Wednesday, September 25, 2019 (Court Day #310)

I walked out my door and my first thought was, “Oooo. It’s going to be hot today. Usually it’s around 60 when I walk out. Today, it felt like the mid-70s. I arrived at Derby Park a few minutes before 9. Dave Allenbaugh was still setting up along with a few others helping him.

I played right-handed all morning. If I’m going to a doctor far outside my area for tennis elbow, I don’t want all the symptoms to be minor. I need it to be noticeable.

My second game was with Bill against Ted and Wayne. With Bill being a fairly weak player, I was expecting us to get wiped out. But I played very well and we scored 5 or 6 points. It would be the only game of the day I would lose. Bill is playing better. He’s not fast and doesn’t bend over, but he can get the ball back over the net and sometimes can even make an unreturnable shot.

John P. and I played a game against Ted and Tony. Mid-game, John said, “There’s the old Andrew we know!” It was a lopsided win. 11-3, maybe? As we walked off, John said, “You are on fire!” And Tony and Ted shortly after, almost in unison: “You’re playing great!”

Tony was impressed with my right-handed playing, “I feel like we’re breaking in the new stallion!”

I was sweating. It was hot. Only four courts were in use by 11:15, which is unheard of. Players were bailing out in the heat. It had to be in the 80s, easily.

The last game was Ted and me against Tony and Walker. I had come off the bench after sitting down waiting for a game to open up on one of the two remaining courts in use. I was a bit “cold”—obviously not in the literal sense—and missed a number of shots in the early part of the game. They pulled out ahead, something like 10-3. But Ted and I clawed back. It was quite the game—sure, there were lame points, but there were also 15+ hit rallies. Soon it was 10-10. Then 11-11. Then 12-12. Finally, we won 14-12. Jazmine and Deshen were enjoying the game from the bench. (Especially Jasmine, I think, since this level of play is well beyond her at this time.) A flurry of volleys would break out followed by a reset and some dinking, then another flurry of shots. It was impressive. Walker said he was impressed with all of our play. We all played a reasonably solid game overall.

One notable comment by Ted was, “You like those low shots.” He was referring to me taking balls as low half volleys—half volley, that is, by definition, hitting after the bounce but before the ball reaches its peak height. Only sometimes for me, it’s before the peak but really before the peak, like an instant after the bounce, just above the ground. An example was Walker hitting a dink crosscourt from my left to my forehand. Only it’s fast and deep to the sideline. To get it higher on the bounce, I’d need to shift out and a touch back. That’s hard, but sometimes that’s the best that some can do. I’d rather take it low from where I am and get it back over that way. I have the understanding of where the ball will be and have the skill to do that very low half volley. And it usually works. (There was one that I hit past the sideline, but no one is perfect!)

Dave called over partway through my last game and said, “Congratulations! You’re closing up!” He saluted and I acknowledged. And so I did.

12:03 and I was out.

Later

While at work, I shook an applicant’s hand. Oh, oh. Some pain.

I left work about 4:15, on my way to Walnut Creek to stay with my mother-in-law (who lives nearby) for my tennis elbow appointment tomorrow morning with the Witch Doctor. I hope he lives up to his name!

Number of days on a court: 310
Number of total hours: 864

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