Wednesday, July 17, 2019 (Court Day #283)
43rd day out playing lefty. Tennis elbow.
I was moving slowly. I arrived at Derby Park under foggy skies at a relatively late 9:30.
Derby Park on my approach.
A first, Janet had opened the courts, temporarily replacing Dave Allenbaugh as the site coordinator for the day. I’d never seen her open before.
I had to wait a short time, but soon I was warming up with someone then into games.
There were two pre-teens signed up in a box. Sterling and his older sister whose name escapes me at the moment. I’d guess he’s about 7. Later, I learned that these two are Art’s grandkids. I’m a softy. I signed up in their box so they’d get to play and I tried to convince players to be a fourth. It wasn’t an easy feat, but I managed to convince Dyane—a tall, gray-haired regular—to join the box. We beat the kids 11-2, but it was a fun diversion.
I had my first game with a Santa Cruz High School student, Tristan. We played against Janet and a woman. Tristan and I won. Tristan will be very good if he sticks with it—he’s already competent. We won by something like 11-6. Walking off the court, I leaned in and said, “I’ll share a secret. I’m not left handed.” His mouth dropped open with a smile and he said something like, “Woah!”
There was a new middle-aged woman on the bench named Jasmine. I introduced myself and let her know that I’m the site coordinator for Derby on Sundays. She asked if there were any more paddles. Sure enough, I checked the official SCPC backpack and there were no paddles left. Between Art’s grandkids, new guy Bill, and another player or two, all the club loaner paddles were in use. I offered her my personal second paddle, which she gratefully accepted.
Jasmine is a quiet smiley sort who understands pickleball is a game. Wendy and played a game against her and Art and she took her errors in a humble and positive fashion. Wendy even commented on Jasmine’s “good sportsmanship”. In that game, I was proud of myself. I managed to run back and successfully return a deep corner ball that had been lobbed over my left shoulder (forehand side). The bonus—that I can’t take as much credit for—was it also being an amazing crosscourt drop shot. Some luck involved, but it was cool though!
In a game against Wendy, she commented that I “don’t let the ball bounce”. Maybe I was volleying out of the air, but I think she was actually referring to my half volleys. While at the net, I can to hit the ball back when it’s still very low. “It’s good,” she said, “it gets the ball back faster.” It is good that I can manage to “dig out” low balls left-handed.
Chris and I had a game against Ted B. and tall Asian new guy who has an unusual name. I was lucky to pronounce it even right after he told it to me. Good luck for me remembering it until I head it a few times. Regardless, he obviously had some prior racket sport experience. It was a very good game. At first, it was back and forth, then Chris and I pulled out ahead and won 11-6 or 11-5. It was nice to be in a game with solid intermediate players and hold my own. It felt like a milestone. I don’t know how long I’ll be forced to play left-handed, but I’m trying to make the best of it.
Today was a good day. For the first time in a long time, I felt good about my play. Sure, I had a few wild serves and a number of shots that didn’t go exactly where I wanted, but it wasn’t bad at all.
I checked the time: 12:09. Time for work.
Saturday, July 20, 2019 (No Play)
The day after I played, my left wrist was a little sore. Yep. Comes and goes. I can’t win. It seems something is always hurting. I was originally hoping to play yesterday morning, but work was too hairy. Too much to do and not enough staff. Thursday night for play was out since I had a nonprofit board meeting followed by dinner guests. At least work is closed on Sundays, so I’m almost guaranteed one day to play per week.
I still need to get a “tennis elbow friendly” paddle. On the “to do” list.
Number of days on a court: 283
Number of total hours: 779
To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.
Leave a Reply