Wednesday, October 11, 2023 (No Play)
I went to PT yesterday for the first time in weeks. (I was waiting for the insurance authorization for more sessions.) I met with Matt the PT at 5:30 p.m. and while it was officially a “class”, I was the only patient, so he spent 45 minutes evaluating me instead. He poked and prodded. He did an electronic strength test with me pulling my foot forward from a seated position—both legs were of similar strength, though I cut the “5 second hold” short for my right leg since my knee hurt. Going up and down stairs is the most painful, especially going down when planted on my right knee and it’s slightly bent.
Similarly, riding a bike with the seat much too low is quite painful . . . as I found out on Sunday at my folks’ house when my brother Mike wanted me to try his fancy mountain bike. I didn’t realized he’d intentionally dropped the seat down for me to adjust first.
Matt gave me a couple of stretches for the knee but was at a bit of a loss as to what is causing the issue. He did say that the “2-3 months” estimate that the surgery office gave me is actually much more like 6 months. In other words, me playing pickleball at the three month mark was pushing it.
County Coaching?
I received an email from the County of Santa Cruz’s court management company, “Rec”—based in San Francisco—asking if I’d be interested in instructing some beginner pickleball classes. I’ll have to give this some thought. There are some dynamics beyond just teaching or not.
Wednesday, October 18, 2023 (No Play)
I had PT again yesterday at 5:30 p.m. When I asked about what to do going forward, Dr. Matt said my knee needs just time and stretching to heal. I have a follow-up appointment with the surgery PA Heather tomorrow morning. I also asked about ice and heat, Matt said to ice the knee and heat the quadriceps.
Coaching
This week, I’d set up an appointment for a phone meeting for this morning with Mike of Rec in San Francisco. Previously, after a couple of days of consideration, I’d emailed him back on the 13th telling him to check with Karen Haselden, the local certified instructor. Mike emailed back and told me he’d checked with Karen and she was too busy to take on the classes. With that, I told him that I was interested in talking further. They are interested in a beginner classes on Sunday afternoons held at Willowbrook.
Local Newman Clinic
SCPC president Mark Dettle texted me asking for clinic registration help on Wednesday next week since I’d offered to do so. It’s about 90 minutes of time starting at 8:30 a.m. I told him that’d I’d be there. Plus, heck, it’s maybe an opportunity to meet pros Riley and Linsday Newman.
Peloton
I set a new personal record last night of Peloton riding for a full hour and burning 200 calories. Afterward, I iced my knee with the cooling gel sleeve and finished watching the movie I’d started while riding. (“The King” on Netflix. Good movie.)
County Coaching
I wrote to Karen H. this afternoon and she confirmed that she’d turned down the county teaching position that has been offered to me. Sunday, November 12 would be the first day of this new class. I talked to my wife and Kristen was agreeable.
Thursday, October 19, 2023 (No Play)
I had an appointment with Heather the surgery PA this morning to follow up and discuss my right knee. I asked what I should have just asked at the previous appointment weeks before: “Is this normal?” (Within context, of course!) She said that it was. So there you have it. I just have to wait out healing. Their original estimate of “2-3 months and back out playing” was overly optimistic. In our conversation, she said to not stretch the knee by sitting on the floor with my legs tucked under me and leaning back. Oops. I did that a few days ago. Bad. Got it.
MLP Paddles
Major League Pickleball has some rigorous on-site paddle testing and disqualified 28 paddles at a recent event. 28! I found that amazing. The PPA—now under the same ownership umbrella as MLP—doesn’t have nearly the same testing and some pros are unhappy that some other pros get advantages with paddles that have more power and would otherwise be disqualified under MLP. Sooner or later, there will be convergence, but not yet.
Teaching
I wrote Mike at Rec back this afternoon and accepted their offer to teach local beginners classes on their behalf. He wrote back a few hours later and said that “another instructor was able to confirm the slot”. Oh. I didn’t know they’d approached more than one person about teaching. Ah, well. Mike said that if that class series fills, I’m on the docket for an additional series.
Monday, October 23, 2023 (No Play)
It rained nearly all day yesterday and we had our first full cancelation of club play for the season, at Derby Park. (Later note: Club play today at Brommer also ended up being canceled.)
Camp
Today is the first day of the Riley & Lindsay Newman pickleball camp held out at Cabrillo College in Aptos.
Mark Dettle texted me last week asking if I’d make up directional signs for the camp and I agreed. When I delivered those this morning at 7:30 a.m., Cabrillo pickleball instructor Tony Marcopulos retrieved two white plastic A-frames to hold my signs and I set about installing those.
After I helped Tony set up a net or two, I spent some time helping Dan Bliss dry off the wet courts for the camp start at 9 a.m. Lots of towels and blower use! Barbara Gerry was manning the registration table and Patty Doler was there organizing.
Riley and Lindsay arrived. Both are quite tall. Riley is easily over 6′ and Lindsay is about 5’9″. Patty introduced them to Tony and Mark and Dan and me. Riley and Lindsay are both super nice. Definite thumbs up.
I had the two of them sign my “autograph paddle”. I told her that I’d gotten the Ben Johns, Kyle Yates, and Morgan Evans autographs at the Golden State Pickleball Championships. I was remembering it as a “one and done” tournament. But Lindsay said she’d played in that tournament later on. Lindsay texted Jordan Briones to check and see which of us was correct!
Lindsay was asking about my role as USA Pickleball Ambassador and what I do for a living. The Newmans are based out of Dallas, Texas and I shared that I have a niece who lives just outside of Dallas.
Once the session started, Dan and I headed out. It was off to work. Before I left, Patty invited me to a sailboat outing and dinner with the Newmans. (We’d have to pay our own way.) I figured that dinner would be “do-able” and fun. Driving back I realized that the other Golden State Pickleball Championships that I was discussing with Lindsay probably took place during the time I was nursing that really bad tennis elbow and was staying away from tournaments. Oops.
Dinner
I left straight from work and arrived at The Crow’s Nest restaurant about 10 minutes before our planned dinner. Just inside, Patty was talking to Lindsay and Mark Dettle was hanging out by Riley. Lindsay showed me the text set back from Jordan Briones which said he thought that he had run that tournament for about 5 years. Lindsay smiled and said, “I don’t want to say, ‘I told you so’.” I laughed and told her about my recollection in the car earlier.
I talked to Riley about his “pancake” shot. I still need to get clarification, but I think it’s a scorpion shot but with a western grip. Not sure. Rachel Kuo arrived—who was in my graduating class from Harbor High and frequents the Skypark courts. Aud also came. And a woman named Beth whom I’d see a few times around.
We were taken to our table. I sat across from Riley at the end. We chatted for a bit, ate bread and calamari before the waitress figured we wouldn’t be ordering any entrees—they had pizza on the boat!—and more or less kicked the eight of us out of the main restaurant for the upstairs bar area instead. Right then, Karen (middle-age Asian lady whom I’ve seen around but don’t know well) arrived and later did end up ordering an entree while upstairs, but it is what it is!
We had fun yapping. Lindsay shared some stories off the record. Things wrapped up around 8:30 p.m. As I observed to the Newmans as we all got up to go, Dallas is two hours ahead, making it pretty late for them. They agreed. We said our goodbyes and headed our different directions.
Wednesday, October 25, 2023 (No Play)
Mark Dettle had previously asked me to help at the Newman camp today. I got there early and helped Patty register participants as they arrived.
Once the workshop started, I hung around for about an hour listening.
One thing that I thought was clever was having players play a short game of skinny singles for maybe 6-7 minutes, then losers would move down a full court and winners would move up a full court. (Of course, if you were already in the lowest court, you couldn’t down when you lost. Same went for winners in the top court.) The goal of all this was to sort the players by skill level so that any drills would be more balanced.
Lindsay made a point to emphasize “playing the odds” when positioning on a court. That is, you don’t need to hug the sidelines. If you can’t reach the last 12 inches of the sideline and your opponent wants to risk hitting the ball out by squeezing it in that space, more power to them, because you want to make sure the middle—the high percentage shot—is definitely covered well.
They got into drills with Riley and Lindsay constantly circling around and stopping into watch and make suggestions to players. I walked over and said my goodbyes to Riley and Lindsay—Riley said they might even be back next year—and headed to work.
Thursday, October 26, 2023 (No Play)
Someone did a great job tipping off the local newspaper about our pickleball camp. That exact thing had crossed my mind and I’m a bit ashamed that as a USA Pickleball Ambassador that I forgot to contact them myself. Fortunately, someone else did.
Aside from the front page, there was a full page inside spread too!
Hard to beat that publicity!
Saturday, October 28, 2023 (No Play)
The actor made famous by the “Friends” TV show, Matthew Perry, was found dead today. Apparently, he fell asleep in his hot tub and drowned. 54. A little younger than me. The only reason I mention it here—no, I’m not a fan—is that he regularly played pickleball and was purported to have played some hours before he died.
Perry’s pickleball coach chimed in:
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/matthew-perrys-pickleball-coach-says-sport-gave-routine-during-recovery
A shame.
Monday, October 30, 2023 (No Play)
Pam had asked if I could help at the SCPC Halloween scramble tournament at Brommer Park. It’d be a good excuse to see people I hadn’t seen for a while with my forced hiatus due to knee surgery.
I was there about 8:30 a.m. and it was chilly to start but got warm. There was me and another gentleman registering players for the tournament. Lots of wild halloween costumes!
After the quirky tournament, we had lunch courtesy a hired taco truck, and some potluck food items.
Then it was to home and then to work!
Thursday, November 2, 2023 (No Play)
Mike at Rec got back to me today and said that the original pickleball class had sold out and asked if I wanted to coach a second class from 1:30 p.m. until 3 p.m. I got back to him within a few hours and said I’d do it. He’s proceeding tomorrow.
Parade
I had received word from the SCPC board that we are a “go” for the downtown holiday parade again this year . . . on the condition is that I’d organize it! Of course, though with some hesitation, I said yes. I was kind of hoping someone else would step up, but it’s not all that much work, probably about 2-4 hours of coordination in advance. Today, I got us officially registered. I received permission from Mark Dettle, the president, to send out email blasts to all members about the parade, so I sent out a “save the date” email today.
Friday, November 3, 2023 (No Play)
With coaching income coming from the class I’ll be teaching, I can roll that money into getting credentialed as a pickleball coach.
Step #1 was signing up as a member of the PPR (Professional Pickleball Registry) which certifies pickleball coaches. It’s about $180/year. I signed up and now I have a PPR member number! The PPR has a pickleball video library. Colin Johns, Ben Johns, and Sarah Ansboury all have clips explaining certain shots. An interesting note, it’s very different watching videos with the intent of teaching versus implementing oneself—a totally different mindset and perspective.
Step #2 will be going to a PPR Certification Workshop which are held around the country and cost about $150. There’s one in about three weeks nearby (Sunnyvale) but with my back being sketchy and me still recovering from knee surgery, I’m not super keen on committing to that at the moment.
Sunday, November 5, 2023 (No Play)
So, the pop star Katy Perry is an avid pickleball player:
[Video removed after a month, so link here now removed! Bummer!]
So, the video had Katy Perry recommending that people enter a contest for a pickleball facility. The most entrants from a city had the sponsoring business build there. Katy Perry shared that she’s a regular player.
Monday, November 6, 2023 (No Play)
Mike at Rec provided an image for me to post in the Santa Cruz Pickleball Facebook group.
I had an almost immediate signup.
Friday, November 10, 2023 (No Play)
Ok. This is crazy.
On Monday morning, I strained my back putting on my left sock. So lame—and so severe! I couldn’t stay upright. I laid down on my back on my bed and proceeded to not leave my bed even once for the next 48 hours. I couldn’t even turn on my side without intense pain . . . so intense, I couldn’t make myself do it. Thank goodness I have local family! I had a video appointment with a doctor and between the muscle relaxer she prescribed, ibuprofen, and a pain patch, I could eventually sit up and carefully hobble around. It was miserable. I canceled my work trip to New Orleans, where I would have otherwise been right now.
My Class
I now have 6 students signed up (out of a maximum of 8) for my beginner pickleball class on Sunday. Apparently, there was some mistake and the folks at Rec forgot to mention to the students that they have to bring their own paddle. Yesterday, Mike at Rec arranged to send me four paddles and some balls to use for my class and those items arrived today—fast! The paddles are wood and the balls are cheap knockoffs of the Onix Pure 2 balls. Not anything I’d personally like to play with, but they’ll work for a beginner class. Mike asked me to pass the paddles on to Sean Lynch—who I don’t know—who will be teaching the second class right after mine out at Willowbrook Park in Aptos.
Debate
There’s some debate about how you would start teaching new players. Some recommend dinking, others recommend ground strokes. I’m a “start with dinking” kind of guy. Sure, beginners likely won’t use dinking much in their actual games, but I believe it’s a good place to understand the dynamics of how a pickleball acts in relation to a paddle.
Costco and Pickleball
I can’t remember if I shared this, but I don’t think I did. Back in May, Costco featured a 2-page spread in their magazine on pickleball.
Pickleball is very much heading into the mainstream.
Saturday, November 11, 2023 (No Play)
I worked for about six hours yesterday and my back hurts more today than it did then. The doctor said the more I move around, the better my back will get. I’m not so sure about that! Ok, kidding. I’m sure she’s right. Still, my back is less happy today than it was yesterday.
Golden Oldie
So there’s this 96-year-old man, Joe Gaeta, in Long Island who is teaching other seniors how to play pickleball. 96! Wow. I have a new role model to admire!
https://abc7ny.com/islip-96-year-old-joe-gaeta-pickleball/13494937/
I was impressed with the guy in his 80s who beat Maree and me up at Mitchell Park about five years ago—this guy Joe takes the cake!
Class
A box of pickleballs showed up at my door this morning courtesy of Rec. A dozen Dura 40 knockoffs. At least those should be better than the softer balls that came yesterday with the wood paddles.
I’ve been making notes and trying hash out in my head what I’m going to say and what drills we’ll be doing at my first class tomorrow. With my experience training new players as an SCPC Site Coordinator for the last five years, it’s not new territory exactly, but this is a larger group and it’ll be a longer session and with approximately six hours of instruction over the four classes. Plus I like to be, if anything, over-prepared and totally organized.
Number of days on a court: 609
Number of total hours: 2,675
Number of paid coaching hours: 2
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