Month: April 2017 (Page 4 of 6)

Thursday, April 13, 2017 (Court Day #14)

Setting up the nets at Skypark in Scotts Valley

I was hoping to play pickleball yesterday morning, but it was perfect storm of bad staffing. My (subordinate) manager was off, my other opener had her last day Saturday last week, and my third opener couldn’t make it in due to complications of a broken foot. Technically, I could have one of two other people open, but neither was in a position to manage the business in my absence. That’s the bad news. The good news is it was pouring rain and I couldn’t have played anyway! Ha!

I left work today about 15 minutes before closing, raced home, skipped dinner and headed out to the courts in Scotts Valley. I got there at 6:10 or so, just as Eric and Ted were walking from Ted’s car to the entrance of the courts. I joined them. Nets were just being removed from the big lock box and we each helped carry in nets and balls, then helped set up the nets. This process of setting up nets and taking them down is becoming routine. I’m becoming an old hand at it.

I played a number of assorted games with Karen (not Long), Mark and his wife Maree, Eric, Ted, and Marie. Maree can be a bit of self-admitted ball hog sometimes, so that’s an adjustment going into a game with her as well as readjusting afterward with the next partner—which in this instance was Colleen.

Colleen

I partnered up with Colleen to play against Eric and Ted. I’d never met Colleen before. She is a very good player. Probably the second best woman player that I’ve seen behind Karen Long. Colleen makes us look good. We won our first game something like 11-7, then had a rematch later against Eric and Ted and beat them 11-2. She’s one of those players that avoids mistakes and can volley and dink well. She also was able to return some slams that I set up by hitting too high over the net. I did have one nifty return myself where I hit the ball back from low and behind me while still facing forward—and it even was a good shot just over the net that dropped into the kitchen. I’ll take those when they come!

Stuart

I finally got to match up with Stuart, who’s a very good player. I got my first experience of “hit it to the weaker player”—I got a lot of action! Colleen and Ted took us down pretty handily—it was a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio in points! Stuart missed a few shots, but I think it was because he was lulled into sleep and was surprised when the ball actually came to him! Ted can hit with a lot of spin. There were a few serves where I was unable to get a good return on them. Better lighting would have helped—to better see the rotation of the ball—but a good player still has to adjust to whatever the environment happens to be at game time.

We wrapped up the evening and I was back in my car at about 9:10. My supportive wife was half asleep recuperating for another day in her 1st grade classroom tomorrow. She’s happy that I’m getting exercise.

Number of days on a court: 14
Number of hours: 40

Monday, April 10, 2017

At some point, I’m going to need to do some drills. Playing is great, but it’s harder to practice specific techniques in a game situation. I’m not sure when that will come, drilling is something best done with a partner. Maybe John P.

The Drop

I do need serious work on my drops. Sometimes I can pull one off just fine, but it’s not consistent and frequently ends up in the net. I found a video with Wes Gabrielsen that was helpful getting my mind wrapped around the concept:

And another video with Sarah Ansboury. (By the way, I’ve watched a number of matches that Sarah has played in. She is a machine. Amazing and consistent execution.)

Pickleball Class!

Jerry Louis, the tournament player who brought pickleball to the city of Santa Cruz, announced yesterday that he will be holding a $75 class on three consecutive Tuesdays in June then will be repeating the class in July. The class is titled “Pickleball – Advanced Tactics & Strategy“. I asked Eric if he wanted to do it but he told me he was going to check to see if his long-time friend Ted was going to take the class. I got an email from Eric that Ted said yes. Since the class was limited to an even number (8) I figured I’d sign up for June with a partner or not since I’d have to end up with one regardless. Still, I wrote to John P. to see if he’d be interested in being my partner for the class and John signed right up.

The class description is as follows:
“This class is designed for experienced players who play tournaments or want to raise the level of their social play. You will learn tactics and strategies of partner play, partner coordination for optimal defensive court coverage, gaining (or losing) an advantage during the first three shots, how to adjust to different competitor styles of play, pre-match on court warm-up practices, shot selection and service options as well as understanding the referee’s duties and your responsibilities during matches. There is a $10 materials fee due to the instructor at the first class meeting.”

I’m looking forward to the class, but it still a good two months away! I’ll have just about double my current experience by then!

Number of days on a court: 13 (still)
Number of hours: 37 (still)

Sunday, April 9, 2017 (Court Day #13)

I spent yesterday in San Francisco, seeing my son Nicholas sail for UCLA in a college regatta. (He did pretty well, finishing the top third of the fleet.) Between races, I killed time reading the official IFP rules for pickleball that I had printed off of the IFP website. John’s son Michael sails for the University of Hawaii which was competing, so John was watching races as well, though he sailed himself in a dinghy regatta elsewhere in the Bay Area that morning. When John arrived in the afternoon, he asked what I was reading.
“The pickleball rules.”
“Ha! I knew it!”
Yah, John. It’s your fault. You got me hooked!

The Day Begins

I arrived at Derby about 9:10 and helped set up a net. Today was my first day using my new paddle.

The first thing I noticed about my paddle was the change in sound, a lower pitch on impact with the ball. That’s not good or bad, but different. The performance wasn’t all that much different than the paddle that I had on loan from John, but at least now I can’t blame my paddle when I hit my drop shot into the net all the time!

I played a game against Eric and Tom S. with Jerry as my partner. (Now, this is a different Jerry, not Jerry Louis the tournament player. I remember playing against this Jerry at Scotts Valley and being told to hit to his backhand.) Jerry saw me putting up my GoPro camera and said, “Why are you recording?” “So I can get better.” “But you are already a good player.” Nice to hear, though I have a loooong way to go!

Jerry is a super nice guy and has a strong forehand as well as what can be a deadly lob—our first point came on a perfect lob of his to right corner over Tom’s head. While I have a number of areas to work on, Jerry has only one obvious one, that is running around his backhand. Shown in the photo below, instead of hitting with his backhand, he moved to his far left to hit it with is forehand. Unfortunately, his forehand drive left a whole lot of the court unprotected and Eric, at the net, dropped the return into the upper right of our court for a winner. I intended to mention this to Jerry in case he isn’t aware of this, but I spaced. (Yes, I am not perfect!) Next time I play with him, I should tell to just go ahead and work on his backhand, to heck with the final score!

Hanging In

Here’s a sequence that shows that I’m getting better. Here is Eric about to slam Jerry’s (too short) lob at me:

As you can see above,  I have my paddle in a neutral ready position. I successfully hit the ball back near Eric’s left foot and return to ready position:

Eric manages to get it returned, but it’s a touch too high:

And the slammer becomes the slammee!

“Way to hang in!”, commended Eric. Eric is still a better player than me, but I’m doing my best to improve! Which I need to do.

Just to keep things fair, a couple of points later, here I am hitting a return from Eric, right into the net! (You can just make out the ball hitting the net right where Eric’s left kneecap is.) Rats.

“That’s No Small Moon…”

One of my ongoing problems is not keeping the ball low. Here’s an example:
That yellow spot right above the fence line is not a small moon. That’s the ball that I just popped up . . . and Eric smashed it perfectly right between the feet of Jerry and myself—impossible to return. Watching the video I’m amazed at how high I popped that ball up! So bad!! “Keep it low!” Jerry and I went from leading the game to losing 11-7. Of their last two points, two came from me hitting the ball too low into the net. “Keep it low…but not that low!”

Sneaky Serves

In the above image from another game, you can see my serve landing just past the kitchen line. Wayne did manage to get his paddle on the ball, but he could only get the ball into the net. He did the same thing to me later! I did manage to get my first true ace serve though later against him with a serve closer to the outside corner. Battle of the sneaky servers! I don’t have it recorded since I forgot to erase the previous files of of my GoPro and it ran out of space mid-game. Too bad.

Eric and I did manage to take down the two Toms. Tom S. and young Tom L. 11-2. I think they were having an off day. Though it was a bit funny since Tom L. was kidding right before the game, “You recording me kicking your ass?” Not today! LOL!

Ouch!

Somewhere in the middle of the morning, I did something weird—hyperextended?—to my right big toe. Not enough to keep me from playing but a touch uncomfortable. Add to that my continuing strained right gluteus maximus muscle, my slightly tweaked right hip, my sore—but improving—back. At least might right knee is acting fine. Advil is my friend.

The day wrapped up about 12:20, Dave Allenbaugh stuck around long enough for us to squeeze in one last game before calling it a day. I was worn out, but it’s hard to stop!

Number of day on a court: 13
Number of hours: 37