Sunday, November 24, 2024 (Court Day #741)
As I left my house, it was a toasty 48°F. Yes, that’s sarcasm. It was overcast and there was not an open patch of blue sky anywhere. I wore a sweatshirt, knowing that it would likely come off mid-morning.
Surprisingly, as I got closer to Brommer, the sun was peeking out a little bit and you could see blue sky away from the coast.
Brommer Park
I pulled in at 8:37 a.m. There were a few games going on, but half the courts were empty. Shawnte and Marquis were warming up on a court while I sat on the wall waiting and scoping things out. After they came off the court and Marquis wandered away for a few minutes, I asked Shawnte if he’d help me warm up and he did.
Games
Jordan arrived and we invited him and Marquis into a game on the permanent court we had. Once Jordan was warmed up, Shawnte and I were taking on Marquis and Jordan. It was a close game but we pulled off a win.
We rotated partners and so Jordan and I took on Shawnte and Marquis. We won 11-8. In this game, while I was diagonal from Shawnte near the baseline, he hit a very shallow cross-court shot. I sprinted up and since the shot was so wide, I decided to go for an ATP. You could hear a “thud” as the ball solidly clipped the metal post, but it still landed in. Shawnte exclaimed what I was thinking, “I’ve never seen that before.” Unfortunately, of course, a net post is considered a “permanent object” so when the ball hit it, the ball was dead.
Next
By this time, the courts were filled up and there were waits to get into the next game. The waits weren’t too bad, however.
A tall guy named Mike—who I’ve seen around periodically but don’t know well—and I played against Jordan and Jens. Jens was outclassed. Mike and I won 11-1.
Stronger Game
Jordan and I ended up in a game versus Evan and JP. Jordan and I both hit a number of bad shots, though we still pulled off a win 11-6.
By this time, it was 10:27 a.m. Still an hour of play time left.
We mixed up the group for the next game and Evan and I played against Jordan and JP. Evan and I won 11-4.
Donut
The last game was Evan and myself against a young fellow with a trim black beard that I’ve seen around and his lady friend. Evan and I won 11–0. About two-thirds of the way through the game, instead of taking the optimal shot, I decided to start hitting as much as I could to the guy because he was the slightly better player. Even then, it didn’t affect the outcome.
Smiling Faces
Today was almost like a “who who” of local OG pickleball. Or at least, there were some faces showing that I hadn’t seen for a while. As I was about to leave, Beth and David Black arrived, as did Tristan, Jane Prince, and Jon Barlow. Tristan is home for Thanksgiving break from Austin, Texas where he is studying pre-med. I guess that also makes me OG since I started playing before Tristan and Jane and maybe Jon too.
I said my goodbyes and I left at 11:25 a.m. I needed to leave no later than 11:30 a.m. in order to pick up my mom and my brother and drop them off at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium downtown for a play that my nieces and nephew were in today. From there, it was briefly home then time for the last meeting of my two 4-week pickleball classes. A week ago, rain was forecasted for today, but instead it turned out to be a nice day.
Teaching
Some of my students didn’t make it to class, so I had to fill in to even out pairs, so I was helping students drill for much of the three hours that I was teaching. I stayed around after my second class and played one game with three students—lefthanded to at least balance things a little bit. Even then, I had to try to not hit too many winners.
One of my students recently asked if a player would ever hit the ball as a low forehand but with the palm down/back. I said we sometimes do it in a pinch when forced, but we typically avoid it when possible. Coincidentally, this video popped up in my Instagram feed showing a pro player doing exactly that… a palm back forehand:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAi2KpyR-wO
Tuesday, November 26, 2024 (No Play)
Last night, I came home from work to the sample paddle from AMPD Pickleball. I haven’t had a chance to play with it yet. Today is my wife Kristen and my 30th wedding anniversary, and while she said I could go play pickleball, I figured that it would be wise to stay home and have dinner with my wife plus my mother-in-law Bonnie and my son Nicholas who brought Bonnie over from the airport. We have Thanksgiving in just two days, I should be able to play that morning. But, tonight, I left work a little early, picked up flowers and a box of nice dark chocolates from a local high-end chocolate shop for my wife.
Ben Johns Analysis
Ed Ju does good analysis of shots and this is first time I’ve seen him breakdown a pro match. I thought this was a really good analysis.
Pickleball is Good for You!
Here’s a medical article published this week outlining the health benefits of pickleball:
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/neurophysiologist-reveals-how-playing-pickleball-supports-brain-health
Wednesday, November 27, 2024 (No Play)
Between riding the Peloton and pickleball earlier this week, mostly the Peloton, I’m still a little sore today. It’s a good sore, but sore.
Nationals
The USAP shared some stats from Nationals held earlier this month:
- 2,600 competitors
- 47 states represented
- 10,000 attendees
- 87 years: age difference between oldest competitor (Joyce Jones, 94) and youngest (Jr Deheart, 7)
- 3,835 matches
A solid turnout. Not a surprise.
Too Much Time
Good thing I’ve never done this! (Not!) This is always painful when it happens. It seems at least once or twice a month for me!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DChn08GsPnr
Tennis Elbow Strap
One of the two foam pads fell off of my Band-It forearm strap that I wear to control tennis elbow. It has seen years of use and has generally held up very well. I used some E6000 adhesive and a toothpick to apply the glue strategically to the plastic shell. I added a kitchen towel around a large diameter candle and layered that with some paper towel… if the glue oozed out, I didn’t want it on the kitchen towel! That diameter approximated my forearm then I strapped Band-It in place for over 24 hours to dry. All better!
Paddle Comparison
I decided to physically compare the AMPD paddle with my Gearbox Pro paddle.
The AMPD has a bit grittier surface, but the most noticeable difference is the shorter handle on the AMPD. I almost never use a two-handed backhand, so having more face on a paddle is a plus for me. But if you are a two-hander, you might dislike the lack of handle length.
The AMPD Zephyr is a 14mm paddle featuring thermoformed T700 carbon fiber and a 110 swing weight.
I’m looking forward to taking this AMPD paddle out for a spin. (No pun intended!)
Number of days on a court: 741
Number of total hours: 3,016.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 99.5
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