucking that. That's awesome. So, Oh, how many? So I was just, I was just kind of like looking up. So it's like 2004, 2006, 2007, 1314, 2015, 2016, 2017. Like you had a pretty good fucking run. So far as far as single, that's just singles as far as gold medals. Like how, how many more are there? You are you, are you the most decorated female racquetball player? That's what I heard when I watched, uh, the, the news did a story on me after, after one of the PanAms, and that's what they said. And I've, you know, continued to accumulate a few, a few titles here and there since then, so, Yeah, I didn't know that. I, I found that out. They, they must have looked it up. I did, I did actually, before, um, you know, I, I was updating my Instagram profile picture and information and everything, and before I actually did post that, I, I qualified it with a guy, uh, from Canada who is very, very, Meticulous with the record keeping. For example, I had looked at my Wikipedia page and I didn't even know if it was accurate or not, so I actually said, Hey, can you take a look at this? And you know, please make any corrections you see, you know, that have been left out or are mis mislabeled or misprinted somehow. I'm like, I, I can't even keep this straight. And he went through it and he's like, yeah, there was actually lots of errors. They were missing all of this. This was in 2007, not 2008. Like, like he had it all. Like, he knows way more about my career than I do. Um, so he, he straightened it out for me. But, um, Yeah, I verified that with him cuz I figured he'd be the one to know and he said winningest, maybe not, but most decorated definitely. I'm like okay, that's fine. I'm, that's, I wasn't trying to claim to be, you know, the winningest ever in history of the game cuz I'm not done yet. People who played a lot longer than I have, but, um, But yeah, I'm, I mean, I'm still, I'm, I, I, I literally just said this on a, on another, actually, I've said it before, and then the guy I did a podcast with the other day brought it up, you know, but I have a quote. I, the, the windshield is bigger than the rear view, rear view mirror for a reason. Absolutely. And so I, I don't tend to look in the rear view about my career very often. Mm-hmm. But when I do, I remember why it's there, because I have to remember where I came from to be able to measure that I am getting better. That's great. Yeah, that's really, that's really cool. I mean, when you look at just professional athletes, I mean, they're, they're kind of like that. It's almost like they're the ath, they're a professional athlete and it really doesn't matter what. What sport they pick. That's the one that they just chose. Like, you know, Brooks Keka isn't golf and he's not just a great golfer, he is just a great athlete. And you know, like BoJack and Dion Sanders, like all those people. Yeah. So a funny story is like, when I, when I first met you, we were talking about, I'm like, oh, racquetball. And you're like, yeah, but that's not my best sport. I was like, what the fuck? So basketball is basketball. Yeah. How did, how did you get into racquetball? So my parents joined the health club when I was two, and I figured out how to sneak out of the nursery when they were off doing their thing. My father had just started playing racquetball with, uh, my godfather. He was teaching'em how to play and my mom was playing tennis with my godmother or doing aerobics or, you know, whatever they were doing. Um, and I, I knew that my parents were off doing fun stuff and I was in there playing with, you know, Dumb GI Joes and wooden building blocks and Legos, and I'm like, I don't wanna do this. I wanna go do that. So I figured out how to sneak out and I'd go and kind of wander around till I found which racquetball court my dad was on, and I'd be like, oh, okay, there's dad on court too. And then I would run down if the basketball court was open, which most of the time it was, I. I'd run down and grab a, grab a basketball, and I would just kind of keep my eyes on my dad and when he was in between games and they would come out of the court to get a drink or whatever, take a rest, I would run up the steps and steal his racket and run onto the racquetball court. And like, until I started doing, you know, interviews and stuff early in my career when I started having some success. And people ask the same question, like, how'd you get started? And I would tell the story until my parents actually saw some of that, some of those articles and interviews. I don't think that they knew that I was sneaking out. I think my dad always thought my mom took me out and my mom always thought my dad took me out. But yeah, so I would just run and steal my dad's jacket and hit around in there for a few minutes and then, okay, kid, give the big people the racket back. Now what are you doing out here anyway? Where's your mother? You know? And before he could. You know, catch me and throw me back in the nursery ride, run back down and grab the basketball and you know, just do my thing. So basketball and racquetball have basically been, um, you know, something that I've, I've loved and enjoyed and put put my time and effort into since I was literally two years old. That's pretty nuts. Like how did you, or at what point did you figure out like, Hey, I'm pretty fucking good at this. Um, like better than most? Uh, well, so facts. I, I joined a Y M C A basketball league. Um, I'd say in between, in between, um, being two and being in fifth grade. And there was no other girls playing. So I was on a boys team, which I didn't care. I didn't mind. Yeah. But the co but the coaches would never play me. The coaches would never put me in. And, um, so after I think a year or two of that, my dad was like, fuck this, I'll coach the team. Okay. So my dad signed up as a coach. I, I was obviously playing and, um, and he put me in the games. And that was where, you know, now that I'm in a game flow, now that I'm on the court, now that I'm. Learning how to be a good teammate, how to be a facilitator, how to, how to score, how to, you know, how to do all the things, um, in, in that team setting, now that I'm not on the bench, just clapping for good shots. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, I think, I think it, it just, it ignited something in me that I'm like, I, I don't ever wanna not do this. This is way too much fun. Like, I just love doing this. And I was always like, Like I wanted, put it this way, to this day, the one thing I have always wanted at my house, which I live in an apartment now, so that's not impossible, but one thing I've always wanted since I was a kid was a basketball hoop at my house. And my parents would never get me one, because they knew I would never, ever come in the house after that. I wouldn't come in and eat. I wouldn't come in and do my homework. I wouldn't come in and go to sleep. I would probably just stay outside my whole life and just shoot. Um, but you know, I think that then once I started fifth grade, my elementary school di didn't have a basketball program. But they kind of started one that year. Mm-hmm. Um, and so I played, played for my elementary school in fifth and sixth grade. I played, um, I started on the eighth grade team when I got to junior high, and I started on varsity with four seniors when I got to high school. Okay. And then I got a full ride basketball scholarship to a D one school in east Texas. So, um, basketball, basketball was always my, my first love and for the longest time I, I couldn't really admit that cuz I did love racquetball and basketball equally. Mm-hmm. But basketball was just such a different vehicle than racquetball as far as the size of the sport. The, yeah. You know, you don't have to, you don't have to tell people what basketball is. They know when I'm sitting on a plane next to somebody and, and they, oh, what do you do? I'm a professional racquetball player, racquetball. No kidding. There's a, there's a pro tour for that. Like everybody knows what racquetball is, but it, it hasn't, it has not hit the mainstream media or the mainstream news or the mainstream fan base really, that, that understands. I mean, now that you've seen it at that, at elite level, like it's exciting as hell. It's fast, it's intense. It's, I mean, it's drama filled. It's there. It's got, it's got so much the, the sport itself has so much to offer. And I feel like it's the biggest kept secret sports-wise, you know, from, from the world that they just don't, they're, they're not even aware of what they're missing out on. And that's, like I said, the sad part is most people do know what racquetball is, but they have no idea that there's a pro tour or a national team or, um, you know, world championships and, and that we're in the PanAm games and, you know, all that type of stuff. So, It's, it's sad from that perspective that, that the game is so good and, and it's failure to, um, reach the masses has just sort of stalled almost completely. And it's, it's, I don't wanna say the sport is dying, but it is. And it's, it's, it's a sad, it's a sad state for such a, such a great game. Like there's nothing wrong with the game itself. There's been some significant, um, Failures of execution from the leadership side that has prevented it from kind of blowing up the way that, the way that it should have. You're talking about like the leaders in in the racquetball? Just Yeah, just, I mean, yeah. I mean, and it's, well, the sport itself is so young. I mean, that's, that's part of it. But hell, so is pickleball and pickleball is catching fire like. You know, it, it's the fa it's been the fastest growing sport in the nation for several years now. And to be fair, it's part of what is killing racquetball because a lot of racquetball players are switching to pickleball because they say it's easier on their bodies. Yeah. What's also, that's what I hate about it. That's what I hate about it. Well, nobody, I don't wanna be cha, I wanna be challenged more. Well, I would say like if, if you wanted, if you had an interest in playing. Racquetball watch Rhonda. Because the passion that you play with that, you can just see it on your face and just the way that you move and the way that you care. How the fuck do you not run into the people? Like when you're playing against them, there's rules against that, right? I mean, there's not rules against. You don't have time, honestly. I mean, contact does happen. It's, it's, I'm not gonna say that it's not a completely non-contact sport, but mm-hmm. It depends on, it depends on the flow of the rally. I mean, if I, if my opponent hits a ceiling ball and I'm coming back to get the, you know, to hit, hit that ceiling ball, cause I, it's a ceiling ball, it's going to end up in the back of the court. Mm-hmm. If I'm in center court, I'm coming back, I'm looking at the ball. If my opponent goes to move up, And they bump into me. It kind of depends on when that happens because if it's just an incidental contact or a little shoulder brush or you know, something, something quick and instantaneous and somewhat insignificant, sure it's gonna bump me off my rhythm a little bit. But the ball's still way up there in the air. I've got time before it and drops down to where I was gonna do anything with it or not. Yeah. But if it's, if it's at that point where, you know, I'm about to tee off on it and then there's contact there, then yes, that's absolutely, you know, something that's going to be called. Um, but it's, it's not that, it's not that, you know, some pushing and shoving doesn't really occur, but it's more likely in doubles when. You've got two players on one side of the court that aren't necessarily involved in exactly what's happening with the ball at that moment. Okay? That's when that can happen. When you got two play, two players fighting for position, that doesn't happen very often in singles because after every single shot, the other person has to go get that shot. Like there's too much movement in singles. Nobody's standing around or you know, I mean, occasionally contact happens. Say if a player hits, hits a, hits a shot and the other player is in such a position that the only way they can get it is to kind of go through that other player. But even then, like the play's gonna be dead one way or the other. It's either gonna be a pen penalty hinder, or a regular hinder, or no hinder because the ball was actually down and it wasn't gettable anyway. So it's just, it's so instantaneous, even though, even though there is contact, it, it. It's either very quick or it, it, it doesn't really happen that often unless it doubles just by nature of the speed of the sport. You just don't have time. Well, I'm looking at it as like an, like, on an amateur level. My eye isn't, you know, aware, but I'm sure like when once you get to your level, there's patterns that you already know. Like, all right, this person is in position A, I know that she's typically gonna hit it here. This is where the ball's gonna end up so you can maneuver appropriately. Right. Yes. And, and you know, one thing that, that I try to read, you know, watching video or whatever are my opponent's tendencies. Yeah. Like, for example, I, I, I know some people have. A certain hitch in their mechanics where they, they can't hit anything but this shot because of the way they hold their racket or the way that they, they wind up so late or their footwork or something. I mean, there's, there's tiny little cues that you can, that you can look at that, you know, something they're going to typically, they're gonna give something away without even realizing they're doing. It's almost like a talent poker or, or that they just, that's their tendency and, and you know, some players even at the top like, They're so good that even though you do know what they're gonna hit, because that's the only thing they ever hit from that particular spot, every single time, Uhhuh, it doesn't matter because they can do it so well. It doesn't matter that you know where you, you could sit right there and wait for it to come right to you. It's still gonna be an irretrievable shot because they can hit it so well. So, I mean, there's, there's so much nuance to a game that moves so fast and it, and it very much is pattern recognition. Hmm. I mean, no matter what gets hit, I can tell you where it's gonna end up bef between the time it leaves your strings, before it gets to the front wall, I can tell you where it's gonna end up and be there before it gets there. That's just pattern recognition. That's just, I mean it's, it's physics and geometry, but that makes it sound super complicated. It's not. It's just pattern recognition. Yeah, and it's, I mean, it's just experience like, I mean, especially when you're at your level, you gotta pay attention to those, those really small details. Yeah. It just helps you out. But. I mean, I thought, I thought the coolest thing. I was like, I would never picture this game where somebody is laying out multiple times and then just bouncing back. I'm like, how the fuck did you do that? Like once, once I see you lay out, I'm like, all right, just, you know, obviously, you know this person's gonna hit the ball back and No, but you right, you jumped right back up. Yeah. I'm, oh my, holy shit. Um, yeah, it's very quick. It's very quick. You don't have time to think, you don't have time to think. It's just, it's, it's reflects and reaction, it's, it's reading and reacting a situation. So g, getting to the level that you're at, what do you think was the toughest obstacle you've had to overcome? Overthinking. Ah, so is that overthinking My own, my own, my own overthinking? Yeah. Yeah. Um, I, how's that? I'm, uh, because I'm, A perfectionist. And so it's not, I wasn't satisfied with just winning. I wanted to win by playing perfectly, and I didn't mean that as in being, you know, mistake free. I meant it as in, in being like every shot that I hit, I hit with perfect mechanics. Every shot selection decision that I made, I, I made the right call every. You know, every pass bounced twice before the back wall. Every, every pinch was tight and rolled out. Every ceiling ball was, you know, a drop in the bucket. It didn't come off the back wall and it didn't fall short. Every serve, not was an ace, but, you know, every serve, every single serve forced a week return. You know, like I wanted, I just, I wanted to, um, I wanted to play so perfectly that my opponent would feel. Helpless like that there was nothing they could do about it. Um, and I don't mean being in the zone, I don't even mean being on fire. I just mean being that intentionally consistent with what I was doing. And my coach asked me that once. He said, you know, how come. You know, you're not beating so-and-so. You're by far the superior player. You're definitely a better athlete. Mm-hmm. And I don't understand why you don't, you know, beat this individual every time. And I said, cuz I don't just wanna beat her. I wanna beat her by playing perfect. And he's like, well, what do you mean by that? And I, I told him, you know, kind of what I just told you. And he goes, oh, well you can do everything right in a rally and lose it. You can do everything wrong in a rally and win it. And I was like, Well, shit, shit, I can't argue with that. You're right. Me to my next question, like how did you, how did you overcome it? Was it, was it just like that kind of conversation with him? So it's so, it it, yeah. That's, that's a big, that's a big part of it. Um, another part of it is staying steady. Um, we kind of came to that realization several years after that initial conversation where he actually was there watching me play a tournament in California. And I was playing in a, in the semis against this, um, Canadian girl who's very, very good, very streaky, but extremely talented. Mm-hmm. Um, when she's on, there's nothing you can do about it. When she's off. You might, you might be able to scrap a few points here and there, but she's gonna catch back on fire again eventually because that she's, she's just kind of, she's on or she's off and she'll, she'll fluctuate several times through the course of a match. Mm-hmm. Hell of a talent though. Incredible talent. Um, and I felt great. I mean, Checked off all the boxes of perfect preparation, sleep, hydration, nutrition, game planning, all the things not on, not to mention I felt great, like my body felt great. I felt completely clear and purpose and execution and, and game plan and all the things. And I went in and I got out to a six zero lead in the first game. Next thing I know, I lost that first game, 11 nine and I could not figure out how, and I was pissed. I came off the court and walked down the hall and coach met me down the hall, uh, from from the door. I. And I, he could see I was pissed and he is like, what's the matter? I'm like, what the fuck was that? He goes, what? You're playing great. I go, I, yeah. When I was up six zero, I said, how the hell do I play like that and lose 11? None. I don't understand. He goes, whoa, whoa, whoa. You're fine. He's like, you made maybe two unforced errors that entire first game. That's that very minimal. She caught fire for about nine points. And that's okay. You, you, you played great. Just keep doing that. He's like, you don't need to change anything. Just stay steady. And I was like, oh. Okay, I can do that. So instead of being mad about my opponent, catching fire and feeling like I had to catch fire, you know, to, to combat her fire, right? Like, like, no, you're, you're, you're playing great. You're doing everything you need to do. You don't need to change anything. You just need to stay steady and keep doing what you're doing. Don't change anything. I'm like, oh, he's essentially letting the game change you. So you're That's exactly what he says too. Yeah. Yeah. And he says that all the time. And so that's what I did. I ended up winning the second game. I lost the third and then she was up big. Uh, this was when we played three outta five games to 11, win by two. Mm-hmm. And you had to be serving to score. So we had a, a very long match. We had well over two hour, two and a half hour match. Jesus. Um, I love those. Those are my favorite. Um, so yeah, I lo I lost the first, I won the second, lost the third, and I was down like 10 to two in the fourth. 10 to two or 10 to three, and I came back and beat her 12, 10. And I don't even remember the comeback. Like I was just so focused, like the ref said 10 serves 10, and I heard the crowd cheer and it took me outta my flow for like a second. And I turned around and I looked at the crowd and the ref repeated the score. Maybe he thought, I looked back at him like I didn't hear at the score. He goes, 10 serves 10. And I'm like, What if they, oh cuz it's 10 10, I got it. Oh shit, it's 10, 10. You know, like I wasn't, I was so focused in the flow and, and just, you know, in, in the middle of, of that, um, of that comeback that I didn't even realize that that's what was happening. Anyway, I came back and I won 1210 and she was very upset about that and, and she kind of didn't. I ended up winning the fifth game, like 11 six or something like that. She just didn't recover after losing that lead. And she had the match on her strings a couple of times where she made a mistake. And, and there was times where, you know, I, I had to come up with something kind of outta my ass that, that actually worked, you know, to get me, keep me in those rallies. But, um, ultimately it was just never, n never believing that it was, that it was not going to end on my terms one way or the other, you know? Yeah. Um, I, I personally believe that, um, I feel different de depending on, on if I get beat or if I lose, I don't mind getting beat. Getting beat. Mm-hmm. I feel like that person was just better than me that day and there really wasn't anything I could do about it. My hat off to you. You played great. You know, like I, I got beat because you, you were better today. Um, I don't like it. I don't like the feeling when I lose because that's when I feel like I did not meet my own expectations of what I'm capable of in how I played today. Not saying that I had to play perfect again. I, I, I released that a long time ago. Now that I know now that I can see it. For what it was, it was unrealistic and it was just a setting myself up for failure. Um, but knowing. Knowing what I'm capable of and then just not showing up in the way that I expect to. Um, that's, that's what I have a hard time with. And I, and sometimes I have a hard time with, with figuring out why, for example, that next match that, that you may have seen that, that I lost in the semis like that. I don't, I don't know why I wasn't moving. Well, I really don't, I have no answers for that. I didn't prepare any differently. I didn't, I didn't eat or sleep any differently. Like everything was completely. On par with, you know, what took place earlier in the day. Yeah. So I don't, I don't know. Um, I, I don't like it when I don't know what went wrong because then I don't know what to fix. I don't know what adjustment to make in the moment. I don't know. I know where I want to go and I, nothing hurts. I don't feel sluggish. I don't feel tired. I don't feel slow. I'm just not moving efficiently and effectively, and I don't know why. Um, so those are, those are some of the things that, uh, you know, some of the, some of the hiccups and some of the speed bumps I guess, that, you know, you can run into. But that's where again, you know, r routine comes into play. Like that's, if you're feeling like something is off, go back to where it started and audit the routine and see if, if there needs to be an adjustment made, you know, is your, is your checklist. Of what you wanna do in your pregame so, so long or so strict or so, you know, whatever, that it's actually distracting you from, you know, by the time you, you go to play, you're, you're already done. Yeah. You know, or like, are you, did, did you, did you warm up too much and now you've got no energy to play. That wasn't the case. That's not how I feel how I felt at all. But, you know, auditing. Auditing. You know when things go right, figure out why they went right. Why I felt great. Why? Why did you feel great? I felt off. Well, why did you feel off? And sometimes it's just the bounce of the ball. Sometimes you really, there really isn't a force sometimes. There really isn't something, anything within your own control that you could have done differently. It just wasn't your day. You just gotta be okay with that. And I suck at that and I suck at that as long as I wanna, cause I wanna, I wanna fix it on those longer matches, like those, those two and a half hour ones. How do you, how do you prepare for the, like, you know, sleep and nutrition wise? So those, those, those two elements are very consistent for me, um, throughout, regardless of how long the match may or may not be. Just because, um, I like the longer matches bec and, and I don't know, maybe it's just because of how I grew up, how, how I played. So I would wake up at five o'clock in the morning and go to the gym with my dad. He did not make me go. I was the one dragging him to the gym. People gave him shit all the time. Like why are you waking your kid up so early? You know she has school day. Yeah, I know. She's the one who's dragging me outta bed. I would go to the gym, play racquetball and basketball, shower and get ready for school at the gym, go to school. Have basketball practice after class and grab a snack and then go back to the, a different gym later. And I, we actually started a junior team, Arizona junior racquetball team when I was in junior high in high school. We actually partnered with Rad. Or, uh, dare remember the, the dare officer, the the don't do drugs, dare police cars, you know? Yeah. We, we partnered with, with DARE and called it RAD Racquetball Against Drugs and we would do something with, with DARE and, and our RAD program, uh, like once a month. Um, so yeah, gym at 5:00 AM School, basketball practice, gym from six to eight or seven to nine doing, uh, junior state team practice stuff and then grab some food, do some homework, go to sleep, get up and do it all again the next day. So I was kind of constantly playing at all times of the day, several hours a day, and I mean, I. I wanted to, I enjoyed it. I didn't feel, I didn't feel tired. I didn't feel worn out. I looked forward to every, to every minute of it. And so for me, in my racquetball career, it's always been, the more I play, the better I play. I would rather have seven matches in a row back to back, to back to back with no break than have three matches in one day with like two or three hours in between each match. Like, I would rather, I would rather just energize or bunny it and just, you know, just don't stop and then of course, eat a good dinner and crash in my, in my better night after all that. But, but, um, yeah, I, I, the more I play, the better I play. The more, the more divisions I play, the more court time I get, the better I play. It's almost like the, the more I just keep going, the more of a flow I get into. Dude, that's so, that's so crazy. It's almost like a napalm bomb of like Rhonda Richard. Like, it just keeps all well, and it was keeps on building. I, I, I realized, I mean, probably later than I should have, but, and, and it was never intentional. Like I was always kind of a slow starter and it wasn't intentional. But, you know, once I got going, then I was like, all right, I'm in my flow. And I was, then I realized years later that I'm like, wow. The longer a match goes, the more it's most likely going to swing in my favor simply because of my, my fitness level and my um, In basketball, we call it fourth quarter legs. Yeah. You know, when you, you got those fourth quarter legs, you, you're not, you're not dragging, you're, you're, you're able to shoot free throws cuz your legs aren't rubbery by the fourth quarter type of thing. But I, I would have that, um, I would've that mentally as well. I wasn't mentally fatigued two, three hours into a match. I wasn't physically fatigued two, three hours into a match. The more, the, the longer a match went, the more it would swing into my favor. And that doesn't mean that I was intentionally starting slow. And that does, I, I would love to wrap up every match in 30, 45 minutes. That'd be great. But they don't all turn out that way. And for the longer ones, I noticed that those were the ones that tended to, to swing more in my favor, just on a, on account of my, um, you know, my ability to hang in there that long. Really, dude, that's baller. What's the, what's the next big, big event that you're training for? So, I don't know yet, actually. Yeah, I don't know yet. Our, our pro season is actually wrapping up, um, next week. I'm not attending that one in Virginia. What the, um, Dude, I'm right here. I missed it. I missed the deadline. Son of a bitch. All right. Damn it. Next time, next time. Um, no, I'm, I'm, I'm trying to get, um, trying to get my speaking going, trying to get my, my coaching going and I mean, they're, they're going, I'm just trying, I'm trying. I've been doing both for several years. I am speaking for, I did the math, it was over 18 years, but it always just sort of fell into my lap. I've been doing coaching apparently for over six years and I didn't know that's what I was doing and I'm like, oh, I can do this too. Oh, okay, great. Cuz I've already been doing that. Um, so now I'm, I'm just kind of trying to work on building the business of those two. Yeah. Um, so I'm just, I'm putting a lot more. Time and attention and intention into those things. As well as, um, getting my book done. I started writing a book last year and I hope to have it out soon, like in the next couple of months, soon. Um, so I need to get that done. And it's, it's one of those things, I mean, I've always, I've always wanted to do speaking. Mm-hmm. And, and, and I just, I've just kind of gotten to a point where, um, I want to put more focus and more effort onto that because I think that there's, there's a lot of people that I, that I think I can help. And that's not coming from any kind of arrogance. I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm not saying that I'm special, I, but I have been given a, a very interesting platform to speak from in Yeah. Some of the experiences that I've had, and I hope to share those experiences in a way that can help people, um, maybe navigate some. Nav, navigate some stuff in their own life, whether it's in, in their, in their personal life, in their professional life, their business, their career, their choices, their friendship or family dynamics, um, or even just their own relationship to self. Um, I've really learned a lot through a lot of the things that I've been through and through a lot of the people that I've encountered along the way. Um, and I think that it's, we're in a time of the world right now where I think we're. It's, it's such a fragile time. I feel like we're in a state where more people feel like they're allowed to ask for help now. Mm-hmm. Than ever before. And I also feel like society as a whole is at a very fragile place because we're also so divided. Yeah. And I think that, I think that those, those two things, there's definitely a need. There's a, there's a need for somewhere to reach. There's a, there's a need for, you know, a light in some corner of, of, of the darkness. Um, and if there's any, anything that I've learned through my experiences as just as a human, as an athlete, uh, as, as a person, as, you know, somebody who has, who has existed in some pretty extraordinary situations, um, If there's anything I can do to help, that's, that's what I wanna do. And also, I've won everything there is to win at least twice. And so it's not about adding to my trophy case. It's like I wanna, I wanna, I wanna leave behind more than dusty trophies. Yeah. I wanna leave behind more than faded medals. I, I want to, I wanna be able to impact people in a way that serves them, not me. I don't think anybody could take that for being arrogant. I mean, somebody with your resume and wanting to give back as much as you do. And I mean, I do think you have a lot to give too, just cause I, I've heard some of the stories, but I mean, it's coming from a really good place. And yeah, you're right, like more people do ask for help, but also like in the, in the darkest of times, all you need is like a little bit of fucking light and it lights, lights up or just, or just a simple, or just a simple perspective shift. Hmm. I got one for you. Beliefs famm. Dude, that this, this has been so awesome. I really appreciate your time. You're the, you're the fucking best. Thank you. What else you got going on? Anything? Um, Yeah, actually I was just actually coaching, uh, basketball in my old high school this week. Oh really? 60 days. Yeah. I love doing that. Um, yeah, actually, Really diving into, uh, my website should be, should be done soon. Oh, what is it? Uh, it's rhonda speaks.com. Okay. Also rhonda raich.com. But I went with Rhonda Speaks. I mean, if you, whichever one you type in, it'll, it'll go to the same site. But I, I picked Rhonda Speaks because nobody can spell or say my last name correctly. It's a tough one. There's a fucking, it's not though. It's, it's easier than lose. There's a day in there that nobody fucking knows about. Pretend the J is a Y and say it Ra. Yeah. Peace cake. Yeah. I mean, I'm good. Everybody. You told me how to do it. I cheated. I cheated. Before we go, what is, who is, who's somebody that you admire? Um, that is not a small list. Yeah, that is not a small list. Um, I would say, I'd say Jordan for sure. Um, you're rep into two, three. I mean, that's my number, although it wasn't entirely for him. I'm actually, I was told by family that I was like kind of a distant rel relative to pistol Pete, me. Oh, really? So, which makes a lot of sense actually. Um, and he was number 23, so it, it's not, it's not entirely Jordan. It's a little family thing too, but, Hmm. Um, Yeah. No, that's, that's not, that's not a, a short list, but, we'll, we'll leave it at that one. I got a better question. So, if somebody was trying to come up the way that you did and had the challenges that you overcame, what advice do you think that you would give them? I think the biggest one is that you have to, you have to know yourself. You have to know yourself. Um, you can't let anybody else tell you who you are, what you're worth, or what you can and can't do. I was very fully aware, even as a young kid, like I said, I mean, I was a girl on a boys all, all boys basketball team, and they would never let me play. And then when my father started coaching a team that I was on, I, he obviously put me in and then, You know, he knew I could play, but even if no one else, even even without that, like I knew I could play, they just didn't let me. Um, so fi find a way to, you know, get yourself out where you need, where you know you deserve to be. And there's no, there's no ego involved in that. Um, it's, it's literally just, I, I know who I am, I know what I can do and I know what I've done so. By all means, go ahead and tell me. I can't, cuz my favorite thing will be to prove you wrong Self worth. I mean, it's something, yeah, it's something that, um, yeah, it's massively important. Something that, you know, even now, I'm, I'm still strengthening that muscle, so that's huge. And there's a difference between confidence and arrogance. Hmm. Conf confidence. Arrogance is, arrogance is for attention. Arrogance is, look at me, look at me. Look at me, or look what I did or look what I can do. Confidence is quiet. Confidence doesn't have to say anything. Confidence just shows you, and if you know what you can show you, know yourself well enough that you know what you can show. You don't have to say anything. Just show up and do it. Yeah, that's huge. That's huge. Rhonda, you're the best. Thanks, Jimmy. On here. No, thank you, brother. Appreciate it. The most decorated racquetball, female athlete. Male or female? Apparently. Oh really? Mm-hmm. Fucking A. There you have it. Yeah. Yeah, and it's, it's interesting too, just, I mean, socially, not busting on you at all, but socially that's what everybody does the most decorated female. I'm like, Uhuh. Yeah. I didn't wanna hear. Yeah, just decorated player, male or female. I. And then everyone's like, oh really? And it's so surprising and it's a little annoying that it's so surprising. Not that you were surprised, but most people, you know, they wanna, they want to, they wanna limit that, that statistic. No. Gimme that one fam. I earned it. Yeah. Gimme that one. You didn't do all this shit for, for half of the fucking recognition. Valid. Valid. Alright, kid. Awesome.