We asked ... How much pressure is there to hold on to a title, rather than get to a final for the first time? How do you re-focus on a second title, after winning a first (a year later? on the same day?) How long does it take to find a partner that you can depend on to help you earn multiple titles? What special qualities make for a successful doubles team?

What follows are the un-edited responses we received, in full, from those emailed replies (a condensed version appears in print).

• Successful Defending Champions:
• Ruben Gonzalez & Mike Guidry (MO) 
• Brent Walters & Mitch Williams (M24-) 
• Gene Pare & Troy Stallings (M45+) 3x 
• Nidia Funes & Merijean Kelley (W55+) 
• Jody Nance & Mark-O Perez (MX30+) 
• Malia Bailey & Jimmy Lowe (MX35+) 
• Shelley Ogden & Frank Taddonio (MX50+)

• Double Gold Medalists:
• Ruben Gonzalez MO w/Guidry, M50+ w/Russ Mannino 
• Mike Guidry MO w/Gonzalez, M25+ w/Gregg Peck 
• Mark-O Perez M35+ w/Michael Bronfeld, MX30+ w/Jody Nance 
• Troy Stallings M45+ w/Gene Pare, MX40+ w/Debra Tisinger 
• Lee Graff M60+ w/Carmen Felicetti, M65+ w/Thomas Penick 
• Aimee Roehler W25+ w/Debra Bryant, MXO w/Jason Thoerner 
• Elaine Dexter W45+ w/Leslie Pawka, MX45+ w/Dave Azuma 
• Nidia Funes W55+ w/Merijean Kelley, MX55+ w/Glenn Allen 
• Joy DeSantis W60+ w/Gail Schaefer, MX60+ w/Ronald Adams
• Double Gold Teams:
• Duffy Bracken & Andrew Kulback MA & M35+ A/B
• Diana Courtney & Debbie Reauso WC & W45+ C/D

• Triple Gold:
• Debra Tisinger 
  W35+ w/Kersten Hallander 
  W40+ w/Laura Fenton 
  MX40+ w/Troy Stallings

It was the first time I played Mixed Doubles with my partner Ron Adams at National Doubles and only the second time I won Gold in that division. During the tournament he injured himself and had to drop out of Men's Doubles. Our Mixed was a round robin and we only had one match left to play so he said he would go on the court and do his best. I thank him for being a trouper. We lost that match in a tiebreaker but still won the Gold and I learned how a three-way tie is calculated.

For me, it is not as much about being focused as it is about being "ready" to play my best. Training all year and staying in shape is what I depend on to help me win a tournament.

I have played with Dave for close to 20 years. Just so happened we played at the same club, very fortunate for me. Met both Leslie and Linda as opponents at the National doubles and arranged to play together. It's a great way to meet partners, actually. Playing against people really gives you an idea of how they play and what they are like. It's very important to me to play with someone who is honest, fair, a good sport as well as a good player. Oh, and fun to be on the court with!!

I love the competition at the national events. This last one was great and the club was beautiful--very well maintained, something racquetball players really appreciate, especially in the last 10 years where clubs have taken out courts, cut back on expenses, programs and club upkeep.

I think it is vital to get competitive games year round in order to stay sharp for "big" tournament events. I am very lucky to belong to a club with many high-level doubles players. It is more amazing that my mixed partner, Dave Azuma, can continue to play at his incredibly high level when he can rarely even find 3 other people to play doubles with. He is truly a focused competitor.

I have won thirteen gold medals in doubles with seven different partners (5 male, two female) at the national level. At this level of competition each player has such outstanding racquetball skills, that I believe the single most important ingredient to winning is CHEMISTRY. In fact this Chemistry ingredient to winning is also the same ingredient that will take a highly successful winning team (one, two, three, and even more titles), to the losing side of the ledger. 

The mental aspect of winning racquetball is so much different than singles, because of the Chemistry ingredient. Winning four national gold singles for me meant focusing my personal skills, both physical and mental on my opponent's strengths and weaknesses. Success will happen if the highest positive level can be achieved in these areas. However, in doubles a partner with these same qualities MUST be integrated into the equation, and it MUST be a positive one. In winning gold medals with seven different partners, the chemistry has been highly present, somewhat average, and amazingly low. In the later, I believe individual skills carried us on to the victory. However, over the long haul and over several tournaments and possibly years, chemistry is the key to success. Positive reinforcement always! Words like; "Great hustle!", "Nice shot", and "Super Serve", when they happen can really drive your partner on to continued success. Negative comments are never helpful, and negative 'body language' is a key to failure. A missed set up by a player, with a frown or drooped shoulders by his/her partner really reinforce disappointment and continue the downslide to failure. Constructive criticism when the chemistry and trust level is present can assist greatly in achieving success. "Go to your strong 'Z' serve, or "Move your feet" or "Try to set up earlier" can assist immeasurably in getting a positive feeling of flow and synergy. 

Lastly, developing a communications style and type is vital to success. "Yours/Mine" and other ways of handling court strategies will depend on whatever you decide that works and makes for a more comfortable feeling on the court. There are many other aspects to doubles partnering in racquetball, however none compare to chemistry as a key ingredient to success.

Note: Graff teamed up with a new partner in the 60+ doubles. They defeated a nine-time USRA doubles team in the semifinals, and in the finals defeated a team that had won their last five national doubles finals.

B. Winning a Second, Third Title; Repeating a National Gold medal (winning a second, third time or multiple times) Is not as difficult as winning the first time. If one would review the USRA Record Book and select those individual teams that have won five nationals or more, and interview these team players, I am very confident that they would say, "When we won, the chemistry was perfect or nearly so, and when we were defeated our chemistry was just not there". If the 'chemistry' is still there between partners, the confidence of past success is a critical factor and it will lead to continued success and another national title. In fact, I believe a team with multiple titles has a three to four point game advantage going into a semi or final match. Court verbal communication alone can account for a couple of points, where a new team may make key mistakes. Positive reinforcement and court strategy will make up for the other couple of points when chemistry is flowing and two players are synergetic.

I have been playing racquetball since 1978 and have been participating in local and state events for what seems like forever. Even though I have won many titles in many different divisions in Ohio, I have to say that winning 2 divisions at the National Doubles is the crowning achievement of my racquetball career.

This is only the third year that I have participated in National Doubles and I believe that previous two years have prepared me for what it takes to win on the national level. Everyone who participates in a national tournament is a good player at his/her level and plays the game very seriously. I believe that in order to win at this level, you must first learn how to win. In my first year at National Doubles, I played in two divisions and lost both of them in the first round. In retrospect, I probably underestimated the level of competition and how good the players were going to be. In my second year, I played in three events and lost all 3 in the second round. I was a little more prepared than the first year, but not quite prepared enough for what it was going to take to win. This year, my third attempt, I won.

The competition at a national tournament is very fierce, however, I must say that all of our opponents were not only first-rate players, but they were first rate people as well. In any type of competition there are bound to be disputes, the intensity level is very high and sometimes tempers may flare. However, at the end of every match, both the winners and the losers were able to put the competition aside, wish each other well and be friends. I can honestly say that in the three years that I have participated in this event, I have not played a match that has ended on a bad note.

Thanks again for the chance to contribute to the magazine. My partner (Duffy Bracken) and I plan on coming back next year to defend our titles.

Some thoughts about the components of "defending your title" include; good preparation, blending with your partner, and believing in yourself and your partner.

In the Northern California area, we are fortunate to have a number of very good, nationally experienced players that love to get together to play for hours and push to better themselves. On a few occasions, prior to nationals, Michael Bronfeld, John Ellis, Adam Karp, the Rojas', Lisa Hjelm, Kari McDonough, Dave Ortega, Bert Castalanelli and others got together and played match after match pushing each other to play our best, our hardest. We get good practice as well as good friendships that lend support and assistance during the tournament.

I feel that Mark-o and I, who have been partners for many years, blend well together. We know what our job is and there is rarely a question as to who's shot is who's. There is a lot of trust that my partner will be where I expect him and vice versa.

Each year we come into this tournament knowing there well be top level competition and believe in ourselves that we will give 100% and play the best racquetball we know how. I believe that Mark-o is one of the smartest doubles players in the game; I believe he will make the appropriate shots at least a majority of the time. It is this faith in my partner, and I trust he feels the same, that gives us the internal fortitude to seek out gold.

There are many other components to being a champion at any level, these are just a few that I feel work for us. I only hope that there are many racquetball tournaments in our future with the same level of commitment that pushes us to excel.

Thanks for your interest in us, we appreciate all the organization does for the sport!

For what they're worth, a few observations on National Doubles: 1) it's no big secret that strong lefty/righty teams often work the best (Mike & Ruben are an excellent example), in general because it's harder to isolate and take advantage of weaker backhands by hitting up the center court; 2) too many teams try to shoot everything and forget the necessarily "ugly" aspect of doubles, that is, pass and jam more often and keep the opponents out of front court (in the Opens it was refreshing to see Mike & Ruben go to the ceiling and hit Zs or passes whenever they didn't have high-percentage shots); 3) expect that smart doubles teams will be able to isolate and attack the weakest player on the opposing team, so if you or your partner have any apparent weaknesses, you'd better have confidence in your strengths and a number of strategies to overcome an assault.

I'd like to commend all of our competitors; over the years, many teams could have taken the Gold away from us had a few breaks gone the other way. Watching other matches, even when I'm too sore to stand up, is always half the fun at Nationals because of all the great players and different styles of play. You're sure to see something you thought you'd never see. My favorite, so far, took place at National Singles in Houston (1996, I think): on the first serve of the match, Dave Peck's opponent dove and hit a drive serve down the right wall for a surprise winner; Dave shook his massive head, looked up at the ref and asked, "Is that legal?" Yep, as long as the server doesn't screen or break the drive serve line.

Nationals is the tournament, there's no rush like it for an amateur player, and there's no better feeling than knowing that, at least for one year, you're #1 in your division, whatever that division is.

About re-focusing and preparing for a second title run - we focused on what we did the previous year to be successful and it worked. Our success, and I think this holds true for any doubles team, is based on one partner backing up the other both in individual rallies and when one partner makes mistakes the other picks up the slack … disaster comes when both make mistakes and get in a rut at the same time.

Trying to defend this year didn't put much pressure on us b/c we have made it to the finals many times. The local tournaments give us experience needed to win the nationals.

The one major drive is Mike Harmon and Jeff Garner, which were our opponents we have beaten the last two years. Mike especially is the one reason we try to win. He talks the talk and sometimes comes out victorious, but the last two times he has eaten his words. It all started back in Jr. National and Jr. World tournaments. We beat him at nationals in a tiebreaker and then he beat us at Worlds in a tiebreaker.

The big key in doubles is finding a good partner. Mitch seems to be a good match. He is a lefty while I have the right side taken care of. His power on the left side plays a major role, while my consistency and most importantly my speed make a great one two punch. We compliment each other very well...he takes the majority of the shots in the backcourt while I clean up the front.