Tuesday, August 17, 2021 (Court Day #402)

I got to Skypark right after 6:30 p.m. It was sunny and warm.

Larry and Kristin vs. Mark D. and Mark G. on the near court.

Sharyl was waiting and asked if I wanted to warm up, so we did. Soon Maria joined us. I can’t recall who Sharyl’s partner ended up being in my first game. (It was either Mark, Mike, or Larry . . . not exactly super helpful for you, I know!) Afterward, Maria said I played very well. It didn’t feel that way. I felt that I made a more than normal number of errors—for me anyway.

This was a “eh” kind of night. I played ok-ish. It’s wasn’t a depressing performance overall, but I wasn’t pleased either. And I have a harder time judging the ball in space under lights at night.

Areas to work on:
• Keeping drop shots low but also over the net. (Over is kind of important!)
• Not trying to backspin my deep/high service returns.
• Not hitting the “white tape of doom” with the ball. (See item #1 in this list.)

It seemed like at least once or twice a game that one of my shots would hit the white net tape. That’s got to stop.

Mike B. is a reliably really good player. He’s a good measuring stick for play. My last Skypark outing, I felt that I edged him in terms of performance, but tonight, it seemed that he got the better of me. An example was me being a bit too far from the right sideline and him hitting a dynamite topspin drive out of my reach for a winner.

Out at 9:00 p.m.

Friday, August 20, 2021 (No Play)

I popped Karen Long a follow up email about her thoughts on me becoming a USAPA Ambassador. She gave a solid endorsement though suggested that I check with Steve Sutton (Western Region Director) about current expectations of time commitment.

I contacted Steve and he said to apply. So I did, with the USAPA online form. Now, I wait. If they take me, great. If not, great, I keep less responsibilities.


Number of days on a court: 402
Number of total hours: 2,044

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