Sunday, June 20, 2021 (Court Day #386)

Yesterday evening, I trimmed the pair of AirFeet insoles (finally) and installed them into my shoes, removing my older/other insoles. It’s curious. They are like walking with a waterbed in your shoes. Squishy.

Where to go?

I had a busy morning. At about 10:05, I had a decision to make. Head to Derby Park or Brommer? Soon, once official club play begins again—probably very soon with the state opening up from COVID on Tuesday last week—my Site Coordinator duties for the Santa Cruz Pickleball Club will resume and I’ll be responsible for Derby opening and supervising and closing. There will be no choice where I play. Generally, play is stronger at Brommer. Today, I chose Brommer.

Later in the day, Shawnte shared that Leslie—who holds Santa Cruz Pickleball Club’s Venue Coordinator board position—had said that Brommer will return to official club play on July 5. That’s a Monday this year. Derby can’t be too far behind.

Chin Chopper

Binh and me against Stuart and David Black. I got hit hard in the chin with a ball. Ouch! Binh and I lost. Binh was patient with all of my mistakes. Even though we lost, I love playing against players who play a strong game. Stuart may make a fair number of errors, but he’s great at dinking and half-volleying low balls and dropping them low back over the net. David generally plays a strong game.

OMG. Righty!

I had a game with some easier players. Juls and I played as a team. I opted to play the game right-handed. Crazy, right? My shoulder has been feeling better. I’m now at almost eight months past rotator cuff surgery. I figured that I’d give it a few hits and see. It went pretty well. Even backhands were surprisingly manageable, unlike the significant pain I was feeling with my last attempt. Quite a difference.

Jeannie is Back!

Jeannie appeared. I hadn’t seen her in well over a year! Yep, pandemic.

A man I’d seen before but rarely, Alex, and a younger guy named Hue played against Jeannie and me. We played three games, swapping sides after each. Jeanine got a number of shots that I was impressed by. Nice work, Jeannie! After a game or two and we went on a water break, I put on my Bandit tennis elbow brace. I was starting to feel my forearm, I felt it was a good move to brace it.

Allan (in dark blue), Ricky (red), Juls (light blue), Rick (white & blue), David (pink), Hue (black).

The last game was Shawnte and me against Binh and David DDS. We got clobbered. Me, literally. I got hit on the right cheek. The second hit to the face in one day. When it rains, it pours! I was playing right-handed, but it was obvious that I was still a little rusty.

2:40 p.m., time to call it an afternoon. I needed to drive my wife up to her sister’s house up in the Bay Area.

So . . . these AirFeet insoles. The jury is still out. Maybe it’s a gimmick. I’ll give it more time.

Tuesday, June 22, 2021 (No Play)

My shoulder is getting better. I can reach behind my back to tuck in my shirt with less pain. Still pain, but less pain.

I seem to be having some discomfort in my right forearm. Yep. The tennis elbow spot. Just four games and I may be redeveloping tennis elbow. Arg.

Friday, June 25, 20201 (No Play)

Boy. My forearm is not happy. So disappointing. It’s depressing. If tennis elbow returns in full force, do I want to play pickleball the rest of my life left-handed, knowing that I’ll never get as good as I have been right-handed? So depressing.


Number of days on a court: 386
Number of total hours: 1,095

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