Wednesday, June 21, 2017 (Off Day)
I’ve figured out that I’m impertinent. I don’t take what I’m told at face value. I want know why. I want to proof that what I’m being told is correct. I should learn to trust, I suppose. Call me a stinker.
Why do I mention that? Because I haven’t been convinced that watching the ball during serving is best. While looking at my target and not the ball, I have never, even once, messed up the paddle contact with the ball. Never.
I posted my question in the Pickleball Forum on Facebook and got a mix of answers:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1340630926008388/permalink/1558959670842178/
I wrote to Mark Renneson of Third Shot Sports and he got back to me saying that it boils down to (paraphrasing) ‘what you are doing will work, but when all the top players are doing it a different way, you might want to consider instead doing it how they do it’. Indubitably good advice, of course.
Another argument—the most legitimate one in my book—is possibly giving away your serve’s destination to opponents watching your eyes.
Residual from the Roll
It turns out that my elbow was a bit more injured than I thought. I couldn’t see it until I took a picture of the scape and saw the bruise! Oops! No wonder it’s a bit tender when I bump it!
Thursday, June 22, 2017 (Court Day #37)
I got to Scotts Valley’s Skypark courts at 6:30 p.m. sharp and games were already underway. I was able to get into a game pretty much immediately. A far cry from months ago, it stayed light for a quite a bit of time, with sunset at 8:30 p.m.
I spent most of the evening serving while watching the ball and not the target. I can still get the ball in, though it seems that it’s not quite as accurate as me looking at my target. I’ll continue to experiment. Overall, my play seemed subpar. Alas.
The next-to-last game of the day was Kris and me versus Bruce and Marie. We lost 11-3. Well, that was miserable. We had an immediate rematch and lost 11-5. Boy. There was no doubt who was the better team on this evening! Bruce has developed a very fast and low serve, generally to the backhand. It’s effective.
We wrapped up play at 9:15 p.m. I ended up talking in the parking lot with Bruce and his wife Janet for about 15 minutes. Janet suggested that when Scott Moore comes back for a workshop that I take it. (She knew I was out of town for the recent one.) She was able to take it and felt it was well worth it. When I said I really want to drill more, she said that she and Bruce have a net and live near me. We could always arrange a drill session.
The Looming Cloud
To be honest, I’m very frustrated with my play. In that, Janet and I are in the same place. We’re better than where we were, but aren’t improving fast enough. I want to be better. I’ve said it a bunch of times. I need to drill. Drill.
Softball
My team’s second game, and the first I can attend, is tomorrow night. Will I be sore? Will pickleball affect my ability to run the bases and run in left field? We’ll know soon.
Number of days on a court: 37
Number of total hours: 106
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