Month: January 2022 (Page 5 of 5)

Sunday, January 2, 2022 (Court Day #450)

My son Nicholas is flying out tonight back to grad school, but when I asked, he wanted to come play this morning. Last night, I asked Eric S. if he’d be willing to close up the courts for me.

It was a chilly but sunny morning. After I had unlocked the storage bins at 8:45, a woman walked up. She introduced herself as Mary Kay and said she was new. It turns out that she’d played a few times previously very recently but this was her first time to Derby.

Nicholas helped blow off the courts. As I set up, Mary Kay helped carry out some nets.

Oops.

Nicholas and I had our first game with Allison and a woman, I think her name was Kim. Allison has been at it a couple of years—a weaker intermediate player—and Kim is pretty new. As the game went on, being that this was Nicholas’ second time out in two years, I patiently offered tips between some points. I could tell Nicholas was getting frustrated. I had violated a guideline. That is, before offering advice, always ask permission first. As it was, between Nicholas being tired—lack of sleep—and my frequent unsolicited advice, he got grumpy. It was probably good that skill-level play arrived at 10 a.m. and split us onto different courts. He said things went fine.

As the morning went on, I felt that I wasn’t playing that well. Too many mistakes for my taste.

Redemption

Last game, Rick and I played against Eric and George. I was expecting to lose, but Rick played well and I played extremely well. We won 9-1. (Given the big group, I’d told everyone to play to 9.) One shot in particular, there were a series of slams from George and Eric at the net with Rick and I back midcourt to backcourt. George then attempted to hit it off the court, slamming the ball near the sideline off to my left. I planted, connected with the ball with my backhand, drove the ball low over the center the net. It was returned, but not slammed and a few shots later, Rick and I had won the rally. It was a really nice shot on my part. It’s those that help get you to being a 4.0+ player. I’m not consistent enough to be there yet.

With things to do, when 11:30 arrived, Nicholas and I were on the road and I left Eric—as arranged—to take over my role as site coordinator.

What did I learn?

Always ask players for permission before giving advice—even your own immediate family!

Arm

No tennis elbow. Hanging in there!

Number of days on a court: 450
Number of total hours: 2,183.5

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New Years Day. Saturday, January 1, 2022 (Court Day #449)

I was experiencing a glimmer of a cramp—or tightness—in my right calf, so I drank some pickle juice. I figured that it was either that or mustard. It was a mere 42° when I walked out my front door. I knew there would be players at Derby, Skypark, and Brommer today with the holiday. I could pick my poison. The stiffest competition would be at Brommer so that’s where I headed and arrived at 9:23 a.m. It would be a sunny day and it would gradually feel warmer than the 54° it would be at the end of my session.

The four permanent courts were full. Jackie was setting up her portable net—and was helping another person figure out how to set up his SwiftNet. I trotted over and assisted. Jackie usually plays with a group of women, but they weren’t there yet, so after the nets were set up, I was in a game with Jackie against a woman named Amy and Steve . . . Steve the spinmeister. We lost the first game 11-5—it was definitely a “warmup game” for me—but won the second 11-3. In the second game, after I made a particularly good shot, Steve kidded, “Who are you?” Steve hasn’t seen me play right-handed for quite some time!

Hours of Play

I played a for a long time, cycling through games. I played a number with Duey and Patty. My last few were lefty older Dan, Patty, and . . . we’ll call him Mr. M since he asked to not be named in my blog. (He plays well, so it’s not that. Maybe he’s on the run from the FBI.) Regardless, both Patty and Mr. M. are respected as good players. I was expecting Dan and me to get killed playing those two, but we were surprisingly well in the mix. We lost the second game 13-11. Mr. M shared, “You were formidable.” Nice compliment.

In the Mix

It was nice to have at least half a dozen maybe ten, players on the courts who were better than me. Imran, Chris Y., and their foursome topped the list. I didn’t get to play with any of those four, they played only themselves though later Imran stuck around and played some games.

It was feeling late. I checked the time: a few minutes shy of 2 p.m. A solid 4.5 hours of play. I called it a day, leaving a couple of courts still going.

What did I learn?

I need to be patient. I need to stop being sloppy with my strategy. I can’t drive against strong players from deep in the court or even from the kitchen line and expect the ball to not come back. The soft game is necessary.

Arm

Steady as she goes. Only mild discomfort.

It was a great way to start a year—playing pickleball!

Number of days on a court: 449
Number of total hours: 2,181

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