Tuesday, December 31, 2024 (Court Day #752)
Today was a pretty nice day, though it seemed that it got dark pretty early even with clear skies. We closed our family business early, at 4:30 p.m. instead of 6 p.m. to allow staff to go enjoy any festivities. We weren’t expecting many customers.
It’s been nine days since I last played pickleball. It feels like longer than that, more like two weeks, but given that I usually play every 2 to 3 days, nine days is three times longer than normal.
My son Nicholas came over from Santa Clara to hang out with his best friend for New Year’s Eve so he’d be staying the night at my house. I invited him and also my brother John to play tonight.
Skypark
When I got to Skypark at 5:30 p.m., it was fairly dark with a glimmer of fading light in the sky. It was a chilly 52°F.
The courts were surprisingly empty. There is two games going on and just two players on another court—plus a stray player. Just 11 people.
When one game broke up, Manda came over to see if we wanted to play. Of course, we did!
John and I played together against Manda and Nicholas. I was taking it a little bit easier in these games. After a few games, we rotated partners and Manda played with John and I played with Nicholas. As the most experienced players, Manda and I were always on opposing sides. There was one game where Nicholas and I lost by a significant margin. I was making sloppy mistakes.
Manda had to go and Nicholas and John decided to leave at the same time. Nicholas needed to meet his friends… it is New Year’s Eve, after all!
Next
At that point, the only players left aside from me, were Matt Babb and his son Lucas plus Paul Winn and Gabe. Paul and Gabe were playing against Lucas and Matt. When the game ended, Matt stepped out and let me join in the game. (Thanks, Paul!) We went from game to game with one player rotating out after each.
For a pre-teen, Lucas plays pretty well. He’s easily a 3.0 already.
I didn’t feel like I was playing my best tonight. Between being a week and a half since playing, and the fact that it was night and cold, it didn’t make for a good combination.
At about 8:20 p.m., it was time for Matt and Lucas to go. The temperature had dropped to the high 40s.
I went home feeling like I had played badly tonight.
I’m off from work for the holiday tomorrow and I’ll be heading to Brommer Park in the morning. Hopefully, I’ll be playing much better. I hope! We’ll see what 2025 brings!
Number of days on a court: 752
Number of total hours: 3,047
Number of paid coaching hours: 99.5
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