Monday, April 15, 2019 (Court Day #255)
Being that I worked Monday through Saturday and part of yesterday (Sunday), I took this morning off. I arrived at Brommer Park at 9:10. Things were already hopping.
The view of Brommer at 10 minutes after start time. Gearing up.
There was a man I’d never seen before, James. I introduced myself. James was visiting from San Jose. I asked if he knew Bryan and he said that he did. James is quite skinny and reminds me of a road bicyclist. I didn’t get to play with him, but of the few glimpses that I saw, he looked like a good player.
While we were sitting next to each other on the bench waiting for another game, Cal said, “You play well left handed.” Cathy—Kim’s friend—and I had just wiped out Cal and Chuck. We were leading 10-0 before I made an error and gave them a point. I think it ended 11-2.
Cal asked how my backhands are. I told him that I tend to hit low balls that come to my lefty backhand off to the right—I need to point the end of my paddle a bit more towards the middle of my opponent’s court. Cal recommended choking up on my paddle for backhands and maybe putting my thumb on the face for more control. He may be right. I don’t think I’d be able to change my paddle that fast on a backhand, so that might mean holding my paddle all the time that way. Not sure if I’m ready for that…
Jerry—not Jerry Louis, he moved to Arizona last year—was surprised when I told him that I’m only playing left-handed. He didn’t notice in the game we’d played against each other. I don’t know whether to be complimented on my left-handed play or insulted on behalf of my right-handed play!
My mom texted a couple hours into the morning. The Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is on fire and the main spire has fallen. This was horrible news. My wife and daughter both got to visit it. (I’ve never been to France.) I was distraught. I’d heard such amazing things about that church. Now, I—or anyone else—might never be able to see it . . . ever.
My day was inconsistent. Par for the course lately. Some games, I played almost on par with my right handed play. Others, shots were laughable—in fact, those that were completely wild, I’d bust up laughing.
I did some more backhand slices. They were more successful than yesterday. A couple went into the net on my side, but more went into the net—or simply bounced twice—on the other side. Some progress there.
By 12:20 on the road for home, then to work.
Ratings
One thing that I don’t consider “fair” in the USAPA rating system is the age factor. And I know I’ve complained about this before. There are others I could pick, but I’m going to choose Melody since it’s a prime example. (Plus Mel is a nice person and a good sport.) My current UTPR rating is 3.0 (3.469 to be exact, it rounds down), but Melody—whom I consistently outplay when I’m healthy and I’m approaching her skill level with me playing left handed—has a 4.0 UTPR because she only plays in older age brackets. I play tournaments in 3.5 since I don’t think it’d be fair for me to play in 3.0. Even in 50+ mens—not even “18+”— Mel would unquestionably be a 3.0 tournament player. (Or maybe even 2.5 equivalent in a big men’s sanctioned tournament? Could be. Men’s sanctioned tournaments are tough.) This USAPA discrepancy in UTPR “offends” my inner logician. If ratings aren’t going to be universal, then they should be clarified with an age bracket. “4.0 60+” or “3.5 70+”. At least, that’s my opinion. I’ll continue to hold that opinion even if I’m playing 20 years from now.
Speaking of long time playing, I’m almost to 700 hours on a pickleball court!
Tuesdsday, April 16, 2019 (No Play)
I got a message from Ruby, the physical therapist that my wife swears by, saying she had an appointment opening at 9:45 a.m. tomorrow. (Apparently, someone canceled.) So, rather that having to wait several weeks, it turned into several days! Excellent. Ironically, my arm is feeling a little better. Though, still, if I fully straighten my right arm and flex my hand back at the wrist, it’s significantly painful near the elbow. There’s no doubt that it’s still nowhere near healed, unfortunately. Hopefully, Ruby can live up to my wife’s praises!
Number of days on a court: 255
Number of total hours: 699
To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.
Leave a Reply