I had a meeting and couldn’t get to Skypark until just about 8 p.m. It was already dark. Beth Black had texted late afternoon asking iif I wanted to meet up 30 minutes early to drill, but I told her that I couldn’t and I would be an hour late. As it turned out, it was 90 minutes late!
Ray, Robin, Elaine, Dave Black, Craig and wife Leah (in royal blue), Chris, Janet (green), Kristin, Laura (behind Kristin), Terry.
I played ok tonight, I didn’t play spectacularly, but did ok. I’m not unhappy with my play.
One of my favorite shots of the night was a dropshot I made from the baseline. Oleg wound up for one of his rocket forehand drives and hit the ball right into the net. A very effective and perfectly executed dropshot.
Dan is getting better. I hit a shot exacting it to be a clear winner but he was quick enough to get the ball back over the net. Quick hands.
Bruce and I played Oleg and Dan. We lost the first game. We were leading 9-8 in a very long second game when the lights clicke off at 9:30 p.m.
Court Day #200 is in the record books. On to the next 100!
Number of days on a court: 200 Number of total hours: 553
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I dropped off our corgi for bladder stone surgery at the vet around 8:35, afterward made my way to Derby Park and arrived a few minutes after 9 a.m. under slightly misting skies. It was cold enough to want a sweatshirt. I didn’t have one but figured I’d be plenty warm in no time . . . which was the case.
John Pacholski setting up Derby instead of Dave Allenbaugh as a woman named Val looks on.
John P. and I will be playing an outdoor unsanctioned tournament on Saturday, October 6, up in the Bay Area, so we played a number of games together.
John’s wife Diane, Stuart, and George waiting between games.
Stuart and I played against lefty Steve and visor Tom. We won. Stuart may not get around much, but he’s very consistent on his drop shots and dinking.
John P. and I played a game against “grumpy” Mike (sorry, Mike!) and Chris (tall, newish tennis player). We took a quick lead but ended up losing by a couple of points. Chris was playing the best that I’ve seen him play. I remember hitting a shot thinking it was a solid winner only to have Chris manage to get it and hit it back over! He’s coming along.
John P. and I played a game against Grita and Val. On the very first service of the game, John and I took a 6-0 lead. The game was never in question. They did score four points, but that was it.
John P. and I played a game against Terry Long and Dean. Dean and Terry were both not themselves and were battling pain. Dean was also not playing as hard as he could have. As it was, John and I won. But it was not one to relish with both players taking it easy on us and also playing hurt.
I finished my day with a game against Terry Long and Dan. Terry said the ibuprofen was kicking in. And it sure seemed that way, we had regular Terry back! He was great. And Dan played the best game I’d seen him play. John and I lost that one by more than a couple of points.
What did I learn today?
I’m playing decently. Not fantastic—though Dean said we were playing well—but not poorly either. I slammed a couple of would-be winners into net. I hit balls that would have otherwise landed out. I missed three serves in the game Stuart and I played against Steve and Tom. But I felt good about the day.
John and I need to work out the kinks. There were a few hots where John awkwardly hit a ball with his backhand in the middle when I could have hit a very controlled shot with my forehand. Though, I even did the same thing once! Later, he intentionally held back and left a shot for my forehand and I hit a winner. He gave me a big smile.
Oh, and the dog surgery went well. Oliver will be fine.
Coming up on court day #200!
Number of days on a court: 199 Number of total hours: 551.5
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I arrived at Derby Park at about 8:50 a.m. under very clear and sunny skies. I was just about finished blowing off the courts when Christine, a somewhat new player, was the first arriver. About five minutes later a few more showed up. Then it was inundation. It would be a busy day where a solid chunk of the morning was spent in the abbreviated game format of “play to 9, win by 1”.
Not too long after opening time, a unfamiliar woman appeared, Catherine “Cat” from San Luis Obispo. I had her sign the waiver then warmed us up and got into a game with her. A decent intermediate player. As for me, I didn’t make a good case for myself initially hitting too many errant shots. Fortunately, my play improved after a few games and generally got stronger over the course of the morning.
Chris (in blue), Christine, Greg, Marianne, Sarah (pink pants), Kate, Allan (against fence), someone (pink shirt), Daniella (all black)—and someone’s backside!
Wayne (turquoise), Jeff (rust shirt), Ted (distance, teal), Angie (near, back to net).
Terry (Laura’s husband, not Terry Long) hamming it up for the camera!
Waiting! From right: Eric, robin, Karl, visitor Cat, Grita, Diane (leaning down) and husband John P., Cathy, Jane (bright skirt) and visor Tom (crouched).
John P. and I are planning on entering a tournament coming up in October, though we haven’t signed up yet. So we played a few games together. John was not playing that great. For whatever reason, his drop shots were falling short into the net. There were other mistakes too, but that was the most grievous. John was making probably four or five errors for every one of mine. But he improved as the games went on. He was a slow starter today as I was, but it took him longer to climb up in his play.
I got in a game against Jane. She’s learning that I’m coming along in my play and is quick and upbeat with her compliments. I played well in that game, my partner and I won that one.
The big game of the day was a rematch with Jeff. Jeff and his wife were visiting from somewhere up north. I was hoping for a rematch with Jeff someday. Jeff and . . . I can’t recall for sure, but I think it was Janet . . . played against Eric and me last year and we got clobbered. Jeff was all angles and spins. Playing again against Jeff would prove to be a good “waymarker” to gauge my improvement since our original meeting.
Jeff and John P. would play against Eric and me. It did not start well, to say the least! Eric and I found ourselves down 5-0 or 6-0. Not good. Maybe we hadn’t improved all that much. But then things started to turn around and we climbed back into the game. We crawled back up to 8-9 in their favor. Soon it was 10-10. Then we won 12-10! Ha! Vindication. We had improved! And we weren’t just hitting to John either. A high point. Even if we had lost, it was a good balanced and long game.
I left Stuart to close up as I left at 12:45 p.m. to head home to have some lunch and watch some football.
Monday, September 17, 2018 (No Play)
I found a new good video that addresses one of my critical weakness. I need to heed this advice!
Number of days on a court: 198 Number of total hours: 548.5
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