Thursday, February 6, 2020 (Court Day #334)

Today, someone posted a poll on the Pickleball Forum on Facebook.

Yes. 75% of players have been hit in the face while on a court. I’m one of them. I’ve been hit in the eye and hit in the nose and probably hit a few other times in forgettable less traumatic circumstances. I wear eye protection every time I play now. During the day, sunglasses. During the night, clear safety glasses.

Skypark

I left work mere minutes after closing, leaving my staff to finish up. I dashed home, changed, and raced out the door. I arrived at Skypark and found the last parking spot in the lot next to Janet’s car.

The four permanent courts were all full and I was the odd man out, #17, sitting on the bench. (It was a lighter crowd tonight.) But it was a very short wait.

Kris (black), Mike (red glove) near court. Cal (blue) with Richard playing against Mark Dettle and his partner.
Maria and Tristan (yellow) against Karen (black) and Juls.

I missed a number of serves tonight, but I was also trying to be tricky with spin. I wasn’t playing the best.

I was proud of myself. There was a lob over my right shoulder. I could have switched to my right hand and gotten it back. But I’m following the advice of my PT and not using my right arm. I do know that it would have hurt to hit that ball—but I didn’t.

In a game with Stuart as my partner against Mark Dettle and Tristan, while I was on the left, Stuart was telling me to not crowd the middle and cover my sideline. He was right. I suppose one thing in my defense was that playing lefty, my reach is a bit longer and I can be another foot and half to two feet more to the right than normal and still reach the sideline. That said, Mark did manage to hit a passing shot out of reach of my lefty forehand.

The last game of the night was Sue and me against Stuart and Mark. Surprisingly, Sue and I were leading most of the game. They came back and tied it up, but then Sue and I scored a couple of points. Then…

…black! The lights clicked off. 8:30 p.m. Unless the City of Scotts Valley sends someone out to reset the time, the lights will be going off an hour early until the time changes back!

As I walked off the court, Charles commented, “I’m not used to seeing your eyes!” I explained that ever since I got hit in the eye socket, I always wear eye protection, be it sunglasses or safety glasses. Eyesight is too precious!

Number of days on a court: 334
Number of total hours: 942

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