Thursday, January 20, 2022 (Court Day #458)
One of my staff closed up at work so I was able to get to Skypark at 6:30 p.m. Oddly, I couldn’t find my cap in the things. I don’t think I’ve ever played pickleball without a cap. Inside, outside, day, night, it doesn’t matter. I always wear a cap. I looked all around in my car. Well, it wasn’t there. No cap tonight. I got some comments from folks who had never seen my hair aside from what stuck out under my cap!
There were two guys playing singles tennis as at least ten pickleball players stood and congregated chatting hoping to get onto a court. I joined them and soon got into a game.
Sleeping on the Couch
While waiting for my next game, Matt S. was in a game with his daughter Sarah against his wife and another player. After Matt hit a winner past his wife, I yelled over, “Matt! If you need a place to sleep tonight, I have an extra room!” “Shut up, ‘Hair’!” (An obvious reference to me wearing no cap!)
Tennis Guys
After about 20 minutes, the two tennis guys sat and cracked open beers. One of us—I think it was Matt S.—approached them if they were done playing. They were done and a bunch of us went to quick work setting up four temporary nets. The lights are still miserable, one even continuing to flash like a strobe light all evening. Others were dim or simply out altogether. Kristin told us to write the person in charge of the courts for the city. I suggested she send the email address out to the text group; she thought that was a good idea.
I had assorted games with Dan, Tim, Matt S., Jeanne, Larry, Matt, and Paul.
Wonderkind
Casey had an insane shot. I hit their high ball angled so it bounced near the far sideline and far out of the court away from where Casey was out of position. Casey rocketed across the baseline and out the side of the court and, with his long arms, managed to hit the ball back over the net. Anyone else, it would have been an easy winner. I was covering the middle of the court with Dan to my left. That ball flew low across the kitchen in front of me out of reach and bounced just inside our right sideline for a winner. It was the most improbable shot that I recall ever seeing. Casey did admit that he was aiming more at Dan but had hooked the ball too much so it passed in front of me instead. Too bad it wasn’t recorded, it would have been a YouTube highlight!
As the Dan and I played the last game against Casey and his dad Tim, I noticed that the side of my shoe split open. I mentioned it to Dan, who was already aware, “Yes, I could see your sock from inside your shoe!”
PT
I took advantage of the fact that Casey, being my PT doctor after my shoulder surgery, was there. I’ve noticed that on shots low to my backhand—like serves down the middle when I’m on the even court—I don’t have the power that I’ve had in the past. I mentioned this to Casey and asked his advice. He turned to Dan, who is studying to become a PT. “What do you think, Dan?” Dan offered an exercise and Casey concurred:
Arm straight out to the sides (like forming a T), then squeeze shoulder blades together without raising shoulders. Or start with arms straight out at your sides , squeeze blades together, then move arms out to the front, maintaining the squeezing.
What did I learn?
Arg. I still need to fix my court positioning! I still occasionally leave opportunistic gaps for my opponents.
Arm
I iced my right arm when I got home. It’s a habit at this point.
Friday, January 21, 2022 (No Play)
Ok. I overdid it. I played on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday night and last night. All right-handed and my right forearm is clearly giving me consistent tennis elbow pains. Typing on a keyboard, tapping on an iPad, or some other activities consistently demonstrate mild pain, like a charlie horse.
Monterey Tournament
Mike Ballard texted our group text saying the Monterey tournament had opened up additional spots. In my haste, I didn’t notice that it was Mike who sent it and I asked if wanted to partner for it. He said he was already playing with Shawnte. Ah, well.
I emailed Eric S. to see if he was interested. In the past, he said he was only interested in playing 60+, but we’ll see.
https://www.pickleballtournaments.com/tournamentinfo.pl?tid=3348
Number of days on a court: 458
Number of total hours: 2,206.5
To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.
Leave a Reply