Sunday, November 25, 2018 (Court Day #228)
On Friday, also known as “Black Friday”, I bit the bullet and ordered a new paddle. $133. Prince Response Pro, on sale about $40 off. It’ll probably show up in next week. Having only one fully functional paddle is asking for trouble. (Like taking only one pair of shoes to a tournament!)
On Saturday night, I was applying heat to my right elbow via a microwaved rice bag. Certain actions are causing noticeable pain in it. And what else do I do on a Saturday night? Study singles strategy!
Derby
I got to Derby Park about 10 to 9. Wayne was already there in his folding seat. With the recent rain, there were a smattering of worms which had set up residence on the courts. I could have used another five minutes on the blower battery! It was a beautiful sunny morning.
Minutes into warmup, it became quite apparent that my right elbow would give me trouble today. It was painful. When the first game started, I was grabbing it between points.
An overflow crowd. Dave Cox, Janet (black), Kim (lt. blue), man, MaryAnn (pattern), local Mike, Robin.
Eric reappeared. I’ve barely seen him in the last couple of months. And he was rusty too! Eric is usually pretty sharp, but the lack of play showed. He and I took on Kim and Cathy—always formidable—and while we initially kept it close, they ran away with the game. Eric made a lot of mistakes and I made more than normal as well. I did have my moments. After one volley battle at the net, a bystander—I think it was Nick—told me, “Great point! If you can go up against Kim, you can go up against anyone!”
Eric and I ended up in a game with Janet and Bruce. They wanted to play together which resulted in unbalanced teams. Eric and I walked away with that one. I think it was 7-0 before they scored a point.
Sitting on the bench waiting for my next game, I asked Stuart about the pain in my elbow. He asked about the muscle on the back of my forearm. I told him the pain is at my elbow. He continued the muscle quizzing. “It’s tennis elbow.” “It started after the tournament last weekend.” Stuart reached into his bag and pulled out a Velcro pressure strap. I slipped it on and used it’s until Stuart left a couple of hours later. It’s hard to tell if it helped or not, but it did seem to hurt less. Correlation doesn’t always equal causation, so I am hesitant, but I’ve seen many people use them over the years so there must be something to them. Alan K. said he used to use one himself.
Visitors Back
Referring to he and his friend, I asked a tall, older man, “Were you two at Brommer on Thanksgiving?” He replied that indeed they were. I pointed out to him Mike and wife Mandy, from Santa Barbara, whom I’d played against on Thanksgiving three days ago at the Brommer Park, and were back playing again but this time at Derby.
Dave Cox asked if I’d play with him against Mike and Mandy. “They are really good.” Sure, I said. And we went on to play four games. Mandy and Mike were targeting Dave. Dave told me, “Hit to her.” I told him, “We hit to her if we want to win. We hit to him if we want to get better.” I don’t know if he caught my drift. In rec play, I want the best challenge I can get. It’s nice to win, but that’s not my goal. I want to get better. While I didn’t target Mike, per se, I didn’t shy away from sending the ball his way.
In the second game, to end a dink rally, I popped Mike in the shoulder with the ball. In the third, tit for tat, a shot to my right upper arm: “You got me back!” After the game, I showed him the red mark and the circle on my skin made by the hole in the ball. With a big grin, Mike apologized. I assured him, “It’s all part of the game.” He shared with a big smile, “I does feel good when you get one though, doesn’t it?” Yep!
Dave and I won the first three games. The games were tough. Mike was playing aggressively, poaching shots and encroaching over into Mandy’s area of responsibility. Sometimes, it would work, but it was also resulting in points for us since Mike would be out of position. Dave told Mandy, “If you lose, you know who to blame!” Dave made a couple of errors on the next two points, so I kidded with Mandy, “If we lose, I know who to blame!” We did lose the last game 12-10, but Mike and Mandy are down to earth and fun. Dave has to work on his lobs—when they come in the middle of a dink rally and are too short, they are point killers.
Jane—who helps coach the girls tennis team at Santa Cruz High School—watched the last game. She interjected from the sideline, “That was a really nice dropshot, Andrew!”
I did ask Mike his rating. He said he’s a 4.0 but played with a good partner in a recent tournament in a 4.0/4.5 bracket and won a silver medal. He’s a good sparring partner. As Mike and Mandy left, I yelled over, “Make sure to come back!”
”We will!”
The last game of the day was Wayne and me against Jane and Dave Cox. Jane played the best that I’ve seen her play. And it wasn’t just Wayne feeding her drives while she was at the net, she made some great shots. She and Dave won a lopsided game. Wayne plays a good drive game, but there is only so far you can get with almost no soft game. Still, it was fun.
Monday, November 26, 2018 (No Play)
I received an email today from Becky at Paddletek which included a return label for the extra paddle they accidentally sent me. She thanked me for my honesty. I’m a good guy, that’s what I do.
Someone posted in the Facebook Pickleball Forum complaining about Pickleball Central’s Black Friday marketing, saying it’s misleading. Boy. It’s not necessarily deceptive but it certainly plays on a person’s assumptions. Including mine! I didn’t save $41 on the paddle I ordered. I saved $41 on the “bundle” I ordered that included products that I didn’t want. Even though the non-paddle products showed up “0” on the invoice, they were included in determining the total value. Still, it wasn’t a bad deal. The paddle I ordered would have been $15 more ($148) on Amazon.com. Plus when I added our club coupon code—crsantacruz—it knocked another $7 off the order total. (And SCPC gets a matching $7!) So, I saved about $20 and got a free bag and some free balls. (In addition to the Dura 40 balls I put on my order.) The thing is I may never use the balls or the bag. We’ll see.
Dave Cox texted about playing together in a tournament in January in San Juan Bautista. It’s moot, I have conflict and am not free that day.
The right elbow is doing a little better today, but is still not good. Last night, I ordered a Tennis Elbow forearm band on eBay. I figure I can use all the help I can get on that front. This may take a while to heal. It’s looking like rain the next few days, but Friday morning may be ok to play. All I can do I should hope.
Tuesday, November 27, 2018 (No Play)
Last night I did some homework reading up on Tennis Elbow. It’s still pretty sore. The horrible thought came to my mind that this might be a permanent thing. I had to give up bagpiping in a pipe band and competing at highland games due to chronic wrist issues—”overuse syndrome” according to the neurologist that tested me.
I went home for lunch and found a box on my front door. I more or less knew what it was. Yep. From Pickleball Central. It’s like an early Christmas!
The thing that I thought was cool was them inserting a brochure promoting the USAPA. In my book, the more pickleball players that are members of the USAPA, the better!
The overall length of the Prince Response Pro is 1/4” to 3/8” shorter than the Tempest. (That’s a surprise.) It’s a bit wider at the middle. The handle is slightly longer. It’s definitely more rounded in shape. All that said, it’s not radically different in overall shape and from across a court, you probably couldn’t tell the difference—other than the face graphics. The other thing is the surface has a different feel. It feels spray coated. The Tempest feels more “ribbed” in terms of texture. I hope the Response still applies spin well.
I hope that I get a chance to play with the new paddle soon—and without elbow pain!
Number of days on a court: 228
Number of total hours: 624
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