Sunday, July 16, 2017 (Court Day #45)
I knew it was going to be a hot day when I walked out the door to no cloud cover. I arrived at Derby Park a few minutes before 9 a.m. Four of the six courts had nets already up and Dave, Janet, and Tom S. were already busy with a dinking drill.
Janet asked, “How many hours have you been playing now?” (Janet is one of my few readers for the time being. ‘Hi, Janet!’) I answered, “120-something, I’d have to check.” Tom asked, “You keep track?” “Yes.” “Playing time? Do you account for time waiting?” “No, it’s court time. I don’t deduct for between games.” (Which is generally not very long. “Ah, I was wondering how accurate you were being.” Well, I don’t know about anyone else, but I’d go nuts keeping track like Tom was suggesting! I figure I’m often learning something even while waiting and I round down, depending. It’s fairly accurate for accumulated court time. Playing time would be about 10% less, give or take.
In an early game, I played with a woman named Bonnie (who I didn’t know) against Bruce and Tom S. I heard Bruce say to Tom, “Andrew is moving up.” A nice compliment. Getting better.
My play was fairly consistently good though punctuated with occasional hits wide or into the net or drop shots that were too long. I’m still not where I want to be, I’m missing easy shots. Rule #1: Get the ball over the net and onto their court. You can have the greatest strategic idea but if it’s not executed correctly, it might as well be a bad idea.
Late in the morning, Me, Eric, Mark and Dave face off at the net for the soft game.
This was a nice shot I made. A ball hit high and behind me which I leaped up and slammed it at Dave’s feet (who was halfway back) for a winner.
Getting ready…
…and leaping up backward for the slam.
A First
I had a first today. And not a good first. Eric was serving as my partner to Dave A. (who was partnered with Jerry). Dave returned it and I hit it down the middle for a winner. One small problem. I volleyed it—from the kitchen line! I had lined up as if Eric was receiving but Eric was serving! I didn’t notice and it apparently didn’t occur to Eric that I was in the wrong place. Fault! Oops.
Where’d they all go?
I spent most of the day playing against players of lesser skill than me. Mark is fairly close in skill level as is Eric and Maree, but there were others that were not as challenging.
Maree mentioned the concern that stronger players will just go to the permanent courts at Brommer rather than play with weaker players at Derby on scheduled gathering days. It occurred to me that Jerry was the only really strong/tournament player present. No Stuart, no Dean, no Kirk, no neighbor Dave, etc. That would be unfortunate if they segregated themselves.
But maybe it was just the heat.
Newbie
I played two games of Maree and me against Mark and a new player, Lisa. It was Lisa’s second time playing. She did ok, but has a long way to go. Playing against a weaker player is a chance to attempt new serves or techniques. While I didn’t try it, I might try some left-handed shots in lopsided games with a beginner next time. (I’ve only done that live in a game once. The first three shots. After them all going where I didn’t want them, I switched back so my partner wouldn’t get mad at me!)
Everyone else had long since left when our play wrapped up at 12:40 p.m.
I was it in the high 80s in the shade when I got home. Toasty—at least for us around here in Santa Cruz.
Number of days on a court: 45
Number of total hours: 130.5
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