Friday, February 2, 2018 (Court Day #120)
I was half debating not playing today. I woke up coughing from drainage into my lungs from this lingering cold. But, I took a Mucinex pill and a couple of ibuprofen and got moving, stuffing a bag of cough drops into my backpack and I sucked on one for the drive over.
I pulled into the Brommer Park parking lot at 9:05. It was going to be an unusually warm day again, in the 70s.
Six players warming up as Dan Bliss blows off the courts. It’d get much busier!
One
In the first game, Dave and Dean against Richard and me, Dean rifled a forehand groundstroke crosscourt. I couldn’t get my paddle into a backhand position fast enough and the ball hit the bone at the base of my index finger. Ouch! Dean was great. He took us apart. It’s always a nice reminder that I have a ways to go yet before I’ll be an advanced player. Humility. Dean said, “There’s a saying in sports. More games are lost than are won.” That came after I missed my serve. Yeah. I think my goal in the upcoming tournament should be to not miss any of my serves by being tricky. Get it in.
After a dink rally, Dean kindly told me, “You should have taken that one out of the air. Don’t back up.” He was right. I need to get really low and lean in and take those before the bounce when I can. I noticed myself backing up on a dink in a later game too. Something to be aware of!
Two
In a game not much later, Rich rifled a forehand groundstroke crosscourt. Again, I couldn’t get my paddle into a backhand position fast enough and the ball hit the exact same spot of my index finger. Double Ouch!
I have to figure out how to defend against this shot! I asked Dean about it in the waiting area. He said that Bryan (from my Palo Alto experience) is successful putting his thumb up the back of the paddle and holding the paddle vertically out in front of him and essentially blocking those quick shots. But I think that’s more about rallys at the net and not groundstrokes, but maybe not.
On the courts, Kent popped over and asked, “Where’s your partner?”
“Dunno. Maybe sleeping,” I kidded.
Actually, Eric had texted last night saying he might not be able to come and if he did, it would be a short time, he was no doubt busy with either work or wife.
I was in a game with Mike as my partner against Grita and—maybe it was Ted (Asian Ted), I can’t remember for sure. We won 11-7 or 11-8, and that was not on Mike’s play today. It was unquestionably on my play. Walking back to the waiting area, Mike said, “You played well. That one where you were off the court, but got back—you were quick.” Mike is very competitive and, as a result, can be critical of his partners when they make errors. But all of his comments in this game were directed at his own mistakes. It’s a far cry from a year ago when Mike would carry me in a game. Today it was reverse. Yes, I’m proud of myself! Making progress.
I noticed myself lagging a bit after a couple hours. I wasn’t as focused and not as driven today. There was a lack of energy as the morning wound on. I think the cold was taking its toll—or the Mucinex, since one of the possible side effects is drowsiness. I was still playing pretty well, but part of me wanted to call it a day and rest. But I love playing.
Three
Near the last game of the day, in play against Jane and Wendy or Alan, during a net rally, on a fast forehand, the ball hit the exact same spot of my index finger for the third time in the morning. Triple Ouch! What are the odds of that? If you saw me waving my hand around after that shot, you’ll know why!
Wendy and I played a game against Jane and Allan. Wendy and Jane both have strong tennis backgrounds, though Jane is the better pickleball player. Jane very kindly inquired about my ankle . . .three weeks ago, it was going after her crosscourt shot that rolled it. I told her the ankle only hurts doing certain things, but standing around, it is perfectly fine. That was a fun game. Jane and Allan both do a good job getting the ball back over the net. About 3/4 through the game, Wendy said, “Jane is a good player, but you are taking her apart.” I don’t know about that—it’s also a function of how well two opponents play together—but I did have a good outing. Though overall, I’m still making avoidable mistakes—dropshots that go too high, dinks that don’t clear the net, serves where I get too tricky and miss the service court altogether, an occasional winner that instead sails too out or into the net. I still need to get more consistent. But the good shots are increasing in frequency.
I checked my phone after the last game. 12:05 p.m.
Yep. Bruised index finger. Red and slightly swollen. Worth it though!
Number of days on a court: 120
Number of total hours: 342.5
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