Sunday, July 18, 2021 (Court Day #393)

Yesterday afternoon, the siren’s call of the tournament got the better of me. I typed up an email to Sue S. to see if she was available to play as my partner for mixed doubles on Sunday. I texted her and asked her to check her email. It turns out that she will be out of town at that time, but she asked me to keep her in mind for future tournaments. I wracked my brain for a minute and Olga came to mind. I figured there was a good chance that she was already committed, but I wrote her then texted her husband Oleg asking him to let Olga know she had email. Time was critical, since the registration deadline was today! Nothing like the last minute!

A few questions and answers later and Olga was in! I’ll be playing in the 2021 Monterey Pickleball Palooza at the Chamisal Tennis & Fitness Club next Sunday! (I just hope my tennis elbow and rotator cuff surgery shoulder don’t act up!)

Brommer

I had told Olga that I’d be at Brommer Park at “10-ish”, in case she could make it and we could practice together. That turned out to be 10:20 a.m. As I walked in, I got a handful of “Hi, Andrew!” greetings. That’s always nice! I hadn’t even set down my backpack before Dave Black called over, “Andrew! We need a fourth!” Now, Dave and Beth Black and Leslie have always been in the “advanced player” group. To be invited to play with this group is a privilege. Generally, they are going to pick the best player available or just warm up and wait until a player shows up who can keep up. This was a fun and challenging game. I played right-handed—I figured I’d play righty today until I could “feel it” starting in my right arm. With that tournament in seven days, I need my right arm functional, not practiced but useless.

Dave and I played a couple of games against Beth and Leslie. I very much held my own.

Olga Practice

When our game ended, Olga was free too. (We played out the rest of the session as partners until Olga was done for the day.) Olga and I took on Patty and Juls. We took a quick lead, but with some errors on our side and some excellent shots from Patty and a few from Juls, they came close to tying up the game. But then Olga and I wrapped up the win.

Juls stepped out and Oleg replaced her. I noticed a few times when Oleg could have smacked the ball and ended the point, but instead he was kind to his wife and kept the ball in play. I played well.

We played a third game against Patty and Oleg. We had split the first two games. This time, I warned Olga that I was switching to my left hand since I was starting to feel my right forearm. The difference? We went from being very competitive—even with Oleg being kind on 2-3 points over those first two games—to losing 11-4. I don’t have the same power and precision with my left. It’s just the way it is.

Duey

The final two games were Oleg and me against Patty and a man who had been her classmate in middle school locally decades ago, Duey. Duey is tall, athletic, and has a lot of experience with racket sports: tennis, racquetball, and others. Nonetheless, tennis is not pickleball. When I asked later how many pickleball games he’d played before, he said about two dozen. Even playing lefty, there wasn’t much doubt as to the outcome. Oleg and I won both games. That said, Duey will be a force if he sticks with it.

At 1 p.m., I was ready to head out. Only 2 1/2 hours of play, but it was looking troublesome to get into more games as things thinned out, though there were players still around. As I got ready to go, Patty said, “You’ve really improved.” “I play so much better right-handed.” “It’s amazing what you do [playing left and right handed].”

I was quite happy with my play today. Good games, good performance.

The view as I left at 1 p.m., four games still going.

Illegal Serves

On three of my serves today, Oleg said that they were illegal and I gave him the point. This happened twice serving righty and once serving lefty. I was skeptical, but Patty agreed with him—at least, vocally on one of those serves. That is worrisome. I need to get out my mini sports video recorder (fake GoPro) and record some games. That still doesn’t mean that they are correct—maybe they are—but if they are complaining, that means it could become an issue in the tournament or later in rec play. Again, worrisome.

Home

I iced my shoulder and forearm. My back is fatigued and sore. Pickleball does that sometimes of me. Crouching, leaning, twisting. Yep.


Number of days on a court: 393
Number of total hours: 2,018.5

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