Sunday, November 18, 2018 (Court Day #226)
I woke up with a tired—and a bit sore—back. Yesterday’s tournament had taken its physical toll. But not bad, just muscles sore from crouching and twisting and lunging. I took some ibuprofen, it’d be fine.
I arrived at Derby Park at 8:50 to open up. No one was there yet. I got to blowing off the courts—boy, were they dusty! Then it occurred to me that it was likely from the continual recent wildfire smoke in the air settling. (It has to settle somewhere, and that’s probably everywhere!) I mentioned it to Dave Allenbaugh when he arrived and he said he’d noticed it too on his opening days.
Games
My first game was with Ted B. against Wayne and the other Tom—not Tom Sherwood nor visor Tom. I had some great shots and fewer not so great shots. One good moment was me standing in at the kitchen as Ted was about to smash the ball. He smashed it but I managed to return it. Afterward, Ted just looked at me and made some comment of incredulity. But I made plenty of errors. It’s easy to come back from a tournament medal and think you are hot stuff. But all it takes is a few games with some lame shots to bring you back down to earth!
Mid-morning, I noticed that my right shoulder/upper arm was sore. Yep. Tournament aftermath!
Some Funnies
I spent a good part of the session playing with Stuart against Alan Cable and visor Tom. We won the first game 11-0. We lost the rematch 11-6 or thereabouts. Then we won the last game. Of note in one game was me popping Alan in the throat with the ball to end a dink rally. He was fine, but he made a hysterical fuss about it by calling the score between feigned coughs and a raspy voice! I was doubling over laughing.
Another funny moment was an errant ball off my paddle sailing into the next court and hitting Tami square in the rear end as she was leaning over picking up a ball! I’ve never seen that happen before! She as amused as we were!
The last game of the day, Robin and Stuart (far side) taking on Tami (white cap) and Karen. George, Melody, and Nick (blue cap) look on.
Today was a mix of good shots, lame execution, and occasional poor shot selection (trying to be tricky). I should practice my tournament form, but rec play is also time to push the envelope and try to develop a wider repertoire of shots. And I have no immediate tournaments on the horizon. Jennifer did say that they are planning monthly tournaments in San Juan Bautista, but with running a retail store during the holidays, I don’t know if I’ll be able to get away in December unless it’s on a Sunday.
Holiday Play?
Thanksgiving is this week. Rain is in the forecast for Wednesday and Friday. (It’s been a LONG time!) Thursday morning is not looking so hot—in more ways than one. But I’ll hold out hope that it may be possible to get some games in on the holiday.
Monday, November 19, 2018 (No Play)
On the Pickleball Forum on Facebook, someone asked about the speed attained by the ball, suggesting that about 60 MPH would be as high as he would expect. I recall a video of some paddle testing done by one of the online retailers and the ball was clocked at over 70 MPH. Kyle Yates chimed in and said he and his tournament partner had measured ball speed with a tennis ball clocker and they’d managed 86 MPH for slams and in the 60s for forehand drives.
On a personal note, my right elbow is hurting. I tend to overdo it when doing slams. It hurts to the touch at the end of the Radius bone near the elbow. Maybe a few forced days off will heal it.
Wednesday, November 21, 2018 (No Play)
I checked my USAPA rating on a whim. My UTPR Doubles Rating has been bumped up from 3.449 to 3.469. It’d be nice if the USAPA sent out an email letting you know what inputs they used to change your rating—which event(s), opponent’s exact rating, etc.—but at least it’s going in the right direction! Another 0.031 and I’ll officially be a 3.5 again.
Number of days on a court: 226
Number of total hours: 618
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