Month: July 2020 (Page 2 of 2)

Saturday, July 4, 2020 (Court Day #354)

I arrived at Brommer at 9:10. My only fear was that all the players would be in private games and I’d be excluded. I knew the fear was far-fetched though. As I pulled into the parking lot Binh and Shawnte were both at their cars unpacking—excellent!

I had some great games today. I had my share of lame moments of horrible shots. It’s feast or famine. Shots that impress people and shots that are either wild—not too many of those—or poor, like pop-ups that got slammed or weak shots that should have had more power.

I have to mention a story. A few days ago, Dave Cox (former neighbor) stopped by to visit his son—at his ex-wife’s house next door—and talked to my wife. He was teasing me by trash talking. He told my wife I should give up pickleball since I have to play left-handed. He was totally kidding, of course. Today, he asked me if my wife had mentioned his visit and if she shared what he had said. I laughed and told him “yes”. The fun part was playing a doubles game against him and winning. Both of us had intermediate partners. I think he had Jean and I had Dan, but I played so many games today, I can’t remember.

I got to play two games with Bryan from San Jose as my partner. The particularly fun one of the two was both of us playing lefty (we’re both natural righties) and still beating Mark and his partner, I think it was Chris. Bryan and I had teamed up lefty before and won. Bryan is such a strong player. He’s the one who, which his tournament partner, was in the same pool as Kyle Yates and Ben Johns a couple of years ago. (I got autographs from those two famous pros on my paddle along with Morgan Evans . . . honestly, I’m not sure where that paddle is right now!)

Tall Mike showed up around noon, maybe 12:30. (Not Mike K., but Mike the stronger player.) Mike and I took on Binh and Shawnte. Those two were goofing around. I suspect that figured they’d win with me on the other side of the net. I told Binh to not take it easy. They quickly took the lead but, Mike and I came back and won. We played a second game and they were much more serious, but Mike and I still won. I played pretty well in those two games.

I looked at my phone. “Woah!” It’s 1:25!” Over four hours!

Later in the afternoon, when I checked the temperature, it was 88°F in the shade.

Ordering

Tonight, I ordered one of these. A wrist vibration dampener. Someone on the Pickleball Forum recommended it and most of the reviews are good and it claims it’s been reviewed and proved by some universities—like MIT. $30. It can’t hurt . . . other than my pocketbook!

Number of days on a court: 354
Number of total hours: 998.5

To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.

Monday, June 29, 2020 (Court Day #353)

I texted Binh last night and told him I was going to Brommer today. We didn’t arrange for two more players since based on last week there would be plenty.

I arrived at Brommer just before 9:10. I beat Binh to the courts for a change.

I played a number of games with a number of different players. Some games, with COVID-19 still looming, we all used our own ball. Others, we shared. Regardless, I had a disinfecting wipe in my backpack to wipe my hands and paddle grip between games. Stuart is absolutely convinced that it can’t be caught from a ball, but I don’t like to take the chance.

My first game was with Chris as my partner. I made more than my share of errors, unfortunately. Chris took it in good spirits. (Though later I heard that he had been giving a partner a hard time.)

I guess a small validation of my playing solidly lefty was Wayne and me playing against Tim (Leslie’s husband) and a woman named Sheri. Going into the game, I was hesitant, thinking the teams weren’t going to be balanced. I was right. Wayne and I won 11-0 and service only changed three times. I felt bad for them. And not Tim’s best game either.

A “pat on the back” moment came a bit later in the morning. Dave Debiasi came to just watch. (He said his knees were too sore from playing good young players over the weekend.) I was on the right side of the court at the net. A dink came over and I sliced it back low over the net shallow with ton of spin. Winner—my opponent put it into the net, I could hear Dave D. chatting, sitting on the wall with a group: “…and he hit that playing left-handed.” It as a really good shot. I was quite proud of myself, And it wasn’t a fluke. I made the exact same shot a game or two later from the same position also for a winner!

Late in the session, Dan and Colleen took on Binh and me. Binh and I lost the first game but won the second 12-10. A very fun and challenging balanced game with a couple of lead changes.

A middle-aged man named Jordan was visiting from San Diego County. He was watching the Dan/Colleen/Binh/Andrew game and asked midway through the second game if we were going to play some more afterward. We said yes. (Colleen said her water bottle was empty so she’d be leaving and opening up a spot for Jordan.)

After the last Colleen game, I told Jordan, “I’m going to let you in on a secret . . . I’m not left-handed. I have tennis elbow on my right,”
He said, “I couldn’t tell.”
I went on, “I’ll tell you the other part of the secret. I’ve been playing left 18 months—it’s not like I just started playing lefty.” He asked about me naturally switching hands for other things (not so much).

Binh played as Jordan’s partner and Dan played as mine as we played the last two games of the day. (We were the only ones left.) Dan and I lost both games, but they weren’t blow outs.

I had my first point in one of those two games on a ball that spun back over the net untouched. It was an unwise shot, but I hit a ball with a spin short and somewhat high, it bounced close to the net and just as Binh got to the net, the ball bounced back over. Between the spin and the breeze, it went untouched.

It was time to go. 1:20. Wow. 4 hours!

So, after pickleball, I picked up a new igniter, went home, ate lunch then fixed our dryer and saved ourselves the cost of a brand new dryer! $37 versus a few hundred bucks! That’ll cover some pickleball gear or medical/health expenses!

The USAPA sent out an email notice today saying they’d canceled Nationals due to coronavirus concerns. I think it’s a smart move. Too much traveling, too many people gathering.

---

Thursday, July 2, 2020 (No Play)

So, I’ve started using the Rolflex Pro roller on my arm at least once every day and I’m trying to use it in the morning and night—the night session followed by icing with the Black Ice arm wrap. Right after the rolling in the evening, I’ve also started doing three ‘Tyler Twists’ with the weakest of the TheraBand FlexBars that I have—the yellow one. I really want to get this elbow better so I can get back to playing with my right hand.

Alain, the co-worker I got hooked on pickleball, and I spent about 15 minutes after work hitting a ball back and forth in the store. We did this once before, earlier in the week. This time, I hit about half a dozen shots gently with my right hand to test it out. I was very tentative and didn’t want to push it, so I took it really easy. I’m sure Alain and I will do it again. Oh, and I explained what a “tweener” was to him and he immediately said he wants to drill that shot! I admire his exuberance!

Number of days on a court: 353
Number of total hours: 994.5

To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.