Transmitted by Boak Ferris, WPHLiveTV Certified Coach
Around October, 1992, young David Chapman, today known as TGO, struggled to beat John Bike, among others. David was quite frank about his frustration, as he confessed to me and to Coach Lew Morales: “Bike’s serve is really fast, and I can’t catch up with his low kills and passes.” In a way, the handball community owes a great debt to Bike’s fearsome play, since it catalyzed David’s ambitions and desire. I was present when David’s dad, Fred, suggested that young David attend Fred Lewis’ “handball camp” to get his game analyzed by a living legendary champion.
Though I did not travel with David to the camp, David and his dad afterward reported that the camp amounted to a one-on-one “visit” with Fred Lewis in Tucson, over a week’s period, during which Freddy (see below) observed high-schooler TGO play various adult opponents. Then Fred Lewis wrote up his notes, which David eventually passed to my keeping, saying, “I have these memorized. You need them more than I do. And maybe you’ll write them up for my bio after I beat Naty’s record.” David took these notes to heart, and drilled incessantly, practicing as Lewis recommended against us lesser opponents at the Circle Club in Long Beach. Within a year’s time, TGO beat Mr. Bike at the 1993 Money Showdown and at the 1993 USHA National Singles Semifinals, and next beat the “buzzsaw,” Randy Morones, in the 1993 USHA National Finals. If you think anything while watching these matches, then please pay attention to how David implements Lewis’ pure defense. (All of these matches are available in some form on YouTube.)
Last week, thirty-one years later, in June, 2024, as I was culling files, these—Lewis’ notes, handwritten on yellow lined paper—fell out onto my workspace counter-top, as if proclaiming, “The time has come.” What I find most amazing about these brief notes is how they serve as a “handball bible” for modern competitors hoping to cross that supernatural portal into handball greatness. These notes very much apply today. I append them herein, exactly as inscribed. Thank you, Fred Lewis.
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October 10, 1992
Dear David,
The following is a brief synopsis of my observation of your play while you were in Tucson.
The objective of this exercise was to help you take your game to the next level. The next level is to become one of the top two or three players in the country. I firmly believe that if you follow the prescriptions I set forth, you will achieve your goal.
I see three areas where you need to make definite improvements. They are in the following order of importance:
- Return of service and defense.
- Hitting the ball harder consistently.
- Hitting the power serve harder and more accurately
I feel return of serve and defense are most important for several reasons.
- It’s fairly easy to accomplish
- The top 4 players in the country, Tati, Bike, Alvarado, and Kendler have great serves.
- Nobody plays great defense right now. You have the opportunity to become the next great complete player.
Fist Shot – We talked about the service and return of serve drill. Watch Vern hit the return of serve in the video. Notice how his body is turned sideways so that he can “step into the ball.” The stroke itself begins with a good backswing. It’s important to bend your back knee as you are striding into the ball. The lower you strike the ball, the lower you bend your back knee. Remember that the fist must strike underneath the ball, not the back of the ball. As contact is made, drive upward off your back foot. Follow through toward the ceiling. Accentuate the upward movements. Your objective at first is to consistently hit the ball hard to the ceiling. After a while, you’ll learn the touch in order to keep the ball off the backwall. This shot must be approached aggressively. You have to go after it. It’s like hitting a fast ball. You can’t stay back on your heels. You have to drive forward.
There are two reasons why you mishit this shot:
- Your body faces forward instead of turning sideways.
- Your body is too straight up. You must bend and drive your body upward.
If you get jammed up, punch the ball cross court into the right sidewall.
Defense – Playing defense is an extension of the return of serve. You are taking the opponent’s low hard drives and punching them to the ceiling. The objective is to take your opponent out of an offensive situation and force him to come back with a ceiling shot. Playing defense will not win matches. It will keep you from losing them.
The greatest players in the game played great defense, including Alvarado. Nothing is more frustrating than hitting a great serve or hitting a great passing shot and having your opponent punch it to the ceiling.
Playing great defense takes a lot of patience and a lot of energy. You have both of these. It’s already there. You have a tendency to get sloppy with some of your returns. Every shot is important!!! Never hit the front wall first, unless you are confident about hitting a kill or running the ball down the wall. This means 8 out of 10 times. You must be 80% sure. Otherwise, play it safe and stay out of trouble. If you never set your opponent up, how can he beat you?
Offense – There is a fine line between being on offense and being on defense. Movement is the key. The greatest players created offensive opportunities for themselves by being aggressive and not being lazy when it came time to moving their feet. One thing you must do is vacate center court position quickly in order to hit the ball sidearm. You have a tendency to get lazy when the ball hits front-wall sidewall. You stand flat-footed in the center of the court and try to dink the ball into the corner or hit that topspin shot down the left wall. That is a great shot when you don’t have time to move and hit the ball sidearm. The problem is that you hit that shot, even when you have time to set up and blast the ball. The top players will not be fooled very often.
Get in the habit of letting the ball drop and stepping into it when you’re hitting sidearm. Use the two-wall passing drill. When you’re playing guys that you can handle easily, hit a lot of passing shots. Get in the habit of hitting the passing shot. Sometimes just concentrate on hitting passing shots! The passing shot will:
- Get you set ups.
- Make your kill shots less pressured.
- Tire your opponents.
Backwall – The back wall is one of your greatest strengths. Sometimes you have a tendency to get lazy and not get back far enough to step into the ball as it rebounds off the back. You’ve compensated by taking the ball behind you and hitting the reverse. Again this can be a great shot in certain situations. It’s a great change of pace and can get you out of trouble when you can’t set up properly.
However, I feel you’ve come to rely on the reverse too much. You’re taking the easy way out by not moving your feet. When you get a back wall shot, your eyes should light up. You should go after it like a shark goes after a piece of meat. What I mean is get back quickly and step into the ball so that you can hit it hard: kill or pass.
Power Serve – Learn to take care of your power serve. It should never set up off the back wall and sidewalls.
Learn to find the spot on the front wall that you must hit in order to place the ball between the five foot mark and the short line.
Lean into it with your whole body. Watch me hit the power serve on video. See how low I let the ball drop.
Read this over 10 times. You’re not going to get it all at once. You’ll have a few small successes at the beginning. Major improvement will come with time. Don’t get frustrated. You can accomplish everything we’ve talked about. There’s nothing magical about it.
Go over everything with your dad. Make sure he knows what to look for when he watches you play. Take observations constructively. The most important thing about this game is knowing when you make a mistake and what you need to do to correct it.
I’ll call you in a few weeks to see how you are doing. Give your feet a chance to heal.