On the subject of Aratz Posted on May 8, 2023 at 07:30:04 PM by jatna77
I am a certified Aratz fan. It is difficult and sometimes painful. With his phenomenal catching, good court positioning and amazing saves, I believe that Aratz has the potential to be one of, if not the best singles player in the Fronton.
However, there are four things that Aratz does, that hold him back.
1) Puffballs. Aratz has the terrible habit of throwing many puffballs, usually just in singles. Definition of a puffball: a not-very-fast throw or shot that is easy to catch because it comes straight back to your opponent, who is in the front or middle court.
Often this is in the context of a 2-wall that does not open up and/or is a tad too slow. But sometimes he just inexplicably throws a softy straight back to his opponent in the front court for no discernible reason, whatsoever. He almost always gets punished for it. He did so in his US Nationals finals game with Inaki and Inaki destroyed him for it. In his last BC singles match against Manny, he threw 9 of them and lost.
2) Unforced errors. Aratz does not miss many catches and so you have to forgive him for the few that he does. But he throws shots out of bounds often. The overhead screen, the pad, and just plain out-of-bounds all happen. He needs to improve his consistency, in terms of the accuracy and pace of his shots.
3) Passivity. Often, in singles, Aratz is too passive and lets his opponent take control of the point unnecessarily. I have seen Manny and Jairo move Aratz around like a puppet and play him like a fiddle, with little answer. Make those old men move Aratz! Don't throw generic, predictable returns right back to them! Pass them! Move them sideways sometimes! Kill the point before they do. Mix it up and keep them guessing. Take control by making them respond to you, instead of the opposite.
4) Outside placement. Aratz needs to develop the consistent accuracy of his shots but especially his outside placement. If he can improve it, then he can use it more often to keep his opponents off-guard.
Don't get me wrong, when he throws shots correctly, Aratz has some of the sweetest outside shots in the game, and his inside shots are phenomenal. But he throws a fair amount of inferior shots as well. He does not have as much power as his brother, so it comes down to accuracy and judging the pace.
I realize that Aratz has only been playing at MC for a relatively short while and that he is primarily a defensive, doubles, back-courter who is still developing his singles game. I hope that he has been made aware of these weaknesses by the coach and is working on improving them because some days, it existentially hurts being an Aratz fan. That is primarily because I see so much potential in him. Go Aratz! Replies:
