Sunday, December 3, 2017 (Court Day #98)

It would be a colder one today. I checked the forecast. 46°.

I arrived at Derby Park about 20 minutes to 9. And man stopped me and asked if it was ok to park on the street for pickleball. I immediately recognized him—as he did me—Jeff is a regular customer at work, Lenz Arts. Yes, fine to park. I quizzed him a bit. This was his first visit to Derby (needed to sign the waiver) but, while new, he’d played a few times at Scotts Valley and Willowbrook.

I walked over and found wet courts. Ugh. This was my first time finding the courts this wet. (Later, I’d discover that Dave Allenbaugh sent out an email at 8:22 saying play was delayed until 10 a.m. It was probably good that I didn’t see that, it gave me time to prep the courts.)

Grita optimistically setting up a net on the partially shadowed side of the courts.

There were a fair number of puddles and general wetness. Jeff manned a big squeegee. I grabbed the blower. Janet arrived and soon she was using a towel from her car to help dry the courts. John P. arrived and dug out a foam roller that I didn’t know that we had. It was all hands on deck. The sun was helping, but it was slow going.

Robin and boyfriend Ray warm up on the dry spots as Janet towels down the court.

Eventually, a fourth was needed for the second functional court. “Go ahead, you’ve been at this a while,” offered John P. I thanked him and while he was dragging a towel around, I jumped into a game.

I wasn’t happy with my play most of the morning, though it gradually improved.

The last game of the day was Eric and me against James (former tennis pro) and Oleg (former Open tennis competitor). Eric wasn’t too sure at first, but as I told him, “This might be a quick game, but it’ll be a good challenge!” It was a bit more balanced than I was expecting. It was 0-0. Serve change. 0-0. Serve change 0-0. Serve change. 0-0. After a while, they won a point and went up 1-0. It was back and forth, with them earning just about every point. They did win in the end, 11-5 or something, but it was not an easy game for them. Some respect was earned or reinforced in that one, I believe.

Play finished up at 12:30. Eric, me, Oleg and his wife Olga headed to Mexican food. We talked pickleball, of course! Olga brought up the topic of tournaments. Eric expressed that he’s not too interested in them and would prefer to just play for fun. I announced, “But I want to play in a tournament! I’d like to meet other pickleball players and see how I’m doing compared to other players out there.”

Shoes

In one game, mid morning, my foot slipped sideways. At that point, the courts were visibly dry, so it wasn’t an overly slippery surface. My shoes have been nearing the end of their lifespan since I already knew the tread was very worn. You can see for yourself that it’s time:

What’s further interesting to me is that the left foot is more worn than the right. It seems I’m harder on my left shoe than my right.

Number of days on a court: 98

Number of total hours: 278

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