Wednesday , March 31, 2021 (No Play)
The USAPA posted something on social media suggesting that clubs make sure that they are included on the USAPA’s clubs listing. I checked and they had the old URL for the Santa Cruz Pickleball Club. Unfortunately, as is often the case with volunteer organizations, there was a lapse of attention and the club accidently let its domain name expire. Some shady organization immediately bought it and the only way the SCPC could get their domain back was to pay them $7,000—which was not going to happen! So instead they registered a new domain for the club, SantaCruzPickleball.com. I let Dave Allenbaugh, the club webmaster, know that we need to update the USAPA to the new domain name/URL. He said he thought it had already been fixed, but he said he would take care of it.
Easter Sunday , April 4, 2021 (Court Day #368)
I received my current issue of Pickleball magazine yesterday, but I haven’t cracked it open yet. And, to tell the truth, I haven’t finished reading the previous issue! Too much work and/or real pickleball lately.
My daughter was working today, so I dropped her off before heading to Brommer Street Park. I arrived at 9:10 and a couple of courts were in use. It was a beautiful day, mid-50s, but it would warm up some. Just about perfect weather.
I hung out about 10 minutes as “#9” watching Dave Black and Olga take on Beth Black and Jackie. Another group was playing a game across the divider. Jason showed up and we warmed up and drilled. Karen arrived—not Karen Long, the other Karen—and sat on the wall waiting for more people. Dean rode up on his bike and talked a bit to Karen. We convinced him to play with us. He teamed up with me versus Jason and Karen. We lost twice. Dean wasn’t happy with his play—he’s challenged by an injury—but he’s not the reason we lost. We won a few points on his serves and he has a great deep slice return of serve.
Dean found a women he knows, Lynn and middle-aged Asian woman visiting from Palo Alto . . . there were a handful of players who had come down. Dean and Lynn warmed up. Jason and I played a game against Lynn and Karen. Lynn is a talented player. We lost 11-5. Lynn is really good.
I stepped out, and let Jason’s friend Jon B. play against Lynn and Karen. (I didn’t know Jon, but I learned later that he had just moved to the area from Virginia in August.) I have no idea who won that game. Jon is a strong intermediate player, similar to Jason, maybe a bit better.
Alain from work was supposed to come, but he he texted and said he couldn’t make it.
Dave Cox showed up around 10:30 and we drilled while waiting for a game.
Late morning, I played a couple games with a woman named Debbie against Patty and Karen. Debbie has some good fundamental skills, but sometimes backs up from the kitchen line or fails to move forward from the baseline after a deep service return. Patty offered advice to Debbie after a game about moving up and I offered advice about not backing up. Basic strategy stuff.
A breeze picked up and it started affecting games. Deep returns only made it to mid court and from the other side, deep hits would sail long. Lobs were unreliable.
Dingles Drill
Jon and I played a couple of games again Dave and Patty. Those were fun ones. We also did a game of “Dingles” . . . the one with two balls being hit diagonally until one faults then play continues with all four players using one ball but volleys are allowed after three dinks on the remaining ball. It’s good for focus. The problem is see with the game is when the other ball remains on the court and is a safety hazard. It made me nervous on a few occasions.
Shortly after 1 p.m., Dave took off then Patty did too. Jon and I sat on the wall hoping for one last game, but it was slim pickin’s and I figured it was time to get on with my day. Colleen was coaching/advising a couple of players along with a regular whom I’ve seen her drilling with as a mentor.
I got hit hard on the back my left hand twice and once hard on my finger. Those hurt! I don’t know if you can see the bruise in the photo but when I make a fist even hours later the back of my hand hurts.
Maybe it’s karma. I hit both Karen and Patty with volleys. Though they both got it in the torso, not the hands.
Garage Drill
Around 6 p.m., I decided to do a little drilling in my garage . . . with a twist. I used a paddle in both hands! My right should is unhappy with anything but a short backswing, but it seems to handle dinking ok for the most part. My back was very tired/sore and my left knee was a little achy with certain movements.
Today, I felt a bit better with my overall play. There were moments of frustration, but there were shots which showed progress in lefty skills. Like a forehand topspin shot down the middle for a winner off a low dink—I brushed up on the ball, lifting it just over the net. I’m continuing to get a bit more speed on some serves.
Monday, April 5, 2021 (No Play)
Facebook presented me this to watch. Quite the point!
https://fb.watch/4G8lgngaKF/
Wednesday, April 7, 2021 (No Play)
I got my first vaccine shot yesterday. Finding appointments was a bit of a challenge . . . the various systems are perplexing. For instance, I went to the app my health provider uses and I answered all their questions and entered my ZIP code and no appointments came up. I changed the desired location and the one I had originally selected came back up with a bunch of appointments. *sigh* From that I hear, I’m not the only one frustrated by the system. Regardless, getting the vaccine puts me a little bit more at ease. I have my second vaccine shot in three weeks.
Thursday, April 8, 2021 (No Play)
One of my staff, Michael, in his later 50s, said he and his wife had been invited to play pickleball by a couple “Cliff and Dixie” at Derby Park. He said he enjoyed playing. He added that he was told he was very good at serving and that the ball would go where he intended.
Number of days on a court: 368
Number of total hours: 1,045.5
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