Friday, March 31, 2017
New Paddle Time!
I pulled the trigger at lunch time today. I ordered a new paddle. I decided on the Paddletek Tempest Wave. I also ordered some overgrip to beef up the handle. The SCPC has a deal with Pickleball Central where the purchaser gets a 5% discount and the SCPC gets a 5% cut of the sale. The price on the paddle was $10 more than I could find elsewhere but since the other supplier was here in California, it was more or less of a wash with sales tax, so I opted to get the SCPC their 5% donation and wait an extra day or two for shipping from Washington State. There may be a paddle that’s better for me, but this Paddletek model is popular locally and according to one interview online, it holds up well and doesn’t need replacing as oft as others. I can always sell this one later or save it as a backup. I don’t want to keep using John’s loaner paddle forever!
Videos
I recorded four games on Wednesday morning. I haven’t watched all of them in detail yet, but I very much have a tendency to hit the ball too high that often results in a slam back to my side of the court. There’s a reason that “Keep it low” is a pickleball saying you hear frequently! The last game of the four was lost on a slam down the middle from a hit that I popped up too high. (My teams won the remaining three of the four recorded games, but that can be a function of an opponent’s weak play more than my skill.) If I can eliminate popping a ball up, it’ll make a world of difference in my play. While I’ve won a few points so far on unreturnable serves, serves aren’t a make or break part of the game—oh, you can maybe give yourself an advantage, but you aren’t going to immediately lose the point merely by hitting a serve where you opponent can run up to the kitchen line. But popping up a short lob right in front of your opponent at their kitchen line is asking for big trouble!
Another thing I notice in one video was a point where I favored my forehand in dinking. I moved myself out of position to my left leaving an unreachable gap between my partner and myself (bad), followed by an apparently impatient forehand hit crosscourt too high (bad) that was slammed back down the middle to close out the point. Duh. I was hitting it hard though my contact with the ball was below the top of the net. Notice in this video still (below) where I am (foreground, left, in blue). My forehand followthrough is obvious and my hit is high—you can see the ball right above the centerline across the net. What’s coming is the winner that I was just talking about. Bam. Right down the middle. Rookie move on my part.
Maybe I’ll post the videos to YouTube. They are like watching paint dry, though there are a handful of points that make it to a respectable rally!
Eric (in yellow) did make a perfect crosscourt drop shot from near the baseline to John’s (in white) backhand. It was a thing of beauty! Notice that I (right) am slow getting started to the kitchen line. Proof of yet another thing to work on! (Maybe I was just in stunned awe of Eric’s pro-level execution! Maybe by now I should be used to those appearing from Eric!)
The question is “will I be playing Sunday?” My son Nicholas is flying out Sunday afternoon back to UCLA after spending his spring break in town. Pickleball might be Wednesday next week—though I may have my new paddle by then!
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