Month: September 2024 (Page 4 of 4)

Tuesday, September 3, 2024 (Court Day #711)

It was 68°F with the sun descending in the sky when I got to Skypark at 6:50 p.m. Today would be my third day in a row playing. Quite a luxury. I will admit that I’m a little tired and a little sore, especially after my wife convinced me to go to yoga last night with her. I was stretching muscles that I didn’t know that I had! I’m pretty inflexible, really.

There were no parking spots in the lot next to the courts. I had to park down the street and around the corner.

What was surprising was that there weren’t that many people actually playing. There was a court open but only three willing to play… not that that lasted long! It got a little busier but we never used the white board for signups.

Tournament Sign

I’ve never played in it, but The Rotary Club is doing their annual tournament again this year at Cabrillo. I’m not sure if I’m inclined to do it or not.

This evening was slim pickings for better players to play against. I end up in games with a mix of 3.5 and 3.0 players. I tend to be kind of lazy against weaker opponents and, as a result, make more errors. At 7:30, the thought of even leaving crossed my mind. The games aren’t as much fun when the rallies are short. But I stayed.

ATP Dink

I was in a game with the recent-addition college student Joel against Alex and Mike, who will be retiring at end of the year. I was on the left across from Mike and Alex was across from Joel. Alex had a really wide crosscourt shot and I had to run it full speed with my paddle extended and I was barely able to tap the ball around the post and have it land just inside their sideline. Mike then dinked the ball back across the net to Joel, who was able to return it. A brief rally ensued and ended with Joel hitting the ball into the net. That was a very unusual ATP. It was almost like a dink around the post.

We finish up the last game a few minutes before the lights clicked off at 8:30 p.m.

I was yawning in my car on the way home.

---

Wednesday, September 4, 2024 (No Play)

Hall of Fame

It was announced today that three people will be inducted into the Pickleball Hall of Fame this year. Players Kyle Yates and Simone Jardim, plus John Gullo, whom I’d never heard of—from the announcement: “JOHN GULLO is well known as a pickleball ambassador for Northern Utah and for his role in establishing The Tournament of Champions as the first and highest paying tournament for professionals.”

Now, the Tournament of Champions, I’ve heard of. Ok, got it. That’s well known.

Kyle Yates was part of the former #1 doubles team in the world (with Ben Johns) when I met him back in 2018. He was 23 and Ben was 19. Pickleball was a smaller world back then.

I’ve never met Simone. She was ranked No. 1 in women’s doubles with Lucy Kovalova in 2021. Simone is well known for her online instructional videos.

Number of days on a court: 711
Number of total hours: 2,948
Number of paid coaching hours: 69.5

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

Monday, September 2, 2024 (Court Day #710), Labor Day

Last night, I tried to arrange some people to meet with me at Derby Park to play to avoid the boatload of people that I’d expect to be at club play at Brommer. Nearly everyone was busy, although Ying said that she and Larry would be a Derby Park in the morning. I said I’d probably come around 9 a.m.

At about 9:15 a.m., Larry texted and asked if I was going to be at Derby Park to meet with them. I told him that I would be there in about 15 to 20 minutes.

Derby

I arrived at Derby Park at 9:30 a.m. Parking was relatively easy and when I walked to the courts, only half were in use. Larry and Ying were in a game with barefoot Terry S. and her husband Gary.

Games were a mix of challenging and not challenging. An example of not challenging was myself in barefoot Terry against tall, older Mike and another man named Gary whom I’d never met. In that game, I played entirely left-handed and we won 11–0.

On the more challenging end was me partnered with Terry in my first game against Ying and Larry.

There are definitely some good rallies in some of those games.

Pauly

Pauly arrived and Larry and I played a game against him and Ying. Larry and I won but it wasn’t an easy game.

Larry and Ying were done. Larry said he had come at 8 a.m. (He had his new Titan ball machine there.) Terry and her husband Gary were playing with some friends at the opposite end of the courts. Pauly agreed to a game of skinny singles with me. Pauly ended up winning 11–4. It was a good drilling situation.

We finished that game shortly before noon and I was debating whether I wanted to go to Brommer, or wanted to go home and have lunch, or if you want to go and have lunch and then go to Brommer. I checked my backpack and I had a snack bar. I decided to go directly to Brommer.

I was pretty sweaty from my 2 1/2 hours at Derby… and a bit tired from playing 3 1/2 hours yesterday.

Brommer

I arrived at 12:24 p.m. Club play had wrapped up at noon and I greeted Andrew McLeod on his way out as he was chatting with Oscar. Andrew said he wanted me to print out some club forms in bulk for him.

Pauly showed up after riding his e-bike and I was still waiting on the wall to get into a game. He and I played a game against a couple people. It was an OK game.

Pauly and I played three games against a couple of guys, I’d never met before, Carson and Ben. We won the first one, lost the second, and also lost the third. Those are good games. Carson and Ben played better than I was expecting. I’d say Carson is a stronger of the two, just as I was a stronger of Pauly and myself.

At 1:55 p.m., I decided to call it a day. I could have rolled easily into one more game, but Carson was willing to be a fourth, so I was free to go.

It was warm and I was beat.

Quiet Balls

I discovered a package in our mailbox yesterday. I assumed it was something my wife ordered, but when she opened it, she was annoyed that I’d handed it to her. It was a package of pickleballs. Not ordinary pickleballs, but special soft and quiet Ninja pickleballs for drilling. The original green versions have been superseded by this never version which, according to a third party review, bounces more like a real pickleball. I’ll need to do my own testing.

Number of days on a court: 710
Number of total hours: 2,946.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 69.5

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

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.

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

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.