Month: July 2017 (Page 2 of 5)

Wednesday, July 25, 2017 (Court Day #49)

“One thing that all racquet sports have in common, however, is the fact that they all require a constant high level of mental awareness and strategic thinking during play. The best players are the ones who know ahead of time where they want to place their shots, and who have targets for every situation.”

The above is from a November 2016 article from GammaSports.com. How true this is. I’ve talked about this numerous times. Pick a target. Every shot. I believe some of my problems with drop shots come from me not picking a target. Yes, over the net. But if I pick a target on the opposite side of the net, then my brain calculates where how the ball needs to be hit to get it there. No target other than “over the net” sometimes ends up in the net!

Derby

I arrived at Derby Park about 10 minutes after 9 a.m. It was ever so slightly drizzly, but it would burn off as the morning progressed. Games were already going and a dozen people where there. A man named Rob and his son R.J. (Rob Jr.—about 11-years-old, I’d guess) came to the courts with their own net. They stayed about 30-45 minutes then packed up and left. I’d never seen them before. I think the man said they’d been to Willowbrook. They seemed pleasant enough, they just did their own thing at the end of the courts and didn’t interact except then their ball (or ours) would cross spaces.

Gauge Your Play

At about noon, after only one net was left up and in use, I was about to leave when Karen Long—who was sitting by the gate—stopped me. “I hear you are getting better.” I said, something probably along the lines of “a little bit.” “Would you like to play a game?” Now, Karen and her husband Terry are both tournament players. Karen is rated as a 4.5 doubles player and a 4.0 singles player. Pass up a chance to play with a very strong player who is also nice and encouraging? No way. Uh, oh. Drat. “There are no unused nets up.” “Well, let’s up one up!” Which we did. Eric was convinced—fairly easily—to stay and play a game. Karen got Stuart up and out of his chair to join as well. Stuart and I took on Karen and Eric. After that it was Karen and John P. against Stuart and me.

Stuart hit a cross-court dink at a sharp angle to the right off the court and I relaxed. Unreturnable. Yeah, except Karen is a 4.5 rated player. She deftly hit it around the post and back behind me onto my side of the net. Winner for Karen! I think that was the first successful ATP shot I’d seen live.

Karen with her amazing backhand around the post shot!

Playing with Stuart was helpful. I do have a  habit of dropping balls over the net while my opponents are back—often they are still returnable, which invites them up to the kitchen which is what you never want. Stuart was good about reminding me about that.

Play wrapped up soon after 12:30 and I was home by a quarter to 1 p.m.

Shoe Adventure Continues!

So much for my idea of strong double-sided fabric tape. I was afraid this might happen. Between heat, pressure, and moisture, the insoles slipped anyway! I just have to shake my head. I’m going to have to move to some kind of glue to keep them in place.

Video Review

Boy. Looking back at the video of the games playing alongside Stuart, I have lots work to do keeping the ball down and avoiding offering easy slams. That, and as Stuart was suggesting, keep the opponents at the baseline . . . I always think I can drop one over for a winner, but it doesn’t work with quick players!

Number of days on a court: 49
Number of total hours: 142.5

Monday, July 24, 2017 (Court Day #48)

A couple of Aleeve for my back and also somewhat for my right knee and I arrived at Brommer Park at 9 a.m. sharp. There were already about 15 people there. I’ll have to remember to come earlier next time.

Janet was there and we set up a net then warmed up. Then we played a game against Dan Bliss (a site coordinator) and a woman—who I’m spacing on at the moment. Janet and I won the first few points then we got clobbered the rest of the game!

The multiple colored pens were already out, so there wasn’t any “mixed skill level” play. I think the Longs are good about trying to get players mixed . . . both for development of new players as well as developing friendships amongst all the club.

Janet and I played a game against Rich (bum shoulder) and Sandra, I believe. Rich served an ace against me—not something that happens often. It was low fast and right down the middle off to my right. I wasn’t even close to returning it. What I didn’t do was adjust for his position. He had lined up very close to the middle of the court giving him an excellent angle down the middle. I should have adjusted to my right to compensate—which I did later. That was his only ace, all the rest were returned—though there was another that only got back into my side of the net. Rich has one of the best serves that I’ve been up against. There was also the short fellow, Tom, who had a killer serve, but he was my partner!

I played a few games with Roy and his wife Janie from Auburn, CA. It gets hot in Auburn—well over 100 degrees. Like Santa Rosa. It seems it’s not uncommon to have visitors to Santa Cruz from hot regions, such as Arizona too. Anyway, Roy and Janie were pretty good players—not 5.0 but on par or maybe better than me. I was happy to be playing against them. There were rallies at the net where I expected certain shots to be winners but they surprisingly came back over the net! I played against them with a local woman named Bev and won. Then we when back into the queue and played a rematch where we lost to them. I played a third game against with partnering with an older fellow named Paul (I’d seen him before I believe, but I don’t know him) and we won.

I checked the time—11:11 a.m. Time to leave to get home, shower, change, eat, and get to work by noon.

I didn’t do any video today. It’s practice at Brommer to shift games down as a court opens away from the gates. It allows a new game to start without stopping all the rest twice—once for the players to leave and once for new players to come. Instead the games stop once to shift over and continue. It also means that time on the pretty permanent courts get equally shared with temporary courts.

Shoes

Later in the day, at work, I took a few minutes to get some very strong double-sided tape that our framing department sometimes uses on certain fabrics. Once I install it in the shoe, those wandering inserts shouldn’t go anywhere!

Evening

While I never expect to be a pro-level pickleball player, I do want to improve. I’m a perfectionist. I want to do well. I spent about 10 minutes in my garage drilling dinks in my makeshift NVZ/net backboard . . . until my back got tired. Oh, and my shoes insoles are now finally secured! Life’s simple pleasures!

Robin

Oh, and I got word back from Dave Allenbaugh about Robin. She’s got a cast from “her fingertips to her elbow”. What did I say? Pickleball is not for wimps! I hope she gets better soon! At least I know that it’s not my fault—I wasn’t anywhere near her when it happened! Thank goodness!

Number of days on a court: 48
Number of total hours: 139

Saturday, July 22, 2017

While nursing my back muscle, I posted to the Facebook Pickleball Forum asking for videos of typical 3.0 tournament matches. I’m hoping to gauge my own play against those in tournaments. A fellow named Mark Luke posted the following video in response:

Though I don’t know if it’s all that typical, it’s the 3.0 bronze medal match of the U.S. Open! Hmmm. Their play is a mix of great shots and “oops, I hit it out”. Most noticeable, the rallies are a lot shorter than the top matches.

Scott Lipitz, a 4.5 player from Rochester, New York, offered to grade me based on a video. (I looked Scott up on the USAPBA website, that’s how I know his grade and his location.) I picked one of the two videos I’d uploaded this week for him to look at—specifically, the partial game of Eric and me beating John P. and Dave. Scott came back and said 3.0, and to be honest, lower end of 3.0.

A man named Bob Macdonald (who I couldn’t find on the USAPBA player ratings pages) went so far as to say: “2.5 would be where I would rate you. To be a 3.0 you need to be able to drive shots down the middle, hit deep serves and returns, have some soft game, get to the NVZ line and dink and lob.” My first feeling was indignation: “Of course I can do those things! I’m not a 2.5!” But it’s probably my fault for sharing a video with unusually strong wind conditions and against John and Dave on a day where they were playing subpar.

I’ll have to upload a different video to that thread and get an updated grading from those willing to provide input.

Sunday, July 23, 2017 (Court Day #47)

I debated a bit, but I felt that my back, while still a little sore, was up to some pickleball. Hey, I could actually put on my own socks for the last two days! After taking a couple of Aleeve pills, I arrived at Derby a few minutes before 9. Dave Allenbaugh was there by himself. I said he couldn’t stay since his wife had knee surgery and needed him to take care of her, so he asked me if I’d be willing to close up the courts at the end of play. I agreed.

Ray and Robin (who I haven’t seen for a while) appeared. Dave’s parting words were: “No one is allowed to get hurt with me gone!” It was a foggy morning—par for the course around here lately—but it burned off mid-morning to sunshine.

Mike arrived shortly after and we had enough for a game. We rotated through for a few games. I have to say, Mike isn’t flashy, but he’s consistent. He may not bound around or otherwise be quick on his feet, but he doesn’t make as many mistakes as some others. Oh, he’ll hit one into the net or out of bounds now and then, but less so. I like Mike. I sure didn’t know what to make of him at first—and he still ruffles feathers on occasion since he’s so competitive—but he makes for an interesting game and he’s honest.

There was a couple visiting from Santa Rosa, Dale and Sandra. Both are pretty good, though Dale is the more all around player. Sandra has a strong forehand and quick reactions, but no third shot drop to speak of and a weak soft game. Sandra shared with Marianne that she’s a 3.5 player. I’m betting that is a “by-the-book” self-rating and not a tournament rating.

There were shots where I drove the ball at a player at the net instead of dropping the ball over. For weaker players, it would often work, but for stronger players, that drive would come back for a winner. I need to use the drop more and more to be effective.

Pickleball is not a game for wimps. I found Robin in a chair icing her wrist! Uh, oh. Sorry, Dave! An injury did occur! She fell—no doubt leaping through the air for some tough shot!

While I didn’t recorder them all, I did record seven games today—though the battery died partway through the last one. Here’s Marie and me (near side) taking on Eric and Sandra (far side).

One of these days I’ll figure out a way to keep the dang camera level when I hang it! Maybe I need to mount a weight and a small level to it!

The last game of the day was Janet and her husband Bruce against Cheryl (the lead for Scotts Valley) and me. Bruce and Janet got off to a fast start as Cheryl and I made mistakes, but we came back and won the game. We wrapped up the day at 12:30 p.m.

Overall, it was a day where I felt I wasn’t where I wanted to be. More work to do.

Shoes

I got home and took the dog out for some “ball time”. I looked down at my shoe and saw something unusual:
Yes, that’s the insole having worked its way almost completely out of the shoe! These Costco shoes are comfortable and work well, but their idea of having removable inserts is a hassle. I really need to get some double-stick tape and get them stuck down in the shoe. If they aren’t bunched up under my toes, they are shifting off to the side, or bunching up under my heel! I can’t win!

Feedback from Pickleball Forum

This afternoon, I posted the game video above to the Facebook group thread I had started yesterday. Scott Lipitz commented: “3.0 for sure…..you need better competition though . . . for your game to improve, I need to see you with solid 3.0 and even solid 3.5ers.”

Brommer has that social hour where all the skill levels are mixed together. I really need to get out there to take advantage of exposure to better players—not that I’m far better than the players I’m currently playing with but to improve and also, given time and development, prove myself to the better players when the time comes that I’m ready to play with them and hold my own. There’s still so much work to do.

Number of days on a court: 47
Number of total hours: 137