Sunday, February 16, 2020 (Court Day #338)

When I arrived at Derby Park to set up right before 9 a.m., Wayne was already inside stretching this legs. The courts were only a little in need of blowing off. Before I even started on that, my co-worker, Alain, arrived for his first adult outing of pickleball. He said he’d been exposed to it back in school as a child.

Alain at work. Little did he know I’d convert him into a pickleball

Alain is very fast. He said he ran a 4.3 40—that is, he ran a 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds. That’s among the fastest times for NFL prospects. In other words, he can get around the court really quickly!

Alain did very well. He needs to learn to get to the net and not run in right after the serve and not back up from the net once he’s there, but he’s got excellent hand-eye coordination and is amazingly fast. He has a high ceiling. He said he really enjoyed playing and says he’ll probably come back every Sunday!

In the midst of the session I did something I wasn’t supposed to. There was a lob over my right shoulder and I switched the paddle to my right hand and hit it back. I did it gently and it didn’t hurt. “All right!”, I thought. So there was another lob later and I switched again. Only this time, it was significantly painful. Arg! I. Must. Not. Use. My. Right. Hand!

There was a couple who came, Melissa and Jeff. They said they came about a year ago. Beginners. After partnering with her, Melissa said, “I’d hate to see you play with your right hand!”

The last game of the day was Shawnte and me against Stuart and Sue. That was a great game. One point had over 20 hits in it. There were some nice long rallies. It was a close, fun game.

With it being a colder winter day—it started in the high 40s—attendance was fewer, about 30 people. Things were wrapped up about noon.

Number of days on a court: 338
Number of total hours: 952

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