Friday, January 19, 2018 (Court Day #114)

I had to conduct an early morning interview at work so my morning was out. But pickleball was calling. Play was delayed until 10 a.m. due to rain anyway, so when I arrived at Brommer Park just before 11 a.m., I was in the thick of things and had only missed one hour. Only five courts of the eight courts were in use since some courts were still in the shade and therefore damp. That meant people were waiting to play.

Mixed Doubles

Melody was there. “Andrew! We’ll talk!”, she yelled over as I was walking over. And we did 5-10 minutes later. I had emailed her in the last couple of days saying my schedule was clear for playing mixed doubles with her in Livermore. She is still interested. She really wants to play indoors over in San Jose to get a feel of playing with me in those conditions. She said it’s a very different game. Lights, surface, etc.  We played a couple games as partners and won both. Played far better than my last game with Mel, but that’s not saying much.

My play was subpar today. Not horrible, but not the top of my game. I think I wasn’t as focused. I did turn my ankle just a bit and it hurt. It was a mini-roll, kind of. But I had my brace on, so it wasn’t a bad roll. Not crunching noises and a fraction of the pain!

Wrist

During my last two outings, my right wrist has been aching. We’ll see if it’s a passing thing or the start of something more chronic. I will say that this ankle sprain is definitely the worst of the two I’ve had in my life. The first—about 25 years ago—didn’t linger like this one has. Granted, it’s only been 9 days.

Playing with the Big Boys

“We’ll take on the winners.” Karen said. Kent was sitting next to her waiting outside the fence. It was about 1 p.m. Given the late start, people were still playing, though it was down to only one court at this point.

Stuart and I beat John Conner and Chuck 11-4. I was focused and playing better. I also nearly had another first. A left-handed ATP shot, but I was told that the ball was already out 2″ before I hit it back into their court. Drat!

Karen and Kent won the first point. Service went back and forth with neither team scoring. Then Stuart and I started to creep out in front. 2-1, 4-1. Stuart hit a deep cross court shot left to right. Karen went for the ATP shot. But I was there at the net and had tracked with the ball so I was at the sideline. I hit the ball back for a winner, passing off of Karen’s right side out of reach.

Kent or Stuart made a positive comment about my play a bit later and Karen said, “He’s been a student of the game.” Stuart and I continued to pull ahead. 8-1.

Karen and Kent crept back. Stuart and I were making mistakes—dinking into the net, groundstrokes into the white net tape, etc. Stuart missed 3-4 serves and I missed a couple. Karen and Kent also hit some really good shots. It was breezy. Stuart and I got to the point of reminding each other of the breeze prior to every service—both serving and receiving.

The game stalled out at 9-9 with service going back and forth. “No one wants to win this game!”, exclaimed Karen, grinning.

Stuart and I finally finished the game off and won 11-9.

“You are certainly the most improved player!”, complimented Karen.

The Eye-Opening Compliment

As we were walking off the court, Kent asked me, “How old are you?” “50.” “Ah. I was thinking we could play together at Paso Robles, but I don’t want to down play in the 50 bracket.” (I think Kent is in his 60s.) “Eric and I are already signed up for Paso Robles anyway.” “Maybe Kevin instead. I’ve played there the last three years.”

It’s one thing to say you have improved. (Not that Karen wouldn’t say it if it weren’t true.) But it’s another to be asked by a player to potentially partner with them in a tournament. High praise.

 

Number of days on a court: 114
Number of total hours: 322

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