Thursday, August 15, 2024 (Court Day #702)
Guinness World Records
So, back in April, at least two world records were set. The first, says:
“The fastest pickleball hit (male) is 60 mph (95.56 km/h), and was achieved by Riley Casey (USA) in Mesa, Arizona, USA, on 7 April 2024.”
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/505349-fastest-pickleball-hit-male
The second, says:
“The most successful blindfolded pickleball serves in one minute is 41, and was achieved by Timothy Holt (USA) in Venice, Florida, USA on 21 April 2024.”
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/754254-most-successful-blindfolded-pickleball-serves-in-one-minute
Now, I heard somewhere along the line that a pickleball has been hit at least 70MPH. I’m kind of curious how many blindfolded pickleball serves I could get in a row, or in one minute. I can definitely do a number, since I’ve done successful serves with my eyes closed.
Pickleball in the Olympics
With the Olympics taking place recently, adding pickleball as an event in a future olympiad is a hot topic. Here are a couple of articles talking about it…
https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2024/08/09/pickleball-olympics-seymour-rifkin
One hurdle is that there are multiple international federations/governing bodies for pickleball. The relatively venerable IPF (formerly the IFP), the World Pickleball Federation, and I believe there are some other upstarts as well. The IOC has to deal with just one and that needs to be settled first.
Also, a sport must be “practiced by men in at least 75 countries across four continents and by women in at least 40 countries across three continents” to be included in the Olympics. Some organizations claim over 75 and some claim under 75.
Revisiting Matthew Perry’s Post-Pickleball Death
So, this week, five people were charged in the ketamine overdose death last year of TV star Matthew Perry. We were originally told that he fell asleep in his hot tub after playing pickleball earlier in the day and it was an accidental drowning. Instead, he had multiple illegal injections of ketamine that day. It’s not a secret that he had addiction issues that he was fighting. Though the public persona was apparently one of being past addiction:
“At the time of his death, Perry was sober for almost 2 years, taking it day by day to overcome The Big Terrible Thing.”
From: stigmaunraveled.blog/p/matthew-perry-and-the-big-terrible
But that turned out to be fiction. Regardless, pickleball had nothing to do with Perry’s death, not even making him tired.
Knee
As I was walking the dog this morning, my right knee was sore. I’ve been icing it, but maybe it needs a rest, which I probably won’t give it!
Off to Skypark
As I left work and headed to Scotts Valley, it was sunny and warm.
Parking was insane. I saw people parking 2-3 blocks away and walking in dressed for sports and each carrying a backpack or a paddle. I circled through the lot next to the courts then gave up and drove back through stoplights and around to the parking near the soccer fields a five minute walk away. I was at the courts at 6:55 p.m.
By the time I walked back to the courts, there was one spot open and two cars just about to leave. It figures!
Ray, one of my students, was there playing. He said that Mary, another of my students, had just left.
And?
So, it’s 8:55 p.m. I’m in my car driving home after leaving Skypark, dictating to my phone. There were about a dozen people still there when I left in the dark. At the moment, I’m feeling a depressed. The last game, was Spencer and Jax against Marco and myself. We were trying to squeeze in one last game before the lights clicked off. When the lights did go out, Marco and I were down 0–4. And this was not on Marco. This is on me. Granted, it was twilight and growing darker by the minute—not my best performance time. This was my first game of the night with fully like-skill players. In all the previous games, I was the best player on the court. Unquestionably. While that is all fine and dandy, it makes me sloppy and unfocused. Once the lights turned off, it was far too dark to attempt to play. I didn’t play that great on Tuesday night either. I’m in a bit of a slump. It’s depressing.
Ok. More about tonight…
I partnered with a San Jose State student who is studying Parks & Recreation, Mav—short for Maverick. We won, but it wasn’t a strong game. I missed a few shots that I should not have, like a high shot that I hit out. After the game, I was telling Mav that I played badly in that first game. He said, “I thought you played great!” I told him a few of my errors and how I usually play better.
Isaiah
I met a new guy tonight, Isaiah. Isaiah has a really nice slices and played pretty well. For that one game, he was second best player, behind me. He’s tall and fit with curly blond hair. When we were talking after the game was over, he said that he had played fantastic in that game. I asked a lot of questions. He said he’s playing pickleball due to injuries in tennis. He said he was on his college tennis team and is a tennis pro. He said we was an assistant tennis coach at UCSC last year. He said with his injuries, he can barely get through his tennis lessons. He said he needs to work on his shot selection and I would agree. Although, he still has a little execution issues as well, as expected. But . . . if he sticks with it, he will be quite good at pickleball.
Kiko and Tristan were playing singles tennis on the empty court in between their pickleball games. I’ve never seen anyone doing that before. Both looked pretty decent at it, not that I’m an expert.
After Dark
The older, trim Mike who was there on Tuesday, was back again tonight. A woman, who I believe was his wife, was pouring champagne into little plastic cups for people to celebrate his last stockholder financial presentation due to his retirement planned at the end of the year. Good for him. Rachel—and I think perhaps Aaron too–were sharing some cups of beer, which I declined. A little champagne is good enough for me.
As I mentioned, there was a group of players still hanging out when I left. I wanted to get home, eat, and ice my knee.
Friday, August 16, 2024 (No Play)
The PPA posted a very curious comment to Instagram today . . . you can click on the image to take you to the comments/discussion:
What does this mean? I know some female pickleball pros complained last year about serves being too much of a weapon. The big debate in the pickleball world continues to be “hot” paddles. Maybe this is exacerbating the problem as it is perceived.
Number of days on a court: 702
Number of total hours: 2,925.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 63.5
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