Sunday, September 1, 2024 (Court Day #709)

My son Nicholas came to town for the holiday weekend. He’s been taking some pickleball classes (of 20 students) in the San Jose area once a week for a couple of months. He finished their beginner class and moved to the intermediate class, but the instructor told him he should sign up for the advanced class next time. My wife texted me yesterday saying Nicholas wanted to join me at pickleball. He was a bit concerned that I was going to a Brommer and if he’d be able to fit into games with the stronger players.

I had to stop by work (actually twice) this morning though our family business was closed. The first time to record a message about being closed for the holiday and also upload our September Buyers Guide to our website. The second time, with Nicholas, I discovered that I’d accidentally set the alarm on our bookkeeper who had come in to do some month-end duties!

Brommer Park

By the time Nicholas and I arrived at Brommer and were inside the gate, it was 10:40 a.m.

That’s Pauly at the right with William behind him along the wall.

Oscar saw me taking a photo of the courts and joke that I should take a photo of him. So I did!

“You should take a video of this point!”

First Game

Nicholas and I got into our first game. It was William and Anne (Erik’s wife). William seems to be a Sunday regular and is a very strong player. Anne is a 3.0. Nicholas was playing poorly and after a few points by our opponents, he said that his confident was shot. I was playing poorly myself and with Nicholas playing like a newbie, we got clobbered in an embarrassing fashion! 11-2? Regardless, it was bad.

John & John

We played 4-5 games against two guys named John, whom I’d never seen before. They are solid 3.0 players and one would occasionally hit 3.5 level shots. Nicholas and I won all but one of the games.

With me not teaching today due to the holiday, there was no time pressure to leave.

We called it a day at 2:20 p.m. after 3 hours and 40 minutes at the courts. Nicholas said he usually only plays 90 minutes at a time since that is the length of his class.

Of note, I tried some backhand slice shots. They were effective. I hadn’t really used them since tennis in my 20s. Forehand, sure. Backhand, not so much.

Nicholas

I have to say, I was impressed with Nicholas’ play. He got better and better as the session moved along. I even had a passing thought later about maybe the two of us doing a tournament together. Ratings might be an issue, so maybe when he gets a little bit better, we could consider that.

PPR

Tonight, I renewed PPR membership for $212. I’ll stay listed on their website as a certified instructor and get their insurance coverage for the next year.

Number of days on a court: 709
Number of total hours: 2,942.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 69.5

To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.