Thursday, October 3, 2024 (Court Day #722)
At 5:45 p.m., Conner sent a message to the WhatsApp group that he was the only one at Skypark. I found that a little little surprising even with the heat. I told him that I would be out of the courts in about an hour.
This whole week has been quite warm and today was no exception with temperatures in the 90s. I went to change for pickleball in the work bathroom, but much to my dismay, the pair of black nylon shorts that I grabbed this morning turned out to be a pair of black nylon sweatpants instead! Boy, just perfect for hot weather!! (Yes, that’s sarcasm!) Fortunately, the sun was already setting and the temperature dropped at the low 70s, but still it was warm.
Drew Sighting
Being a nice and responsible sibling, I gave my brother Matt a ride home from work and dropped him off at my parents house in Pasatiempo. As I turned onto their street, I spotted a man collecting his mail. I immediately recognize him, it was Drew who I frequently see at Skypark playing pickleball with Marquis and other strong players. I dropped off Matt then turned around and pulled up and front of Drew‘s house which was across the street from the mailboxes. He smiled and called over, “Pickleball guy!” to which I replied, “Drew!” He then asked, “What is your name again?” He said that they had moved into their house for years ago and they had a have a 15-month-old daughter… which was why he was not playing tonight!
Skypark
It was hot and felt muggy, but that might just be perspiration. When I got there, shortly after 6:30 p.m., surprisingly, there were only two games in progress and one additional court just had Mark and Chuck.
I joined those two in warming up until the game next to us broke up and we joined in.
First Game
My first game would be Chuck and myself against Mark and Kristen Long. Mark said Kristin and he are playing together in the tournament on Saturday so they wanted to play together tonight. I was playing very well and Chuck was playing on par with Mark and Kristin. Chuck and I won 11–6 or 11–5 or something like that.
The next game was Matt and myself against Paul W. and someone whom I don’t recall.
James
I played with Conner against David L. and tall James. I haven’t been on the same court with James for months and months. I did see him out on the courts recently, but I didn’t get to play with him.
Tonight, I was making mistakes in those games. I need to play a more conservative game. As a rare experience, I felt that I was the weakest player on the court for that game. I felt the David and Connor were both outplaying me tonight, and James, well, James is a level to himself. Conner and I lost the first game something like 11–3. We played a rematch and we did a little bit better, but still lost. I’m sure Conner was frustrated with the play of his partner… me!
For the third game, we mixed up partners with me playing with James. James and I were winning 8–6 when the lights clicked off and Connor shot hit me in the right knee just have to lights clicked off.
And?
Lessons learned tonight. Cross court, cross court, cross court—that’s a reliable way to avoid doing pop-ups. Getting a serves in is so important. Only attack shots that are truly high enough to attack. I hit the white tape tonight at least four or five times for some reason. I need to give myself more margin.
New Paddle
The Gherkin package was waiting at home for me. Their paddles seems a bit top heavy versus my Players Rogue 2 paddle, but the grittiness is quite impressive on the Gherkin paddle. They send quite a kit. Paddle, cover, overgrip, lanyard, paddle eraser.
What is really neat, they send all the specs of the paddle right on the handle. 8.0 ounces, Swing Weight of 118, Twist Weight of 6.83. Being handwritten, that implies that those last two could to be unique to this one paddle.
Friday, October 4, 2024 (No Play)
It is now known…
UPA-A Paddle Certification Prices
On Wednesday this week, the UPA-A—the group that is trying to supplant USA Pickleball as the governing association for the U.S.—announced their pricing for certifying paddles under their umbrella.
“March 31, 2025: UPA-A Interim Certification and Provisional Status ends. Only paddles with full 2025 UPA-A Certification will be allowed at UPA professional events after this date.”
This means that paddles approved by the USAP will not be allowed to be used in the PPA Tour nor Major League Pickleball starting on April 1, 2025.
“UPA-A Certification Costs
For 2025, UPA-A Certification will cost a flat fee of $20,000 plus $5,000 for each model and $1,000 per variation.”
As speculated, the up front high cost serves to prevent mom-and-pop/garage paddle manufacturers from getting UPA-A paddle certification.
It’ll be interesting to see what paddle makers who stand behind the USAP—such as Selkirk—do with regard to UPA-A certification. If they don’t certify, they can’t sponsor any players to use their paddles in the PPA or the MLP.
The press release also states:
“MLP/PPA will require a licensing fee for paddle brands competing at the professional level.“
In other words, paddle makers have to be UPA-A certified and have to pay a currently unspecified fee to have their paddles appear in PPA or MLP events.
Players Pickleball
Tonight, I purchased a Players Rogue 2 Gel-Core paddle. I had a $50 credit, so it brought the price down to $89.99. The Gel-Core or the Gel-Core Ultra. I was thinking that the Ultra was too heavy for what I’d want… it’s about 8.6 ounces. So I decided against the Ultra.
Paddle Comparison
The Gherkin Aspire paddle on the left, my Players Rogue 2 paddle on the right for visual comparison. I did a bit more testing and the balance is actually fairly similar. The Gherkin’s center about 1/4″ higher than my Players’ paddle… and part of that could be the additional grip wrappings on my Players paddle.
Part of me is tempted to this Gherkin paddle the next time I’m out, but that would be the tournament tomorrow and that’s not happening! Using a paddle for the firsts time at a tournament is never a good idea!
Number of days on a court: 722
Number of total hours: 2,974
Number of paid coaching hours: 81.5
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