Month: July 2018 (Page 4 of 5)

Thursday, July 12, 2018 (Court Day #168)

I left work not long after closing time and raced home then to Skypark. I pulled in just after 6:30 and the lot was already completely packed, so I parked on the street. Colleen pulled up in her little red car right after me.

Bruce, a woman, Brennan and Janet on the near court. Sue, in the “Rocky” stance, on the far court.

Colleen photobombing my shot! Dave Cox on the left and Mark Dettle blocked by a funny jumping woman!

The first game was Mark Dettle and me against Rochella and Sue. It was pretty lopsided. After Mark and I won, we split and Mark played with Sue. It was a bit closer, but Rochella and I still won.

Then Barb and I took on Mark and Brennan. Surprisingly, we were winning at the start but Mark and Brennan made good use of passing shots on Barb’s side of the court and we couldn’t hold on. Fun game.

This was a good night for competition. Dave Cox and I played a few games. Won some, lost some. But good games. When I mentioned that I hadn’t seen him in a while, Dave said that he’s been playing at Brommer. I told him that I’ve been working too much to play there during the (club-play) daytime hours.

Rob and I have a tournament in about two and a half weeks, so we continued to play together through the rest of the evening. (Eric wasn’t around, so Rob made sense to have as a partner.)

We beat Brennan and Bruce by a decent margin. Then we played Dave and Oleg. We won. I was a bit surprised. We played again but lost the second one. In the third game, we won 11-3. An another upset. Maybe Rob and I won’t do too badly at a Concord. Time will tell. But Eric and I have the Pleasanton tournament first, this Saturday.

Both my knees were a little sore afterward, but I couldn’t feel the pain my left knee during play—it had been bothering me some during the day. Nothing major, but an annoyance. It hurts when I lock my knee forward. I did feel my right ankle, it’s still not 100% after a number of months, it may be with me for a while.

Overall, I played well tonight. I was happy afterward. Some of my dropshots failed, but they worked more than not. I hit some shots long, but most were good. I won a few points on my spin heavy backspin shots. A number of my serves ended up returned into the net—including two in a row. And I think Brennan would admit that I had the edge in our play tonight—that’s not always the case!

I’m slowly getting better. But all it takes is a game against someone like Brian or Terry Long to remind me I have a very long way to go.

Number of days on a court: 168
Number of total hours: 465

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Wednesday, July 11, 2018 (Court Day #167)

I was planning to play this morning—finally, on a weekday!—but one of my key staff texted two hours before opening and said he needed to take his dad to an eye appointment in the late morning and couldn’t come in. A bummer. So I went to work.

At about 10:15, that staff member walked in. He was able to get another family member to drive his dad. That was nice. I finished up a few things then left about half an hour later for home then the courts. (I did hesitate for an instant—my left knee was a bit sore. I guess the seven hours of play on Sunday overdid it a bit.)

Derby

I arrived at Derby about 11:10. It’s been about two months since I’ve been to Derby on a Wednesday. I got a few greetings from people who hadn’t seen me in a while.

Eric lunging for a ball as his partner John P. looks on. Dave and Tom S. prep for a possible return. I believe Eric lost that point.

Wow! Blast from the past!

What was super fun was seeing Bob Hansen, the former UCSC tennis coach, who taught a tennis class that I took in the late 1980s. (He’s been head coaching the last 8 years at Middlebury College in Vermont.) When I saw Bob, I said, “Bob Hansen?!?” He smiled and said he was. I stuck out my hand, “Andrew Lenz. You taught the tennis class I took at UCSC 30 years ago!” He asked if I was related to some Lenz, but I told him I was part of the Lenz Arts Lenz Family. He beamèd and said his wife is an artist and they are in frequently to buy materials. Bob just started telling me about his wife’s art studio when—in a wild coincidence—up walked Phil Kaplan. Phil was the other tennis instructor at UCSC when I was there. When Bob saw Phil, he let out a howl and the two men embraced. I said, “I won both raffles and was taking classes from both of you at the same time, playing four days a week!” Phil laughed, “I’m sure I undid everything he [Bob] taught!” Bob asked Phil if he was there playing but Phil said his back wouldn’t let him and he was just there for his wife. Bob shared that his team won a national championship this year. (UCSC won a number of them in the 30 years that Bob was head coaching there.) I left them to catch up. Those two men are responsible for the foundational skills I use in pickleball. I owe them a debt. Oh, and Bob told Phil that pickleball is fun. High praise considering the source.

The meeting was one of those things that is so weirdly coincidental, it’s the thing of dreams. But it was real. I’m so glad I was there for that.

Bob Hansen (black top, white shorts), tennis Jedi Master, enjoying some games on the dark side—pickleball!

Eric and played a few games together. We won each game, but my play was not sharp. We were hoping to get a game with a couple new faces, more firefighters, Mike and Justin, locals who work over the hill in the San Jose area. Eric said they were good players. It didn’t work out. Heading out the gate, Justin called over, “Next time!”

Bryan was down from San Jose. Bryan is an amazing player and it’s a privilege to be able to play with him. He’s got a good memory too, he remembered my name. If my play is memorable to him too—since he remembered my name—it’d be for an entirely different reason!

Bryan and a new local player Binh played a game against Mark (Maree’s husband) and me. It was fun. Binh will be good. He’s already decent, probably like me when I started.

Afterward, I told Bryan, “You were very kind. There were a number of shots where you could have clobbered us.” “But then it wouldn’t have been fun!” He’s a good guy.

I left the courts shortly after 1 p.m. to shower then head back to work.

Number of days on a court: 167
Number of total hours: 462

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Sunday, July 8, 2018 (Court Day #166)

Friday night, my summer softball team had its third game. We finally won one, making us 1-2 on the season. (The first game was close. The second game was a loss to a team that has been consistently wiping out their opponents and doesn’t belong in our league!) I scored from 2nd base late in the game, then scored again immediately after since I was a pinch runner for our pitcher who pulled a muscle. The ironic thing was that I mildly pulled my right calf muscle with the sprinting around the bases and sat out the last half inning. Today, two days later, my legs are sore from the hard running. I think I’ll sit out the softball game the night before the Pleasanton tournament next weekend!

Derby

I pulled up to Derby Park about 8:50 to set up. It would be a warm one, it was already almost 70° and it was sunny. Janet rode up and Wayne appeared. Both helped set up.

Getting ready to start play. George (far left), a man (white), Mara (pink), newbie Kate (blocked), newbie Christine (gray), Janet (black), Adrian (dark blue), Wayne (far right).

A new couple with thick Indian accents arrived just after 9 a.m. Rashesh and his wife (Lulita?). I taught them the basics and we played an instructional game with Marianne as Our fourth. Brennan offered to take over for me then played a game or two more with them. This gave me a chance to play in a regular game. Thanks, Brennan!

Eric and I played Kim and Cathy and took an 8-0 lead. They came back but we still won 11-9. We’ve come a long way from a year ago, when we would have had no chance.

Eric and I played David and Beth Black. Honestly, I can’t recall if we won or lost, but it was extremely close. A good game.

The courts all full. Brennan adjusting his shoes on the bench.

A man named Tony Gamboa and his son Anthony arrived mid-morning, visiting from Fresno. Fresno can easily get over 100°, so Santa Cruz being only in the 80s was no doubt a welcome relief for them. Tony is a strong player with consistently successful drop shots. He and I took on Brennan and Oleg and easily won 11-2. And teenager Anthony is a natural raw talent. If he sticks with it, he’ll be awesome. He already is better than half the club!

Anthony, Tony, Brennan, And Oleg play on the last court while Beth and David Black gather their things to head home with their dog.

Brennan, me, Anthony, and Tony. Notice the tan lines on my shins—trouble!

Tony said he’d heard that Santa Cruz is a great place for strong competition. He knows Chris Yoder and his wife Jennifer—the tennis pros—so I imagine that came from them. I asked Tony his skill level and he said he’s been playing in 4.0 and 4.5. I can see that!

It was nearly 3 p.m. by the time I left Derby. That’s the latest ever. Six hours from the time that I first arrived to the time that I left. I figured that I spent about 30 minutes of that time waiting between games, so 5.5 hours.

Round 2

Rob Aranda (firefighter) texted asking if I wanted to play tonight. Oy, I was at the courts six hours already today! But with my wife out of town and my kids off with friends, I was fairly free. I had things to do first, so got there shortly before 7 p.m. to find that Rob, Brennan, Josh, and Josh had just finished a game. (One Josh is the tall lefty former UCSC tennis player. The other Josh, a firefighter, is getting over a nasty hamstring pull.) We played until it got dark, a little after 8:30. Another hour and a half to tack onto the full day of pickleball.

Brennan smacked that ball into my shoulder and the chest, but later, I knocked off his glasses with a ball and broke off one side of them. I felt bad until he got them back together no worse for the wear. He got away from that one with only a tiny amount of blood on his nose from where the glasses pad had been.

The dynamic with Brennan is fun. There’s a knowing smile that we give each other after one of us manages to best the other in some crazy close volley exchange. Brennan has a good punch he uses at the net on the ball that imparts really good speed.  He’s one of the reasons that my play has improved in recent weeks. Hopefully, I’m returning the favor to some extent.

Aggregate

I’m pretty sure that I set a personal record today with 7 hours of solid play between the morning session and the evening session.

What did we learn? I’m getting better. My play is a mix of lame shots and occasional shots that would make a 5.0 happy at nationals. But the general trend is up.

I also learned that I need to apply more sunscreen! I burnt the back of my hands and the inside of my forearms. That’s what I get for being at Derby for six hours start to finish. I was more careful for Brommer later!

Monday, July 9, 2018

Today, the USAPA rolled out their new 4-digit rating system. I checked mine, of course. 3.580. I checked again late in the evening and the site was down. Ha! Too many people checking probably took the server down.

Oh, and I neglected sunscreen on my ankles with the shorter socks now that I’m not wearing the ankle brace . . . pink! Ow. And I missed a spot on my neck. Ow. I’m almost considering one of those wide brimmed hats like Brennan was sporting. Hmmm.

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Last night, I received an email from the Pleasanton tournament saying they’d have the brackets done by 5 p.m. on Thursday. That will let Eric and I know when we have to leave Santa Cruz and approximately what time we might finish.

The USAPA sent out a notice to members today explaining/reiterating policies and expectations about the new rating system. They are trying to,stem the tide of questions and complaints about perceived discrepancies of ratings versus play level. It’ll take some time.

Eric and I met at 7 p.m. at his house and spent 90 minutes reviewing the two games that I recently recorded. (I suspect that makes us officially “diehard”!) We saw firsthand why it’s so emphasized to serve deep and return deep. It’s critical. Also, we both need to track better at the net to the close up the middle off the court. We lost a few points due to shots between us. In addition, not hitting balls that would otherwise go out. And me not hitting balls up from left to right when at the net in a volley rally—we lost a few points due to me popping up a ball that would get slammed down near Eric. Not good. We did have some very well executed point though too. Textbook points. Those were nice to see and be proud of.

Number of days on a court: 166
Number of total hours: 460.5

To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.