Month: May 2019 (Page 3 of 5)

Thursday, May 23, 2019 (Court Day #268)

Day 29 playing left-handed. Tennis elbow.

I had to stay a little late at work and arrived at Scotts Valley shortly before 7:30 p.m.

I got into a game in very short order and played right from game to game until it was time to go.

My first game was with a new fellow, Darren, who lives nearby in Felton. We played against Stuart and Greg. We won, but it was very close.

i finished the night with a few games with Binh as my partner. We stacked again. The first game wasn’t that great, but by the last game, we were playing decently. Binh had a very nice backhand ATP around the left post.

I experimented some with my serve, trying to serve from a more upright position instead of hunching over. I missed a few, but they got better as the evening wore on.

One funny moment was when I hit a service return with a lot of backspin and it flew up and dropped just net and bounced straight back up less than net height. Mark Dettle has no chance! Stuart and a woman clapped from the bench! Of course, it’s a very low percentage shot that fails most of the time by either never crossing the net or inviting your opponent right up to the kitchen. It’s horrible shot-selection. Still it was fun. It the best execution I’ve ever seen of that shot though; a first!

Nothing of great note. Just putting in the necessary hours trying to improve left-handed.

Play wrapped up just before 9 p.m.

Number of days on a court: 268
Number of total hours: 736

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Friday, May 17, 2019 (Court Day #267)

Day 28 playing left-handed. Tennis elbow.

I pulled into the parking lot at Brommer Park at 9:15 a.m. It was mostly overcast with the sun peeking out now and then over the course of the morning. It was also breezy.

A nice surprise was that Terry and Karen Long were back in town after their extended stay in Arizona. I didn’t get to play with them, but I did get to talk briefly with Karen.

After a game against John P. and Eric, John P. commented, “That left hand is coming along. You’re going to be dangerous ambidextrous.”

I missed an inordinate number of serves today. It was just one of those days when my serve goes haywire.

To gauge where I am in recovery, I placed my paddle in my right hand at arm’s length and raised the paddle at the wrist. Pain in my elbow. Boy. Worse than I thought. I can’t see it being good enough to use by the local August tournament. I just have to shake my head.

The young gentleman who’s name I couldn’t remember was back. His name is Shawnte, pronounced, “Shawn-tay.” I haven’t asked the origin of the name. Joe, the fellow with whom I played singles last week, was also back. Joe is a solid raw blank. His game currently is more appropriate for singles than doubles. His biggest weaknesses are driving the ball to a competent opponent at the net—offering up a winner to them—and not taking advantage of opportunities to get to the net. I told him so. I’ll admit that I was a bit frustrated with his approach to the game, but I didn’t vent that in the slightest other than politely offering suggestions two or three times. I can relate to Mike K. feelings about me when I started two years ago! It’s one thing when a partner is all around weak. But when they can hit the ball consistently, you expect more of them. It’s not fair, but it’s a natural thing. Strategy comes with experience. Joe has the potential to become very good.

Bihn and I played a game against Joyce and a woman whom I’ve only seen around lately named Sue. Binh and I won, but we were behind midway through the game. Joyce and Sue are not a 3.5 level team. They are a 3.0 team. That is not encouraging. Between games, I talked to Binh. “Maybe we should sign up as 3.0.” Binh said he didn’t mind losing and he’d rather have more challenging games. I thinking we may get challenging games in 3.0! If my lefty playing gets more consistent, great, otherwise, I might push to drop into 3.0 so we don’t get eliminated too quickly!

The last game was Binh and me against Tony and Adrian. It was a closely matched game with several lead changes. Binh and I lost 14-12. Adrian and Tony are not 3.5 players. (Yet.) They are 3.0 players. At the moment, I’m thinking Binh and I should move our August tournament registration to 3.0 from 3.5. I will say, there were a few highlight worthy points in that game. I dug out a slam from Tony that I returned crosscourt to Adrian who was also at the kitchen line . . . but bummer is after a flurry of great volley shots, I had the opportunity to finish that point when the ball went high, but merely hit it into the net. Gag.

Rain, Rain, Rain

The weather forecast is looking bad for this weekend.

Saturday, May 18, 2019 (No Play)

Very late in the afternoon, Eric Schmidt texted out to a group of us about a tournament in Monterey the weekend of June 22 & 23. It got excited until I figured out that the event would conflict with my son’s graduation party to be held at our house the same day as the Men’s Doubles.

The weather app on my phone is predicting 100% chance of rain at 8 a.m. tomorrow. I email Dave Allenbaugh and told him to go ahead and send out a SCPC cancelation email tomorrow if it looks the same and not wait for me to make the call.

A week ago, my wife developed a sore throat. Tonight, mine is hurting a bit. I hope it’s just a fluke and not the same thing.

Sunday, May 19, 219 (No Play)

Well, my throat is getting worse. Not a horrible sore throat, but annoying. With the rain, my wife end I made a trip to the Capitola Mall this morning.  My wife was buying makeup for my daughter Charlotte who is returning from Spain tomorrow. Why I was there was to pick up new shorts to use for pickleball. My black Champion shorts have developed two small holes near the left pocket. I think they’ve seen about 500 hours of use, so you’d expect some wear and tear! Walking around though, my right ankle was causing me pain. Not good. It’s been bothering me lately. I found a couple of Tek Wear shorts on sale at Kohl’s for $11.99. Perfect. In the retail world, there’s a phrase: “One to show, one to go”—this is more “One to wear, one to wash!”

I realized that I still hadn’t registered for the Cabrillo Tournament, so I signed up. $51.50 . . . . $40 registration, $10 event, $1.50 online payment fee. There are a whole bunch of locals signed up for the tournament, so it’ll be fun. I only wish that I could play right-handed, but I’m thinking that’s not going to happen.

What’s very interesting is that I found out that George’s last name is Propper. (He’s signed up with Mark Girotti—Maree’s husband—in the 60+ bracket of 3.5.) I worked with a George Propper for a short time as a software engineer at Mountain Computer back in 1989. (I was offered a permanent position at Mountain Computer, but I didn’t take it. I was complimented on my coding skills there, but I was ready to be out of a cubicle.) I wonder. It’d be a trip if this George is that George. The odds are extremely good. 30 years removed! I’ll definitely talk to him about that when I see him next. Wow.

Monterey Tournament

So, I took another look at this Monterey tournament. It’s actually in Salinas, though Salinas doesn’t have the appeal of Monterey which conjures thoughts of Cannery Row—made famous by writer John Steinbeck—and art galleries. Salinas conjures thoughts of farming and gangs. It starts at 9 a.m. The party for my son starts at 3 p.m. It’s a one hour drive. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Am I crazy?

Pro Switching Hands

A woman on the Facebook Pickleball Forum who started a discussion if switching hands is legal. (Oh, yes, it is!) One guy, Rich, mentioned a guy named Kurtis Campbell who switches frequently with success. I asked for a video and Rich provided this one—even timestamped with an excellent example at 5:23. (Kurtis is the one with no cap, partnered with Kyle Yates—man, no pressure or anything!)

With no games today, I pulled out our car and spent 15 minutes drilling. (Camera timer!) I did hit 4-5 shots with my right hand just to test and it was manageable. In January, it would have been excruciatingly painful. But I’m not there yet.

Video

I went back and watched a few videos of me playing games left-handed back in March. Pitiful. Granted, I was probably about six weeks into it, but pitiful. And depressing. I was going to upload it, but it’s so bad. But I should. Historical reference, right?

Wednesday, May 22, 2019 (No Play)

The weather finally cleared up today enough to play. However, my sore throat morphed into stuffy sinuses and chest congestion. Miserable. I spent between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. this morning coughing. If I had gone to Derby and played, I would have been in very sorry shape. *cough* *hack*

Number of days on a court: 267
Number of total hours: 734.5

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

Sunday, May 12, 2019 (Court Day #266)

Day 27 playing left-handed. Tennis elbow.

Yesterday morning, I rode my bike trainer for about 20 minutes. My right knee doesn’t really like jogging or biking . . . fortunately, it’s ok with pickleball!

Last night, Binh texted me asking about details for the tournament. “3.0 or 3.5?” Since I was in the car using my phone for directions to a birthday party, I asked him if I could call him in a couple of hours when I was back home. He opted to go ahead and register for 3.5. It’s a tough call. It’s hard to say how large the tournament will be…

It’s unsanctioned so that typically results in a weaker field. That’s a vote for 3.5.
I’m going to be playing left-handed. That’s a vote for 3.0.
It’s going to be three months from now, I’m going to be better playing left-handed and/or back to playing right-handed. That’s a vote for 3.5.
We’re going to be playing in the Open (under 50) bracket. That’s a vote for 3.0.
If we play in a lower bracket and we lose, I take a much bigger hit on my USAPA rating. That’s a vote for 3.5. (Hey, if we’re going to lose, it’s better to lose against stronger players.)
A weaker bracket could result in a medal. That’s a vote for 3.0. 

As you can see, there’s no clear-cut answer.

Derby Park

I got to Derby at 8:50 a.m. to set up. Mark G. (Maree’s husband) beat me there.

Binh and I played against Eric S. and Alan K. (Eric is my former tournament partner. After he turned 60, he knew he wanted to play in higher age brackets. He won a bronze medal with John P. in Paso Robles recently in Men’s 60+.) Eric started the game playing lefty but said he’d switch back to his natural right if they got down by four points. Eric didn’t have to wait long since we went up 4-0! Even with Eric going to righty, Binh and I went on to win 11-4. Walking from the court, Eric commented, “Andrew! You have some strength now with that left hand!”

Binh and I got clobbered in another game that we should have won. I’ve put that one out of my mind!

I could feel my right ankle. A few times. Painfully, this time. I hope this doesn’t flare back up. It’s the same ankle that I rolled over a year ago.

Binh and I got to play against Greg J. and his partner Dee. There was little hope of winning. But we went up 3-1, a surprising development. I actually had hope that we could make a good game of it. But then they went on a 10 point run and closed out the game 11-3! Ha! We did make them work a bit with the service switching back and forth between the teams. I think I returned all of Greg’s rocket servers, but for whatever reason, I was having trouble returning Dee’s serves a bit too long and they sailed past the baseline. There were probably three of those.

Binh and I had one last game against Stuart and Dave D. Dave was playing really well. His shots were coming low and fast over the net. It’s good to play against strong players. We were down 10-3 or something and they started to extend the game, making it more about instruction. Stuart pointed out something very important.
“If you are going to stack, you should do high slow serves to allow yourself time to get into your positions.”
Duh! That makes total sense! Dave had been taking full advantage of that, sometimes catching Binh out of position after he served from the even court. (I stack on the right, so our forehands are in the middle.)

Binh said he had been talking to Mark G. Mark told him that if I’m going to be playing left-handed, that we should play in 3.0. Maybe he’s right. Hearing that was depressing. It runs directly against my hopes that I was doing at least somewhat better than that.

Fun Stuff

So, young Tom and his girlfriend Ileana were back today. I noticed that he’d written his name as “Tom L.” and I asked his last name. He gave his last name as the same as Robin’s last name! Robin is Tom’s mom! Another surprise! I really like Robin and I really like Tom, so it goes in the family!

Tom also said he was a massage therapist for 12 years and . . . wait. I figured him to be about 24. Did he start when he was 12? Maybe he’s older than 24. Anyway, when I told him about my tennis elbow, he did about five minutes of work on my arm and shoulder. I knew there was a reason that I liked Tom!

Subterfuge!

We had a bunch of players waiting at one point, so I announced that we’d all be playing to 9 and win by 1. When things started to thin out later, I announced we were back to 11. Dave Witte told me that someone had already announced we were back to 11. What the hell? I was irritated. It is the responsibility for determining that falls on the site coordinator. That was me. Someone very much overstepped their bounds. As it was, we ended up with some games going to 9 and some going to 11. Messy and unfair.

So? The plan.

Today was a mixed bag. Was I happy with my play? No. It was a subpar day for serving. Even the ones I got in were often short. While I didn’t hit too many balls out, I hit too many balls high. Drop shots landing in the net. Inconsistency. As you might expect, playing left-handed can be very frustrating at times. Mark’s recommendation of 3.0 is worrisome. Yes, we’d likely be cannon fodder in 3.5 . . . but we do have just under three months yet until our event on Sunday, August 11. I’m an eternal optimist! I need to drill. I need more control off my paddle. Even bouncing the ball up and down on the face. Hitting the ball off a wall in my garage. More control. Agggggh! Frustrating!

Evening

I wrote to Mike Moxie, the TD for the Cabrillo tournament, to see when the last day would be for Binh and me to change our skill bracket. We’ll see what he says. As it stands right now, I’m still not registered—I should just go ahead—but there is plenty of room in the tournament. My name appears on the player list with a disclaimer of NR and $$, that is, Not Registered and Not Paid!

Monday, May 13, 2019 (No Play)

At  lunchtime, at home, I spent 5-10 hitting a ball against a cabinet door in my garage and also simply bouncing a ball up and down on a paddle. I’m far batter at that bouncing with my right hand.

This evening, I was doing some walking and my right ankle was painful with each step. Not incapacitating, but certainly uncomfortable.

Wednesday, May 15, 2019 (No Play)

Derby Park rained out. Rain in May? Yes. Disappointing, but it is what it is. At lunch time, I did a few minutes of bouncing the ball on my paddle. It’s still interesting to me just how much better at this my right hand is compared to my left.

Thursday, May 16, 2019 (No Play)

I had my third PT meeting this morning with Ruby. She said I really should do the one exercise that she originally deemed not as important. That is, with my back to the wall—feet about a foot or two from the wall—with my arms out straight to either side, hold a rubber ball to the wall using the thumb side of my balled up fist. The other arm is the same, but contacting the wall, also with a straight arm. Holding this pose, rotate my hips toward the ball. Hold. Then repeat moving the ball for the opposite arm. Repeat.

She worked on my shoulder more and also my arm. Ow. I think I’ll have bruises from her fingers. She says it’s improving though. It’s hard to tell.

More rain. Scotts Valley opted to move play inside. I would be going from a board meeting starting at 6 p.m. then racing out to Scotts Valley to try and catch the end of a $5 session that might already be maxed out with people. Maybe tomorrow morning.

Number of days on a court: 266
Number of total hours: 730.5

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