Month: September 2018 (Page 2 of 5)

Wednesday, September 26, 2018 (Court Day #203)

I got a call this morning from the organizer of the Livermore tournament. I asked, “Is this about moving Men’s Doubles to Sunday?” She replied in the affirmative. I told her that it was fine by me, but I still needed to hear back from my partner, John. She asked me to let her know when I found out, to which I agreed.

Derby

I arrived at Derby Park a few minutes after 9 a.m. John P. was setting up for an absent Dave Allenbaugh. Overcast but a bit warmer than Sunday. It was slow to build up. It took about half an hour to get to a dozen players.

Of note today was John P. and I played quite a number of games together to get ready for the tournament.

We played a game against Eric and Dave Cox and John and I were handed a 11-5 loss. Eric was on fire in that game. It was about the best I’d seen him play.

We went on to have three games against Eric and Allan and won all three. The last game was close, but I’ll admit that I was starting to drag at that point. Eric had the advantage of showing up around 10 a.m. instead of 9 a.m. There was a rally in that game where I make a shot where you think, “That was insanely good, how did I do that?”

I was about to leave, I already had my backpack over my shoulder when John stopped me. He’d lined up a game against Terry Long and Stuart. Terry was reeling in his 5.0 status to make more of a learning game. I could easily tell when he passed on opportunities to end the point. There was a point where I didn’t track enough and left a hole between John and me. Another time, I was adding topspin to a volley at the net—a difficult shot—and it didn’t drop down enough instead made for a easy winner for Terry. After that one, Terry told me, “Either drive or drop those.” I wish Terry would have played a bit more like a 5.0 player, but John and made plenty of errors as it was. John and I did “win” the second game, but the score was meaningless. Terry was there simply to help us improve via advice. He’s a good man.

Oh. And I got hit on the chin again with a ball bouncing off my paddle. Never, then three times in two outings!

Number of days on a court: 203
Number of total hours: 564

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Sunday, September 23, 2018 (Court Day #202)

As I settled in for bed last night, I took measure of my maladies. Sore back. Sore upper right arm—it felt as if someone had slugged me or I’d had a inoculation injection there. (Probably a mis-performed slam.) Three days straight of pickleball was taking its toll and a day of recovery was not enough. After waking up, I did have a fleeting thought of not wanting to go. That was the body talking, not the spirit! Nonetheless, I’d be out there again today.

Nick (blue) and Tami up from Monterey again of some pickleball action! Tami was the first one on the court today!

I got to Derby about 10 to 9. It was overcast and chilly, but it’d burn off a few hours later.

John P. played very, very well. For a while now, I’d eclipsed his level play. There wasn’t much of a difference between our performances today.

We had game against Dean and Oleg and we managed an 11-7 lost. Dean didn’t seem to be playing his hardest, but there were shots in that game where he was not holding back. That’s what I like. Give me 100%. If we lose 11-0, so be it.

After a winning point, John turned to me and said, “You out-Oleged Oleg.”  It was a short return, I drove the ball hard at Oleg a few inches over the net and his return didn’t make it back over. Such a rarity, it’s nice when it happens!

I was ready to head home after an intense game when John and I ended up in one additional last game with Olga and Stuart. Boy. After a few points, I was dead on my feet. I was so tired. I got my workout today!

The last game ended just before 1:30. 4 1/2 hours of play today.

Tournament

I finished up my registration for the Livermore tournament by submitting payment. I’m not sure what happened with the setup, but on PickleballTournaments.com, the registration was messed up. It required a person to sign up for every possible event . . . Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles of all skill levels! After some emails, John and my registration was corrected. (He’d been running into the same issues.)

Tuesday, September 25, 2018 (No play day)

Vía en email blast, Mark Renneson of Third Shot Sports shared a story of being rejected for certification as a pickleball instructor. (You can read his story here.) In it, he linked to the required video that he submitted for consideration.

As of now, I haven’t watched the whole thing, but for someone addicted to pickleball, it may be of interest to see what is going through his mind in evaluating and instructing a new pickleball player.

Also, posted to the Pickleball Forum on Facebook, was a link to an article talking about Bill Gates (of Microsoft fame) and his wife playing pickleball—back when they were dating! That’s a long time. Here’s the link:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/25/billionaires-bill-and-melinda-gates-like-to-play-pickleball-for-fun.html

Number of days on a court: 202
Number of total hours: 560.5

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

Friday, September 21, 2018 (Court Day #201)

I left my house wearing my barely used pair of Kirkland athletic shoes. I figure my old pair is now shot. I had worn a hole through the insole with the bone on the outside of the ball of my left foot and it was uncomfortable. Also, all the tread is completely worn off. For whatever reason, my left shoe consistently wears down faster than my right shoe.

Brommer

I got to Brommer Park a few minutes after 9. It was misty and overcast. The weather was like my play today—that is, nothing you’d want to write home about. Today was one of the days when thoughts of giving up pickleball pop up in your head. A year ago, I would have been happy with my level of play today, so I guess that’s a positive way to look at it. The negative is that today was a definite slip from my play last week.

Failed dropshots. Dinks into the net. Popping balls up too high for an opponent’s easy winner. Serves too shallow. Misjudging lobs. Hitting balls that were heading out. Sloppy.

Had a first. I had a ball bounce off my paddle and hit me in the chin. It was a drive shot from Grita . . . who has a strong forehand! It hurt. What hurt more was when it happened a second time. Off my paddle and into my chin! In true dramatic fashion, I sought sympathy by dropping the ground and holding my chin. Stuart, who was my partner at the time, laughed and yelled, “Medic!” Beth Black, playing a game in the next court, a nurse, immediately stopped and asked if I was ok . . . me laying on the ground and all. When it was determined that nothing remotely serious had taken place, Kevin, disgusted with the frivolous interruption asked to reply their point. Sorry, Kevin! (Still, it did hurt!)

One thing that occurred to me is my back is sore. My upper right arm is also sore. I think that I may be not bending and getting low or otherwise playing as I should due to back pain and tightness. I was noticing it later, as I crouched down to receive a serve in a game with Grita against Beth and Ted/Theo and I even shared, “The Advil is wearing off!” My back was letting itself be known. It’s not skeletal, it’s muscular. I suppose that I need to work on my core.

Eric said he is going to be making more of an effort to play at Brommer than at Derby. That’s a shame, but Brommer continues to be where the better players show up. Unfortunately for me, Brommer days are weekdays and it’s harder for me to get away.

Saturday, September 22, 2018 (No Play)

This week, the USAPA and the Pickleball Channel released a new video on how to referee. It’s a good one.

Number of days on a court: 201
Number of total hours: 556

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