I pulled up to Derby Park just before 9:00. Dave Allenbaugh was dutifully setting up the courts and I chipped in, though he was mostly done–he’d come earlier than normal.
The first game was Mike and me against Dave and Ted. Mike and I won, though midway through, Dave and Ted started making us work harder for the 11-5 final score. I think I’ve finally garnered Mike’s respect as an equal–or near to it. It’s been quite a while since I’ve gotten a correction from him. Not that I don’t make errors on occasion, but he knows that I already know. (And I do often apologize for bad shots. “Sorry, my bad. I popped that one up.”) And it’s nice to see him smile.
It was already warm. It was going to be a toasty day, in the 90s. It’s supposed to cool off the rest of the week until Monday when the high is predicted to reach only 60° . . . just in time for the Halloween costume party at Brommer on the 30th!
The Hard Game
The momentous event of the day was Eric and me against Karen Long and lefty Steve. We started a game of Eric and me against Steve and a tall older fellow whom I can’t recall his name but with Eric and me leading 5-0, he pulled a muscle in his calf and left the courts to rest and ice it. Steve couldn’t overcome the shortcomings of his partner.
Fortunately, Terry and Karen Long arrived moments before so we had a fill-in available. Terry suggested that Karen jump in and she did. She did a little warm up and off we went. 0-0-2. It was a bit of a change for her since we were using the club standard Onix Pure 2 balls–yes, softer–instead of the harder balls that she was used to. She and Terry had just gotten back from St. George, Utah, where they have a really big tournament. This was a back and forth battle of a game of lead changes with no team getting more than 2-3 points ahead of the other. In the end, Eric and I pulled off a win 11-9.
Walking off the court, we were asked, “How’d it go?” Eric shared that we’d won. “Against them??”, came the incredulous follow-up question. Yep, against them. Again, Karen was playing with an infrequently-used ball, but even with that, being a 4.5 doubles player, she was still the stronger of her team. Not to imply that Steve is a slouch–he is not.
Oh, about three-quarters of the way through that game, Karen decided to start stacking with Steve to keep their paddles in the middle versus having both backhands in the center. For one point, I was serving right to left with Karen receiving. Steve was lined up just outside court off the kitchen line. But he was too tight. Eric walked over to me. It was almost if he’d read my mind and knew what I was debating. “If you can do it, serve right in the corner by Steve,” he quietly suggested. That was the blessing I needed in our one point ballgame. Don’t go for the safe serve, go for the one that makes it hard. I nailed it. (Just like I happened to demonstrate at Jerry’s class over the summer.) Karen had to run up, avoid crashing into Steve and was forced to return the ball up over Steve’s head! It was impressive that she pulled it off, but it immediately put them on the defensive. We won the game on that point. Afterward, Karen said, “That was the perfect serve.” I told her that was exactly what Eric and I had been discussing. It’s nice when it works!
Switching Hands
In a game of John P. and me against Eric and Dave Allenbaugh, I hit a couple of shots left-handed seamlessly. Rather than leaning way over for a backhand, I simply switched paddle hands and hit the ball back over. And those were really nicely placed shots too! (I impressed myself!) As I told John, it seems that I execute better left-handed hits when I don’t have time to think about it.
Unfortunately, I had a rep appointment at 11 a.m., so I couldn’t stay. I left at 10:10 after only a little over an hour of play.
So? Up day? Down day? Well, certainly not down. Thinking about it: up. A win against a strong team. Two great left-handed shots. Some progress.
The Danger of Lobs
Sadly, I read on the Facebook Pickleball Forum this morning about someone who, while retreating for a lob by stepping backward, fell back and hit his or her head and died. You hear over and over again about turning, running back, and setting up to hit the ball because simply quickly moving in reverse can be–quite obviously–deadly. Sight the ball. Turn your back to the net. Run past where the ball will land. Turn. Re-sight the ball. Hit. Safe.
Number of days on a court: 86
Number of total hours: 243
Click here to start at the beginning of this blog: PickleballJourney
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