Ups and Downs

Sunday, August 5, 2018 (Court Day #178)

On Wednesday,  got an email back from Mofia Pickleball about the videos I’d ordered from last Sunday’s tournament. It said to expect 2-3 weeks before the videos would be ready. Something to look forward to!

Derby

It was sunny at my house and it already felt warm. I drove down from my house to Sgt. Derby Park and right into a big fog bank. It wasn’t the first time. I was delighted to see the fog, it would keep the day from getting too hot too early.

I got to the courts late, almost exactly 9 a.m. (I woke up about 4 a.m. this morning and was awake for over an hour. We had a big anniversary event at work yesterday and my brain was still in “overdrive mode”!) Walking from my car to the courts, my right hip was hurting enough that I couldn’t walk comfortably and I was worried if I’d be able to play ok. This past week, my right elbow was exhibiting some pain when I locked my arm out straight.

I got to blowing debris off the courts with no one in sight. Not long after people started to arrive.

Dean getting ready on the bench. Mike and Brennan (far side) warming up with Cameron. Tom Sherwood setting up a net for me.

Dean Workshop Offer

Dean mentioned that he was thinking of doing a workshop for those players “interested in getting better.” I told him that I was interested and that Eric and John P. would likely be interested as well as probably others.

Brennan

I ended up in a game with Brennan and two weaker players, Dan (the new skateboarding guy) and a woman. When determining teams, I told the woman that while Brennan and I have different styles of play, we are fairly close in skill level. Brennan didn’t disagree or agree, just listened without a word . . .  then went about showing he was unequivocally playing better than me. (At least today, anyway”, I like to think!) Brennan was overpowering me with his drives. Still work to do on that!

Cam and I played a game with Brennan as one of our opponents. In an effort to just let his overpowered drives sail too long, we let two of them fly past us but we turned and watched as they dropped safely inside the court. Drat! I/we need to better judge power—backswing, arm speed—and ball trajectory.

New Guy

A new guy named “Den” (short for Dennis, I imagine) appeared. I’m guessing around 60-65 years old, maybe 5’5”. He said he comes with a lot of racket experience (racquetball, etc.) and would likely be immediately be an intermediate. I didn’t have the opportunity to play with him, but he got into some games.

Greg and Angie came. I hadn’t seen them for quite some time. I didn’t get to play with either of them, unfortunately.

My hip didn’t bother me once I got going and I felt my right elbow only once. No major issues there.

Advancing on Respect

Eric, visor Tom, and I were signed up in red. We needed a fourth. I asked Eric about asking “Benji”. (That’s not her real name, but she asked to not be mentioned by name, so she has a pseudonym.) “Benji” is an advanced player. Eric said he’d been rejected numerous times when trying to get a game with her. I was more optimistic. “Would you like to play with Eric and me?” “Who’s the other player?” “Tom.” I got a smile. “Ok.” We had to wait another five minutes or so for a court to open up. (It was a busy day. As site coordinator, I had to announce 9 point games—for the first time, I got to use a whistle that I bought specifically for this!) We played. Eric and I were well ahead. I told Eric, “Let’s hit to her, just ‘cause.” (We both knew she was the stronger player and would make more of a game of it.) We did, but still won by a solid margin.

I invited Benji again and also Kim who was sitting in her chair. Benji said to Kim, “They are beating everybody!” Kim was excited to play. We beat them by a solid margin. They gave us a brief scare in the middle of the game when they pulled within two points,  but that didn’t last.

When she was leaving, Benji said, “We’ll need to have a rematch. Not today, but when we’re together again.” I think Eric and I earned little respect today.

Number of days on a court: 178
Number of total hours: 492

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