Month: July 2021 (Page 2 of 4)

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.

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

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

Thursday, July 13, 2021 (Court Day #392)

I wasn’t decided if I would go to pickleball tonight, though . . . geez. My dog just passed the most nose-curdling gas ever. *cough* *gasp* At least I have the windows open!! Anyway, as I was saying . . . boy, that smells so bad. Arg! Ok, as I was saying, I went home after work, did a few things, then elected to go play. I did get out of work relatively early tonight, so even going home first, I got to Skypark not that late. I was walking into the courts at 7:08 p.m. . . . and things were jumping!

I opted beforehand to play tonight entirely left-handed. I didn’t even put on my forearm strap for my right arm and didn’t even take one shot righty. I’m going to let it rest.

I walked in and with no open courts, was on the bench waiting. I had barely sat down when Mark Dettle called me over. A woman in his game had to leave and I jumped right in without warmup as Mark’s partner with the game tied up 2-2 against Kristin Long and Sharyl. I think we lost, but it’s was close.

A surprising win was me and Larry’s wife Jacquie against her husband and Christina. Wonders never cease. But that said, I’d never played with Jacquie before. She doesn’t hit a lot of great shots, but does a good job simply getting the ball back over the net. Larry is sometimes his own enemy. He loves to intensely spin shots, but occasionally overdoes it and a ball sails out. We won 4-5 rallies with Larry hitting a ball out due to trying to do too much spin.

Janet

Janet was playing like a rock star tonight. She has come so far since her skill level a few years ago. She was making some really, really good shots. A couple of outings ago, after she hit a control shot into the net, I suggested that she consider replacing her old paddle with a new one. Then, last time, she told me, “Andrew, you were right! I needed a new paddle.” Larry is a rep for Gearbox so that’s what Janet happened to try and replaced her old paddle with.

For the last game and the last players still there, Janet and I played Kristin L. and Mark Dettle. It was a back and forth battle. I think Janet served 10-9-1 three or court times in a row! We finally won 13-11.

At 8:59, Kristin was done. She said her hip was bothering her. Aches and pains are common in pickleball! We all called it a night. I really enjoyed the evening and felt good about my play.

Number of days on a court: 392
Number of total hours: 2,016

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

Thursday, July 8, 2021 (Court Day #391)

I left work a little before closing time and got to Skypark a few minutes after 6 p.m. I was player number 9, but poor Judy is recovering from knee surgery and was only knocking the ball around gingerly, so I was into a game very quickly.

I felt out of sorts right away. I wasn’t playing as well as I normally do.

I quickly figured out that I was exhausted. Dragging. Fatigued. As I played more games, my right forearm began to hurt. My tennis elbow was coming back. Damn. So a total of 12 hours of play over three straight days then playing again with only two days between was overdoing it. (As if I should be surprised, right?)

The last game was Janet and me against Mark D. and Adrian. I played that game lefty. We lead most of the game but lost after they came back and tied up the game 10-10.

The four of us left shortly after 9 p.m.

The company was good, but I was not into it. I wasn’t having my normal amount of fun. It vaguely felt like work being on a pickleball court.

---

Saturday, July 10, 2021 (No Play)

So. My right forearm aches a bit when doing certain things. Lifting a heavy water container out of the fridge hurts. Even typing is not 100% comfortable. Yes, I overdid it. When it started to hurt Thursday night, I should have switched to my left hand, but I get so much more power and control playing righty. It has to be at least half a skill level’s worth. (Like 3.0 versus 3.5.) I hit Adrian and Mark both twice in the chest Thursday night. A successful body shot for me lefty is rare. It’s frustrating playing lefty.

Tournament

I got an email yesterday about a tournament later this month about an hour away in Monterey. July 24 and 25, round robin, unsanctioned.

Of course, I’m thinking . . . can I? Will my arm be good enough? Can I even take a day off from work? Though mixed doubles is on Sunday, men’s doubles is on a Saturday, a workday for me. Could I find a partner? Would it be fun or frustrating?

And tomorrow. Do I play? Do I take the day off? If I play, Brommer or Derby? Will I be frustrated going back to the hell of lefty again?

---

Sunday, July 11, 2021 (No Play)

I opted to take today—my normal Sunday play day—off from playing. I need to recharge and give my right arm time to heal. Sure, I can play lefty, but I’ve been overdoing it. I need to “want” to be on a court. The desire needs to be there. My body has been telling me “no” but I’m used to taking every opportunity to get out and play.

I did run into my parents and they mentioned that my brother John was excited about pickleball. (I’d taken him out for his first pickleball outing very recently.) He was telling my parents all about it and how it’s better than tennis and combines ping pong and badminton and tennis together. He has small children, so getting out of the house can be a challenge. Still, maybe he can start playing regularly some day.

Number of days on a court: 391
Number of total hours: 2,014

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