Sunday, August 4, 2024 (Court Day #696)

I left my house at 8:54 a.m. under 59°F foggy skies. René texted last night and asked if I would be at Brommer Park this morning. I told her I would. I was planning to get there a little bit earlier this morning, but I had a last-minute realization that I should probably put up a flyer my pickleball classes starting on August 18. I’ve had a few sign ups for the Advanced Beginner class but so far I’ve had zero sign-ups for my Beginner class—very unusual. I announced the class in the local Facebook group yesterday morning, but that has not yielded any sign ups so far.

Fast Start

I played four games. I paired up against Ying and with Ying, and some others. I won each of my four games. Ying is continuing to get better. She’s a solid 3.5 now.

Game with Kent

I’ve seen Kent two or three times lately…he said he hasn’t been playing a lot but is starting to play more. We are played as a team in a close 9-11 loss to Ying and Conner. For 77-years-old, Kent plays quite well.

Banger Time

I played with little Linda against Conner and a man named Gary. I don’t remember seeing this particular Gary before. He’s a tall guy, a little on the fair side—like me! He is a strong player in his 50s or 60s. He’s good enough that I’d probably be happy having him as a tournament partner. Linda is a banger. She drives fast and the balls come back faster. We lost 5-11. Once at the net, Linda does surprisingly well in the soft game. If she develops drop shots, she will be a force.

René

René arrived while I was playing and she got into a game with a guy named Jay visiting from somewhere near Chico, he said. They were playing against Ofer and Beth. I asked them if Conner and I could take on the winners and got a “yes.” The winners turned out to be René and Jay.

Game #1

So Conner and I took on René and Jay.

According to Jay, he was not playing his best. Conner and I won 11–4. René was quietly frustrated.

‘PB Vision’ Video and analysis: Game 1

Game #2

We decided to play again so I teamed up with Jay—I’m always happy to go against the toughest combination of opponents. Conner and René went ahead and were leading 8-4. We went on a bit of a run and got within one point, 8-7. Then Conner and René went on to score another 3 points, and won the game 11–7.

A still from the game analysis. Yes, I made this drop shot… the ball landed right in the kitchen.

‘PB Vision’ Video and analysis: Game 2

Heading Out

It was already 12:12 p.m. and I needed to get home to eat and change and get out to Scotts Valley to teach class starting at 1:30 p.m.

As I drove home, it was a pleasant sunny day and 68°. I was hoping it wouldn’t be too warm in Scotts Valley.

Teaching

Two of my advanced beginner students canceled out at the last minute and so I did some drills where I was rotating playing against two students while the second court was full. I much prefer to roam, but this did allow me to concentrate on two students at a time in succession. (And I figure I can count about half an hour toward my own court time in for this.)

Number of days on a court: 696
Number of total hours: 2,913.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 63.5

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