Friday, October 6, 2017 (Court Day #78)

I arrived at Brommer Park a few minutes before 9 a.m. There were a few people setting up.

I played a game with a white-haired fellow named Karl who lives in Capitola—mid-60s, I’d guess—against Joellen, a new person, and Terry (Gary’s wife). Karl and I lost—11-7, I think—but on the upside, I made no unforced errors in the game. Zero. No bad serves. No hits into the net. No long hits. If I popped one up, but was because Karl hit a drive to an opponent at the net instead of a drop. Karl needs to develop his short game. Very nice guy. He asked me about paddle grips between games and I shared what I know . . . overgrips, Continental grip vs. others, how to know if the grip is too small or too big.

Eric and I played a game against some people (can’t remember) and we lost.

Our opponents took the lead 2-0 but then Eric and I scored 11 straight points to win 11-2.

We played against female Terry and Joyce who took a 3-0 lead, but then Eric and I scored 11 straight points to win 11-3. Partway through that game, Terry Long came along and sat on the wall off the end of the net. Shortly after, his wife Karen joined him. After one shot where I backhanded a shot to my right down and off the court for a winner, I looked over smiling to see the two of them silently nodding in unison. Not too long after, Eric served from my right. Terry hit a high return and I ran up and hit it for a deep return. Good hit. I heard hooting and laughing from my left. What? Karen kidded, “It must be a newbie player, he forgot to let it bounce!” Rats! I spaced! Lame!

The last game was Eric and me against Ted and Terry. It was another lopsided game that was never in doubt.

It’s hard to keep track. I played 10-15 games over the course of the three hours.

Tournament

John P. said he was on the waiting list for the Los Gatos tournament, so he and his partner Tom are both on it. Melody said she and her partner dropped out after talking to the organizers. She felt the two of them would be frustrated with the event and felt like they wanted to just play socially than deal with that. It looks like it’ll be a very odd duck tournament that I talked Eric into!

Thed (“Ted”) said he felt that Eric and I would probably do well.

Shoes

It’s a new experience for me. I have white tennis shoes that look sparkling brand new from the top, but the tread is almost gone on the bottom and, inside both, the heel of the insert has worn through!


Number of days on a court: 78
Number of total hours: 225

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