Thursday, January 13, 2022 (Court Day #454)
When I arrived at Skypark at 6:45 p.m., it was the busiest that I’ve ever seen it. Even with it being a chilly 53°, there were at least 35 people there. 8 courts were set up and people were waiting.
Dan M. paid me tonight for the Prince paddle that I sold him. That’s the first paddle that I’ve sold from my assortment. I still have my Players Rogue 2—which is my “go to” paddle that I use all the time, a relatively new Tempest Wave, a delaminating Tempest Wave (that sports the autographs of Ben Johns, Kyle Yates, and Morgan Evans), and ProKennex paddle. I typically travel with three in my backpack . . . you never know when one will break or you’ll need to loan one out.
John A. had emailed this afternoon asking if I was playing tonight. I told him yes. I’d met John’s son Ben on Tuesday night. Ben is a tall lefty and is a strong 3.0 player. His dad is a solid 3.5. John is very competitive and will dive for balls in a game . . . and did so tonight while I was between games. He rolled after the fall and was ok—much to the relief of all paying attention!
Poacher
I was in a game with Mark D. There was a ball that was well on his side, but he was more back and I had an easy forehand shot. I took the shot and dropped the ball over the net. Mark was not happy with me and after the rally ended, shared that he could have gotten it. You could say I was being a ball hog or you could say I was giving the opponents a little less time to set up. [See the video below.]
Rookie Dan
Dan and I played a number of games as partners. We played three against Paul and Matt. I can’t remember, but I think we won one—or at least, we were leading early on. Those were fun games.
Mya, Dan, Jacquie and I ended up in a game after Matt and Paul moved to a court to play with friends. I told Mya that I’d play with her. “I think you picked the wrong partner, I’m the weakest one here.” I knew that, of course. I smiled and explained, “I don’t care if I win, I’m after a challenge.” But we ended up winning anyway, even with me taking it down a notch. On the very first rally of the game, I poached my partner’s shot and quickly put the ball away for a winner. Mya joked, “What am I? A trophy partner?” It was pretty funny. As the game went on, I dialed things back. I noticed a lot of balls going to my partner instead of me!
Dan and I played three games against Larry and Mike B. Those were good games. The last one we lost 11-7. As Mike said to Dan, “You are getting better every time I play you.” And he is getting better.
I felt pretty good about my play tonight.
What did I learn?
I am overestimating the reach of my right arm and consequently leaving the right sideline open for a passing shot (while on the even side of the court) and sometimes leaving the middle open (while on the odd side of the court). I need to tweak my court positioning and trust my partner when I’m near the right sideline. And I need to be a better partner and cover the middle better than I already am.
I need work on not popping the ball up when a ball is being hit down at me. It’s a hard skill, but can be done.
Arm
My forearm was feeling “tennis elbowy” as I drove to Skypark. I iced it when I got home after playing.
Friday, January 14, 2022 (No Play)
There’s a Google Group for USAPA ambassadors and I’ve started seeing “USAP” instead of “USAPA” as the abbreviation for our association. I really dislike USAP instead of USAPA, I mean, do you see UST for the US Tennis Association? No, you see USTA. I wrote to our ambassador regional director and he said they aren’t using USAPA anymore. I was told previously that USA Pickleball was preferred, but USAPA was still the formal abbreviation. If you go to the association website, you’ll see “USA Pickleball Association” at the bottom of the webpage. But from now on, it’s USA Pickleball and USAP.
Humorous Text Strand
Kristin L. shared a photo she took of Adrian. I couldn’t let an opportunity go by to use my Photoshop skills…
As you can see, Adrian has quite a sense of humor and is a good sport to boot!
Saturday, January 15, 2022 (No Play)
My forearm is bothering me a little bit. Not a lot, but it’s noticeable sometimes.
This video appeared and it was very apropos given Thursday night. It’s worth a quick watch.
Number of days on a court: 454
Number of total hours: 2,195
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