Monday, January 1, 2024 (Court Day #618)
Last night, I dreamt that I was at a medical clinic and I was explaining to the man and the woman behind the counter—which strangely seemed like a hotel check-in counter—that my doctor had told me to come back if my wrist hurt. It’s not a surprise that when I woke up this morning, my right wrist was experiencing some pain. It’s hard for me to say, of course, but I have a feeling that my knee may gradually improve this year, but my wrist is going to be a chronic issue… assuming that I continue to play regularly.
Derby Duties
This coming Sunday, I’ll be resuming my duties as the Derby Park site coordinator for every Sunday morning. That’ll be immediately followed by the first meeting of my January 4-week beginner pickleball class at Willowbrook in Aptos.
I have to admit, it’s a bit of a sacrifice to commit to opening—or being responsible to open—courts every week without fail indefinitely. Especially when it’s my only day off. Yes, my only day off from work. And often more skilled players avoid club play and arrange their own games elsewhere.
Private Games?
Last night was the whirlwind of texts to groups of pickleball players and individual pickleball players, as I tried to set up a private game session this morning. But the best I could do was René and Charles at Derby Park and we couldn’t arrange for a fourth. We figured we might as well just get together for club play at Brommer and arrange some games once club play was over at noon.
Brommer
I woke up this morning in my lower back was a bit sore and tight. I took a couple of ibuprofen to help.
When I got to Brommer Park, it was a very cool 50°, but it was crystal clear skies with bright winter sun. I was expecting a very, very busy day given that today is a holiday. I was shocked when I pulled into the lot at 9:10 and found a ton of free parking. The lot was only about half full. I guess a bunch of people were out late last night for New Year’s Eve!
Bob
A nice surprise, my college PE tennis coach Bob Hansen showed up around 1 o’clock to meet with some other players that had been arranged. I chatted with him for a few minutes, including with regard to his intermediate class that I’m subbing in for him in about two weeks. René and I played a game against Bob and Dave Debiasi. Bob was pretty obviously the stronger player of the two and played very well. I was almost surprised when he made errors. René and I made a game of it, but they won. While a strong player, René doesn’t always cope well with bangers of which Dave is definitely one. She said, “That’s not pickleball, that’s tennis.” Maybe she’s right, but I’m of a different mind. Sure, you see less banging away at higher levels, but that’s because it typically becomes a liability as pro players can take advantage of those shots. But, ultimately, you use what wins. If your opponent can’t handle hard drives, you do it until they can handle them . . . if you don’t win first! On the flip side, if you opponent drives everything and you want them to stop, then make them pay. Then they will be forced to change or lose the game. The only “right” way to play is the way that wins the game for you. (I’m not meaning the games where you pick on the 97-year-old granny to win 11-0!)
Hugh and I played a few games against the man named Bruce and his son Josh. Those were some balanced and very close games. Bruce and Josh won the first and last games and Hugh and I won the middle game.
Skill Creep
Skill creep with regard to signups on the court signup board continues to be a concern. There is a game with Hugh and I signed up in red against a couple of other players whom we beat them 11-0. The woman, Connie, was a good player . . . leaving her partner as the culprit. Even though we beat them 11-0, that didn’t stop the man from going and signing up in red again, even though he is definitely an intermediate player, not advanced player. I mentioned it quietly to Mark Dettle. He said if the man played poorly again—in the game Mark was about to play—Mark would mention something to the guy afterward.
I left at 2:25 p.m. after five hours of play. No wonder I was tired.
I played a lot of challenging games today. I didn’t play terribly, but I also wasn’t happy with my play. I just have to get better. That’s going to mean drilling.
Rick Abend texted me saying that no cancelation notice had been sent for Derby Park’s SCPC club day today but it was not opened. Barb had texted Rick and myself a few weeks ago saying she was done opening come 2024. Well, it’s 2024. I’m running Derby Park again on Sunday. But something fell through the cracks for Derby today. I did a little sleuthing, then just passed it on via email to Pam R. who is still listed on the club website as the official Venue Coordinator, though I believe it had changed to someone else.
It later turned out that Pam hadn’t updated the website and Andrew McLeod is now the club’s Venue Coordinator. I forwarded my message about Derby to him.
It was gushing rain this afternoon. It stopped raining around 4:30 p.m. That’s good as I’m resuming my site coordinator duties at Derby Park tomorrow morning, followed by the first day of my second 4-week beginner pickleball class.
Number of days on a court: 618
Number of total hours: 2,697
Number of paid coaching hours: 8
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