On Thursday this week, my wife and I are flying to Italy. I found an Italian group in Rome and I reached out on Facebook Messenger saying I was looking for a game on Saturday. I received a reply telling me to contact a certain phone number two days before my arrival to arrange a game. Easy enough! He said we’d be playing playing at newcountryclub.it. But I looked it up and figured it would probably cost 30 Euros to be driven there. (Too far to walk!)
Later, my wife determined it was actually at least 30-40 minutes of driving from our hotel in central Rome. And therefore probably very expensive by taxi. We’ll have to figure that out! Maybe one of the players lives in Rome … I messaged back offering some money for gas if I could get a ride. There’s a 9 hour difference in time zones, so communication might be a bit tricky. Fingers crossed!
Online
Someone named Troy Gabaldon posted this to one of the Facebook groups and it’s father funny:
Isn’t that the problem with most of us?
IFP Troubles
An email appeared in my inbox, a newsletter from the IFP (International Federation of Pickleball), talking about a mass resignation this spring by officers/board members of the organization with a statement of “no confidence”. I’d heard of a slew of countries abandoning the IFP, including the USA dropping out, but had no idea why and if it was actually true.
Last night, I messaged Kyle Yates inquiring if you’d be interested in coming out and doing a workshop here in California. And I chatted with him at a tournament back in 2018 he said that he spent part of his time back in Florida in Fort Myers his hometown, and part of the year in California where the weather isn’t quite as bad during the summer with regard to heat and humidity. Will Kyle write back? No telling, he’s a busy guy. He’s obviously quite famous in the pickleball world, still competing in pro tournaments at the highest level.
Healthy
The good news today was, while my wife still tested positive via a lab test for COVID, my daughter Charlotte tested negative. Charlotte, being very outgoing and very social, having COVID was quite a damper on her life. She’s very happy that she can now get out of the house and circulate with her friends again. She’s heading to a San Francisco Giants baseball game tomorrow to celebrate. I’ve continued to test negative and continue to be careful managing exposure.
Skypark!
I dropped off my brother Matt at my parents’ house after work then headed to Skypark in Scotts Valley, arriving at 6:48 p.m.
It was a fairly routine evening of play I played ok, not great, but ok. There was a game where every time I would make a mistake I would, all in fun, loudly and dramatically proclaim “shame!” (I was told this kind of droning chant appears in ‘The Game of Thrones’ TV series which I’ve never bothered to watch.) I’m sure I did this number of times within a five minute span, making me realize that I was not playing as well as I wanted to be in that game—making the dramatic pronouncement less “fun” and more depressingly “instructional”!
As we were packing to leave, TK asked me, Paul, and Matt what our rating was. Paul answered first saying that they played some tournaments in 3.0 but they will be entering their next tournament as 3.5. It’s all TK can I play in 3.5 in tournaments as a 4.0 on a very good day. Then I repeated this with more emphasis: “on a very good day”.
The rest of work pretty well, I didn’t feel the back of my hand at all during the session. However when I got home later it did hurt a little bit. I iced it along with my elbow as well.
Number of days on a court: 504 Number of total hours: 2,344.5
To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.
I had a choice. Play lefty (protecting my injured right hand) and be frustrated at times or take another night off and sequester in a room in my house with a serious 24/7 air filter away from my COVID-infected wife and daughter. Coincidentally, on Tuesday, when I had an evening vaccination booster shot scheduled, my wife tested positive that morning. (My daughter had traveled to a much-delayed Tufts graduation ceremony and came back with COVID—we had her remove her mask just long enough when picking her up at the airport to have her take a rapid test.) We’ve all been careful with wearing masks in the house, gloves, wiping down touched surfaces, windows open, staying outside where possible, and me spending my time home in a room by myself punctuated with masked trips to a dedicated bathroom when needed. So far, between all that and the booster, I’ve been testing negative every morning and feeling fine.
Skypark
I pulled into the parking lot at Skypark about 6:35 p.m. It was a little bit lighter evening as far as attendance. At the peak point tonight, six nets were set up and being used.
My first game was with Kristin Long against Mark Dettle and Scott. My first game playing lefty tonight was a bit funky and would be embarrassing had I been playing right-handed. Scott moved to a different game and we called over David from Aptos to replace him. I played several games with Kristin as my partner and my play improved pretty dramatically over the course of those games—so much so that Kristin commented on it. David said he was impressed with that I could play that well left-handed.
Harder Match
I soon was in a game with Scott against Casey and his dad Tim, but I was no match for them with me playing lefty. They can be a challenge even when I’m playing right handed!
I told Casey he didn’t have to answer, but I asked him about what to do about the pain in the back of my hand. He said ice it and when it got good enough, to stretch the back of my hand by extending my fingers straight out then lowering my hand at the wrist. Later, I could make a fist and do the same stretch.
The crowd cleared out about 8:30 p.m. leaving only four of us. One never knows if it’s going to be a busy night or a slow night. Someone pointed out that the Golden State Warriors were playing against the Boston Celtics tonight in the NBA playoffs, so that might explain people leaving early, that is, to go watch the night game on TV. (The Warriors lost this opening game.)
Introducing Daniel
The last few games of the night was a rotation players with me, Scott, Paul, a fellow that I’d never seen before named Daniel. Daniel is about 6 foot, very athletic, and has a slightly darker complexion—latino, Italian, dunno. I like Daniel, he’s a nice guy. He said that he typically plays at Skypark on Saturday mornings. When Paul and I invited him back to play on Tuesday and Thursday nights, he said maybe during the summer. Apparently Daniel works during the week, making Saturdays the day that he can typically play pickleball. Nonetheless, he’s a pretty decent player probably a higher 3.0, may be a low 3.5, it’s hard to say. He can hit with power with good topspin and his soft game is pretty decent too. All around decent player.
When the lights clicked off at 9:30 p.m., Paul and I were playing a game against Scott and Daniel. They were leading 7-4 at the time.
Initially, I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to go out and play left-handed, but I’m glad that I went. My left-handed play was much better through the course of this evening, versus my play on Sunday.
Saturday, June 4, 2022 (No Play)
My wife and daughter are feeling better and should be clear of COVID in the next few days. I’ve been testing negative every morning and am still feeling fine. The back of my right hand is improving.
Tournament?
After the lights had gone out Tuesday night, Daniel had asked us if we played tournaments. I told him I hadn’t played one in a while. Paul shared that he had recently.
Today, I figured I’d take a look at what’s coming up in the next few months. Boy. Prices have gone bonkers for tournaments. Monterey has an event in July. $105 to register and $30 additional for each event! $135 to play in round-robin men’s doubles? Granted, they are giving out $5,000 in total prizes but that’s coming from the entry fees. This is a big time invitation for teams to sandbag! By the book, my doubles UTPR rating barely rounds down to a 3.0. (If I were a few hundredths higher, I’d formally be a 3.5.) I’d never enter as a 3.0 though. I don’t think it’d be fair. Given the choice of playing either as a 3.0 or a 4.0, I’d probably enter as a 4.0, even knowing my chances of getting a medal would be very, very long. $135? I’d rather not go than play in 3.0 and win my money back.
Regardless, price creates a value quantry.
Wrist/Hand Brace
I stopped by CVS tonight about 8 p.m.—after staying away from my house and eating dinner at my folks instead—and bought a wrist support without a metal bar in it, so I can grip a paddle while wearing it.
The acquisition.
I found it also happens to work well enough for holding a Black Ice cooling pack!
Will I play some righty tomorrow? I probably shouldn’t, but we’ll see.
Online
I thought this was interesting and educational.
Ah….!
Sunday, June 5, 2022 (No Play)
There was a 33% chance of rain last night/this morning. And, yes, it was raining. I delayed play until 10 a.m., then the sun was gobbled up by clouds and I canceled club play at Derby Park all together.
Ambassadors and USA Pickleball
This was shared to the ambassador email group by someone going by ”Rocket”:
Team, A couple of weeks ago, I answered a question on the Ambassadors Facebook page. The crux of the question was how we felt about USA Pickleball support of the grass roots growth of pickleball, and what position will they play in the future of pickleball, suggesting that USA Pickleball is a dinosaur. Yes it was a pretty broad question, but I decided to put some of my thoughts into an answer for them. Since then, I have been contacted by several ambassadors suggesting I share my answer here on our ambassador group. Since many of you may not use Facebook I decided to copy and paste it for those who may not have seen it. Sorry if you are seeing it twice.
MY ANSWER ON THE AMBASSADOR FORUM WAS:
I’ll give you the view from an old timer. I have been a USAPA ambassador for 13+ years, and my mission is, and always has been, to follow the “Roles and Responsibilities” of an ambassador. Here is the list: https://usapickleball.org/get-involved/usa-pickleball-ambassadors/ambassador-role-responsibilities/ The first two in the list are where I focus my time and are the essence of helping the sport of pickleball grow.
I believe many ambassadors join the team excited to get started and don’t bother to read and understand what we are here to do. Therefore, many of us focus on what we “hear” instead of truly understanding how USA Pickleball does in fact support the growth of grassroots pickleball.
When you say that the younger players say that you are “hitched to a dinosaur”, keep in mind that younger players are flooding in now, and for many of them their first exposure is coming from TV or YOUTUBE of what pickleball looks like at the Pro Tour level. They come in excited to be a part of those exciting events that they see. They hear about something called DUPR to rate and rank the pros and they get excited about that. So remember, these younger folks are getting their exposure and information from a very, tiny percentage of the pickleball playing world. The average recreational player could [he means “couldn’t”] care less about a DUPR or UTPR or rating of any kind.
This information has zero bearing on my role as a USA Pickleball ambassador. My role is to grow pickleball at the grassroots level, which is 95% the recreational level.
When younger players, or players of any age say that USA Pickleball is making little effort to assist the growing areas???? I get the privilege of traveling the country with Pickleball Rocks, so I get a view of the growth of pickleball that is somewhat unique. What I can confidently tell you is that pickleball is growing everywhere and much of that growth is being caused by the local USA Pickleball ambassador.
USA Pickleball has a mission to grow pickleball. How they go about that is not something I’ve really focused on during my 13 years as an ambassador. But here is what I see is happening.
1) USA Pickleball has big DIAMOND REGIONAL tournaments in every section of the country.
2) USA Pickleball now has a National Indoor tournament (Foley Alabama in June), an Amateur Nationals tournament (Daytona Beach Florida in December) and USA Nationals (Indian Wells – Palm Desert California in November).
These tournaments are huge exposure for us ambassadors and the USA Pickleball organization. They showcase the USA Pickleball branding. Do we care about these big tournaments? Heck yes, they are great exposure for USA Pickleball, who we support. Does the average recreational player care about these tournaments? No, the average player that I deal with is a brand new, or lower level recreational player who will likely never play a tournament. That is 95% of the players in the sport. If you doubt that number, walk around your open play courts and count the number of people there who are truly tournament players. Those tournament players are a very small percentage in every community. But these big tournaments, when they roll into my region, do support my mission to get more people playing, simply because of the exposure these tournaments get.
So where should the USA Pickleball focus be? Of course it should be on the recreational players. But everything they do, helps expose the sport and in return helps me grow it.
So what really does USA Pickleball do at the actual grassroots level?
When people say that USA Pickleball does nothing to help? I quickly let them know that USA Pickleball is the only organization that I know of that has an organized 1800+ member team of individuals who are committed to helping the sport grow, period. Yes, we are the world’s largest group of players, whose sole mission is to help each and every community grow the sport at the grassroots level. USA Pickleball continues to grow our ambassador network daily. And the roles and responsibilities that they have for us are very clear. Help the beginners and recreational players have fun. It really isn’t much more elaborate than that.
Don’t believe everything you hear because it is likely based on very, tiny actual numbers. Tournament pickleball at the pro level may very well take on a life of its own. And that is fine. It’s just more exposure for the sport. But, do we as ambassadors care and does it affect our mission? No, it doesn’t. We’re growing at the grassroots level just fine.
My mission, as is USA Pickleball’s, is to grow the sport. The sport is going to continue to grow exponentially at the recreational, grassroots level because of us USA Pickleball ambassadors. So I like what this dinosaur is doing. That is why I continue to be a ambassador.
Rocket SE Indiana
I’m a relatively new USA Pickleball ambassador, less than a year. Though I’ve been doing outreach and training of newbies for much longer. One point that I feel is missed in the above commentary is where do tournament players come from? It’s not from some parallel and separate track. That newbie who I explain the basic rules to could be a national champion five years down the road. Some percentage of players become tournament players. My analyst-inclined brain is curious what that percentage is, and if it’s steady or if it’s changing. Regardless, the number of rec players is growing and the number of tournament players is also growing.
Humor
Ok. Something I commented on in the last few days.
And something else…
Now, me, the two old men who place the ball on a dime sounds far from annoying—it sounds awesome! I’d take that every time!
No Rec Play?
I read that Kyle Yates says that he no longer plays any recreational games, only drilling and tournaments. That’s taking the game very, very seriously.
Number of days on a court: 503 Number of total hours: 2,342
To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.
I walked out the door, and it was going to be a warm day. When I arrived at Derby Park at 8:45 a.m., there was a game going already. I got into my first game and already the back of my right hand was hurting a little bit. As the game went on—or perhaps it was a second game—it got significantly worse. It got to the point where it was quite painful to make shots and I had no choice but to switch to my left hand and play left-handed. I pulled ice out of my water bottle and iced the back of my hand. Barefoot Terry gave me some of her homemade CBD cream for it. (It’s hard to tell how much it helped.) The rest of the session I signed up as an Intermediate player instead of Advanced, and played every shot left-handed.
Today was pretty unmemorable. I suppose it was good to dedicate time to maintaining my lefty skills, but playing righty against strong players is so much more fun.
Did I play well lefty? I could easily hold my own against the intermediate players at Derby today. I was playing a number of games at the end of the session with an older guy named Ricky with wild curly gray hair (I’ve seen him around), and a couple I didn’t know, Ellen and Marc. Ellen was the weakest, so I played with her. After one of my serves where Marc returned the ball into the net, Ellen asked in an astonished voice, “You can spin the ball on a serve left handed??” “Yes.” I tried to keep my serves less tricky or the game would have been more boring.
Monday, May 30, 2022 (No Play)
I am so disappointed. After playing so well on Friday morning against the advanced players at Brommer Park, and with the Memorial Day holiday today, I was really, really, looking forward to the challenge and perhaps proving myself against the better players there. Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed. This hand thing is no joke. Not that I own a motorcyle, but the “throttle-up” motion with my right hand is intensely painful on a line between my wrist and my knuckles. About a decade ago, I had “overuse syndrome” (as proved by a nerve conduction test by a neurologist), just shy of carpal tunnel syndrome and I still have around the wrist brace I bought at the time. That prevents me rotating my hand down at the wrist.
Wednesday, June 1, 2022 (No Play)
I’ve been continuing to wear the wrist brace. It’s proving to be invaluable. The injury is improving, but is still bad. I have doubts that it’ll be ready for play on Sunday. I’m thinking this will be a 2-3 week thing. I’ll be heading to Italy with my wife for my first 2-week vacation in 9 years. I’m hoping to play pickleball while there, but I’ll see how my hand feels in a week when I have to pack. There’s no point in lugging a paddle halfway around the globe, if I’m not going to be able to use it.
Insightful video, if like drinking from a firehose!
Number of days on a court: 502 Number of total hours: 2,339
To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.
Recent Comments