Wednesday, August 9, 2017 (Court Day #55)

I arrived at 9:15 a.m. today at Derby Park. There were about 8 people already there, one game was already just finishing, as a matter of fact.

Two firsts. One, I was playing against a team of both lefthanders. To top it off, another first, I was the only right-handed player on the court! I had Tim as my partner and we were playing against Margaret (visiting from Tuscan, AZ) and Melody.

Jerry Louis and I played a game against Kent and Margaret. Kent is a strong player and Margaret is above average. Jerry gets balls that I’d expect a player to miss. Jerry and I edged out Kent and Margaret. It was a close game.

Guys against Girls

I played a game with Wayne as my partner against Margaret and Janet. Janet is so much better than she used to be. She used to be cannon fodder. Not any more. Now she’ll return shots that will surprise me. Wayne has the worse backhand I know of. He has a very strong forehand which keeps him from being a big liability as a partner. (As if I’m some great player myself!) I remember Janet serving out of bounds once. But she was doing exactly what she should have been attempting, that is, serving to Wayne’s backhand—she just happened to miss. I think Wayne and I won, after a bit of a comeback, but if we didn’t it was by 2 points. I can’t remember for certain, but regardless, it was a upbeat and very enjoyable game to be in.

Oh, I almost forgot. Janet had a hit that was above and right at the post. She hit it and I let it go past me . . . except it angled enough in to catch the corner about 6 inches diagonally in. Great shot. “Make sure to tell my husband about that one!” She was rightfully very pleased with herself.

The Young’uns

Partway through the morning a taller man with light blond hair named Mark appeared with his two teenaged kids, Cole—who said he was 13—and his older sister, Zoe. I never heard an age, but I’d guess Zoe is about 15. I played a game against Janet and Cole with Zoe as my partner. With the exception of two shots, I played the entire game lefthanded! (I guess that’s a first too!) Zoe and Cole don’t hit very hard. We switched it up and I played with Cole against Janet with Zoe. It was relaxing. I can see where Karen is coming from when she plays with us versus all the advanced players. I did gentle shots against the teenagers and only hit harder against Janet. I was trying to take it so easy on Zoe while serving (right-handed) that I lob-served two out of bounds!

Oh, funny story. When playing against Cole, I hit a nice winner. Cole said, “Maybe you should switch back to your left hand!”
“That was my left hand! Maybe I could hold a paddle with my foot!”
Janet suggested, “Maybe you can hold the paddle in your mouth!” (Knowing Janet, I took that as a silly hypothetical and not as a “shut up”—but funny either way!)

Cole and Zoe were both very nice and open to suggestions. Good kids.

Banger-fest

The last game of the day I played with a tall linebacker-esque guy named Chuck. I’d seen him before, but he isn’t a regular attendee. We played against Dave Allenbaugh and Greg. While there was dinking going on some in this game, it was more of a banger-fest. On one point, Greg and I were smacking it back and forth hard at each other at the net until I hit it to the left past Dave’s feet. Chuck and I took the lead 6-1. Then 8-3. But then Dave and Greg went on a run and ended up winning 11-8. What a collapse! I hit two service returns long, hit some shots too high (feeding the opponents), hit one or two into the net. Chuck made mistakes too, though it felt like the balance tipped toward me as the culprit. Still, it was a challenging and fun game.

I told Greg “thank you” after we’d all left the court. He replied, “Andrew, you are playing so good.” “Thanks.” Of course, I hadn’t played against Greg for at least 4 months. I’ve come a long way since then. But I have a long way to go yet. I still make way too many mistakes and need to utilize drops more. In the game with Dave and Greg, I drove one right at Dave at the net. He slammed it back for a winner low and to my right. I should of dropped that shot—but I didn’t.

Out at high noon.

Shoes

Ugh. The insoles shifted even more today. We’re almost back to square one with the failure of the rubber cement. Next step—no pun intended!—epoxy!!!

Hours

I’m rounding down 15 minutes on my time, I don’t want to get into keeping track of quarter-hours!

Number of days on a court: 55
Number of total hours: 159.5