Sunday, September 22, 2024 (Court Day #718)
I had woken up shortly after 6 a.m., but then eventually fallen back asleep. I dreamt it that it was the first serve of a game. My two opponents were chatting with each other for an extended period on their baseline, and when I looked away for a moment, the server served the ball at me as a Nasty Nelson, hitting me. I was mad and though I complained, they switched places took the point anyway. When they were about to serve, I told them I was done playing and simply walked off the court. In the dream, I was angry. It was very odd. I’ve never walked off in the middle of a game. Not once in nearly 8 years. My only time is now in a dream!
This morning, lying in bed, my right knee was bothering me a little bit. And while driving to Brommer I felt a very mild stinging to the inside of my right knee. Also when I tossed something onto a dresser, the back of my right hand had a short twinge of mild pain. But it had been a week since I last played. “I’m playin’!”
Driving
When I left my house it was 57°F and overcast. My wife had said, “It’s not going to be a very sunny day today for your pickleball.“ In fact, as I drove, there were some very light sprinkles on my windshield. It was very light and dried in seconds as I continued on my way.
Brommer
I arrived at Brommer at 9:19 a.m. Parking was easy.
For my first game, I played with Richard—who used to play regularly at Derby Park, but I hadn’t seen in at least a couple of years—against Marilee (I had to ask her name) and Ed. We won 11-2. It was short rallies. I did make one mistake and that was it. I played an extremely clean game.
Cassidy and I played against René and Jordan. It was not Cassidy’s best game. She had some really fast serves, but missed maybe a third of them as well as some other shots. We lost.
I teamed up with JP against Monda and René. This was a stronger all-around game. JP and I were up 8-3, but ended up losing 11-8. Crazy. They went on an 8-0 run! Ouch!
The clouds had burned off and it was getting quite warm. I don’t sweat particularly easily, but a perspiration sheen could be seen on my arms.
Toward the end of my session, Sean Lynch invited me into a game with Danny and Kiko, “Do you have your paddle in the rack yet?” Such a bummer, I really, really wanted to get into that game, but I’d already committed to a group with René and, yes, my paddle was already up. Arg. Ah, well. I was tempted to bail out, but it would leave my group scrambling to try and find a fourth. Next time!
Last Game
My last game was lefty Greg and me against a woman named Deb and a tall man named Alessandro. I’d never met either of them. Deb is a banger. Alessandro is a strong all-around player.
We lost badly. While they were targeting Greg, I did get shots. There was one where I was on the right where they drove a hard shot from the baseline and like against player last Sunday, I knocked the ball off the court for a winner.
There was another, when I was on the right, when Alessandro drove a shot down the right sideline and got me. With our backhands in the middle, I was covering a little more to the center instead of the sideline and he got me. Alessandro can really rip shots.
My last game finished up about 2 p.m. I could’ve stayed longer and gotten into some more games, but the mix of players were starting to get questionable. Many of the strongest players were gone. Also, after nearly 5 hours of play, I was getting kind of tired. My right knee was bothering me a bit more and I could feel a muscle in my right forearm. It felt like a very mild charley horse.
I checked my phone when I was about to leave Brommer and I saw that my brother John was asking if there was time for us to play pickleball in the afternoon. Then he called me while I was on my way home. He was thinking that I was going to be in Scotts Valley teaching today, but this weekend was a gap week, with my new classes starting next weekend. Another time.
Shoes
Exactly six years ago tomorrow, Jennifer Lucore, senior pro player, commented on an Instagram photo of the very worn soles of my court shoes saying, “Tip, Work on not having as much wear on you heels. Wear pattern on balls of your feet – great!”
I wore the crap out of those shoes! I guess you could say in my defense that those were not high performance court shoes, those were Costco tennis-style shoes.
Anyway. Here is the state of my current shoes, Fila. (I’ve been rotating with a pair of Skechers pickleball shoes too.)
Much more worn on the balls of my feet. Jennifer would be proud!
Monday, September 23, 2024 (No Play)
When I got home for lunch today, I found a box from Selkirk on my front porch.
I opened it and sure enough, it contained four brand new Nexus paddles. The faces are surprisingly gritty. I was expecting something a bit smoother for an entry-level paddle.
Each paddle pre-marked with a $49.99 price tag on the plastic sleeve. Fortunately, I got them for much less than that…
…especially since my upcoming private group coaching gig was canceled this morning!
Last week, I had pointed out by email to my potential client that playing in a backyard court at 7 a.m. could have two possible issues.
One, sunrise will be at 7:06 a.m. that day next month. (I checked.)
Two, they are in a neighborhood and the neighbors might not be too keen about a group of a dozen or so people cheering each other on that early in the morning.
I like to plan ahead!
Today, sure enough, she emailed and let me know that there is a noise ordinance that would be in effect before 8 a.m. so she had to cancel my coaching services. It would have been fun, but it would have been very early for a night owl like me and extra money would be nice, but it the lack of it won’t put me on the street.
Still, having extra paddles around will be helpful to loan to beginners at my classes who invariably show up with no paddle! I have a couple of wood ones provided by Rec.us, but I’d only wish them on an enemy!
Tuesday, September 24, 2024 (No Play)
This reel popped up on Instagram. At Cupertino Memorial Park, which is a mere 30-40 minutes north of me, has a fancy digital system that they use to alert waiting players that a court is open. (Hey, it is the Silicon Valley after all!)
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAILHHLRpgp
Each net has a remote on one post that a player presses once the game is done. A sound goes off and a light flashes indicating which court is now open. Fancy.
Paddle Promotion
Gherkin Pickleball has been looking for ways to promote its paddles. They are sending me a paddle to share with my students. They have unique silicone edging available on some of their paddles. I think that’s kind of nifty. But they are revamping this edging so they couldn’t send me one of those paddles, but they are sending me a standard edging paddle.
Based in Utah, a fellow named Scotty reached out to me to help promote their brand of paddes, Erne. I dropped them a note asking if they were still interesting in promoting their paddles and I can share a paddle with students if they are interested. I kind of doubt I’ll hear back, but maybe.
Wednesday, September 25, 2024 (No Play)
Pickleball Slam 2025
The Pickleball Slam is back for a third time and will be held in Las Vegas with Andre Agassi and his wife Steffi Graf, as well as Andy Roddick and fairly-recent pickleball convert Genie Bouchard:
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10136735-pickleball-slam-2025-agassi-graf-vs-roddick-bouchard-set-for-1m-match-in-vegas
Pickleball Not Viral?
Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder and husband of tennis icon Serena Williams, says that pickleball can’t be a real sport since none of its highlight videos have gone viral.
Reddit Co-Founder Incorrectly Claims Pickleball Highlights Haven’t Gone Viral
Article Link
He’s wrong, of course. Numerous pickleball videos have literally millions upon millions of views.
Nationals? Worlds?
So, the PPA on November 3-10, are holding what they are calling the World Championships. What weird is that Christian Alshon is claiming on Instagram:
“Formerly known as Nationals, ‘Worlds’ is coming up in Dallas in less than two months!!”
Nationals has always been run by USA Pickleball (formerly called the “USAPA”). Nationals are taking place November 9-17 in Mesa, Arizona this year. It seems that the PPA is continuing to try and go almost head-to-head with the USAP with the tournaments overlapping by two days. Last year, for only one year, USAP and the PPA combined forces and ran Nationals. Apparently, the partnership worked so well, they decided not to do it again. (Yes, that’s sarcasm.) Of course, the PPA has also launched their own pickleball “governing body” to replace the USAP, so there is that small issue.
Number of days on a court: 718
Number of total hours: 2,966
Number of paid coaching hours: 75.5
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