Sunday, August 4, 2019 (Court Day #291)
51st day out playing lefty. Tennis elbow.
Last night, I asked my son Nicholas if he wanted to play pickleball, he said yes. We were out the door about 8:40 and on our way to Derby Park to open and set up. Ten minutes later, we were there. Mark G. had beaten us to the courts.
Nicholas and I played one game together and it was halfway through the morning session. I had us stacking which confused the heck out of our opponents whom I think had never played against a stacking team. (Stacking during rec play at Derby is unheard of.) Nicholas needs to develop his strategy and soft game, but he’s quick and gets shots I don’t expect him to be able to get to. At six foot, he’s got a good reach too. It’s only his fourth time playing, so that’s normal to still have lots of work to do.
A woman I don’t know along with regulars, Tony (nearest), Ray and Robin on the far side.
Joel (2nd time out, 1st I’ve seen him), another woman I don’t know, Wayne (tie-dye), Buzz (white) and newbie Bill toting the white beard.
A woman named Joanne came to Derby for the first time to try pickleball. Since I didn’t recognize her and she seemed tentative, I said hello when she walked up and walked her through the waiver, how the courts works, and some basic rules. Janet jumped in and assisted with getting Joanne up to speed.
While waiting, I grabbed a Pure 2 ball and took Joanne outside the gate where we volleyed a ball back and forth. She has good hand/eye coordination. She’ll be fine. Midway through the drill, I realized that I was drilling with my right hand! Oops. No pain though, so that was good. I switched to my left hand a few hits after I noticed.
A game Binh had already signed us up for came up, so left Joanne with Janet. Binh and I played against Kim and Buzz. We should have been clobbered. Instead, he and I won 9-2—maybe it was 9-4—regardless, it was a surprise. (With a big turnout, we were playing to 9.) They had a bad game. It was like Olga and me losing 11-0 to Cal and Gregg two days ago. It was a fluky event.
Janet and I played a game with Joanne and a man named Joel who told me that this was his second day out playing pickleball. Joanne was enthusiastic. When she and Janet won a point, she’d jump up and down. I think she’ll be back!
In that one game with Nicholas, we played against Bruce and Deshen. When Deshen learned Nicholas was my son, he said, “Wait? He’s your son? How old are you?” Ha! Good genes! (Nicholas and I did win in a strong fashion.)
My son Nicholas gets a hug from Diane P. while John P. (white hat) looks on. I believe the woman with the ponytail was visiting from Palo Alto. Binh (blue) talks to Shawnte next to the drinking fountain.
There was one game with Binh and me against Charles and Terry (female), but there was one intense volley rally at the net which involved mostly me. We won the point and when back at the baseline, I turned to Binh and said, “Just a reminder, that was all left handed!” I was rather proud of myself.
The last games of the day were Binh and me against Charles and Mark G. I’d been playing over four hours. I was beat. We played three games and lost all three. I was battling fatigue as we approached my five hour mark in the last game. I’ll admit that in that last game, I was battling focus and the desire to throw the game and be done. But I knew that wasn’t fair to my partner—nor my opponents, for that matter. As it was, I dragging anyway.
The more I play with Charles, the more respect I have for his skills. He uses a lot of spin, and it can be very effective.
Up until the last game, I felt much better about my play. My dropshot came back. Thank goodness!
It was just before 2:00 p.m. when Nicholas and I headed home.
Cabrillo Tournament
With the closing date for registration two days ago, the teams for the tournament next weekend are finalized. (Unless the TD allows some late additions.)
Here’s bracket for Carrie and me. There are seven teams of which three are local. Of those, I’d give the edge to Colleen and Adrian since Colleen is the strongest woman of the local bunch. The visitors, I haven’t the foggiest. Who knows, they might sweep the medals from the locals.
The entirety of the bracket that Binh and I are in. Yes, just us! We’ll be likely be rolled in to the 50-59 bracket and end up playing a round robin.
Closing
As I write this bit, it’s at 10:30 at night. And I am still tired and a bit sore from play today. Five hours is a lot of court time.
Number of days on a court: 291
Number of total hours: 804.5
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