The effects of playing on the Ft. Pierce cancha will have little
or minimal impact once the Miami players start playing at Miami
Jai-Alai. If anything, they will be more comfortable at Miami.
I played Ft. Pierce the first summer season in 1974 after 5 straight
seasons of only Miami. We played from June through November...6
months. Mostly I enjoyed the change of scenery. When I started
in Miami the next season (1974-75) the only noticeable difference
was the pelota speed. Miami's cancha is quicker so you just need
to get your timing down but that was an easy adjustment. After
numerous seasons of playing on different canchas...some years
I went from Miami to Ft. Pierce to Hartford and other years I
went Tampa to Ocala to Ft. Pierce and back to Tampa...the only
adjustment I had to make was when I played at Ft. Pierce. Because
it was a slower cancha it favored strong right handed frontcourters
which I wasn't. It tended to nullify a strong reverse which helped
my game at the other quicker canchas.
With that said...there still could be a visible effect initially
due to the Miami players practicing at Dania if they get used
to Dania's cancha without a few days to practice in Miami. When
we were getting ready to start a Miami season Pedro Mir ran a
virtual boot camp. For 3 weeks Pedro Mir would hold mandatory
daily practice sessions for all players for 3 hours. We practiced
simulated games, serves, rebotes...you name it AND when we were
tired and pooped...he would have us run the length of the cancha
forward 4 times and backward 2 times as hard as we could. With
him watching always...if anybody dogged it, they would have to
run laps the whole area of the court 6 times. Mark my words...none
of us...Juaristi, Asis, Mendi, Rufino, Soroa, Javier or ask Santi
Echaniz...he got to do it too! We couldn't wait for the real season
to begin. But looking back, it really conditioned us both physically
and mentally.
Maybe that's the reason Boli stayed in Tampa. 
