Adventures of Andrew Lenz and a Yellow Ball

Month: January 2025 (Page 1 of 5)

Solid Monday at Brommer, Testimonial

Monday, January 27, 2025 (Court Day #766)

Apparently, I need more sleep this morning since after I turned off my alarm I fell back asleep until about 9:30 a.m. I had already told my staff that I’ll be taking the majority of the day off for a meeting. I responded to a couple of work related emails before I got to pickleball. The Santa Cruz Pickleball Club board meeting got rescheduled for today after we only had four people show up this past Monday.

I left my house a few minutes before 10 a.m. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, but it was also a chilly 48°. The sun was deceiving and I grabbed a sweatshirt.

Brommer Park

I arrived at 10:10 a.m. and parking was easy.

My first game was a decently good one, I teamed up with Tony Sloss and we took on young Ben and Ken. They had played and Tony and I had not. As the game went on, we got better and better, going from a more sloppy play to on to win 12-10.

We had a rematch and this one was more decisive, with us winning 11-5. Yes, we got warmed up. 

Tony and I signed up in a blue box, 4.0+. Tall left Greg signed up in our box. Greg is not a 4.0. George added his name to round out the box. George played with Tony, so I was paired with Greg. Tony and I were the strongest players, followed by George. We lost 7-11. Afterward, Tony said I had some great saves. I made only 3-4 mistakes in that game, I played well. (Greg played in red for his next game, good for him.)

In the next game, it was George and me against Tony and Mark Dettle. As one might expect, we won 11-4.

George and I signed up again in blue. A couple of guys named Adam and Zach signed up. Zach is 19. I asked, but Adam said he is not Zach’s dad, they are just friends. George and I won 11-1. That was a quick game. Our opponents were not playing at a 4.0 level.

And?

George had nice things to say about my play, saying that I’m doing a good job being in the right place and he noticed an improvement on my mechanics.

I felt that I played well today, I love the competition was as strong as I faced in the past on occasion.

There is one shot that I was particularly proud of. I was on the left side and Tony was across from me straight ahead. He hit a forehand shot down the sideline and I had to reach to make a backhand shot. Even being stretched out with the backhand, I successfully made a really nice drop into the kitchen that he had to hit up on. I wouldn’t have changed anything on that shot, other than maybe hitting the ball a bit more toward the center of the court, but that would have made the shot even more difficult.

Meeting Time

When George and I came off to the court and returned to the waiting area, George said that he was done playing. I asked him what time it was and he said it was five minutes to noon and he wanted time to eat his lunch. I grabbed my backpack and wandered over to the bench area in anticipation of the 12:15 p.m. board meeting. The board meeting was officially called the order at 12:22 p.m. and ran until it was adjourned at 2:15 p.m. It was a good, productive meeting.

Testimonial

This morning, while I was getting ready to leave for Brommer, an email came in from one of my students for the class that ended yesterday:
“As a part time visitor to Santa Cruz, and recovering from a late summer fractured shoulder, I was happy to see there was space available in Coach Andrew’s Advanced Beginner class. I found him to be informative, personable and passionate about the sport he loves. Andrew is a great coach with individual attention to detail and is very helpful with comments and suggestions to make one’s playing experience addicting! I have found the Santa Cruz Pickleball Club to be a group of friendly welcoming players and have enjoyed my experiences playing with the group immensely. Thank you Coach Andrew!”

And that is why I coach.

Paddle Manufacturing

A video popped up, showing how a pickleball paddle is made in China:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEJSXf6AmRz

Uh, Yeah, No

My uncle Ed sent me this video… and yes, things are not what is claimed!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEs_akyvX9g

Number of days on a court: 766
Number of total hours: 3,078.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 111.5

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

Good Games at Brommer, Oscar, Danny

Sunday, January 26, 2025 (Court Day #765)

I was about to head out the door to go play when I got a text from Brian Hackett who is the site coordinator at Derby Park requesting a club email blast delaying club play there due to wet courts. It was only 10 minutes prior to the 9 a.m. opening time so I dropped everything and sent that email immediately.

Outside, it was pretty obvious that it rained overnight so it would be damp as well as chilly—in the mid 40s. It was solid clouds to the north and thin strips of blue sky towards the coast. Santa Cruz is kind of weird in that it sits on the north end of the Monterey Bay so the coastline is actually south—not west! Consequently, it’s pretty easy to get disoriented in terms of points on a compass. It looked like there was still a chance of sprinkles, but we dodged that bullet. No more precipitation happened today!

Brommer Park

I arrived 9:11 a.m. and it was easy parking.

The first game was Marco and me against Kyle and a somewhat regular tall guy whose name I forget. I would have thought they’d want to split up, but they decided to take us on. Before the game, there was some conversation between the two of them, discussing Marco and me. “Infamous” was the word used to describe their opponents while laughing. The outcome was a solid 11-0 win for my side.

Next up, Marco and I rolled into a game against Dean Kingston and Jason Brown. We won 11-5. Dean told me that my backswing is so small that it’s hard to tell what shot I’m making. Nice to hear.

Marco and I stuck together and took on Jordan and John 3.0—well, maybe he’s a low 3.5. We won 11-8. Jordan was still warming up but John played among the best games that I’ve seen him play.

Marco and I continued as a team and took on Jordan and René. We won that one too, 11-4.

Funny!

Danny stopped on his way into his next game. I was telling me how much he liked my shirt and how well I was dressed and going over the top complimenting my shirt. This all stems from the fact that he shared last week that he had discovered my blog and aid that he had searched for his name. He had shared that he remembers all the games where he got a mention. It was quite amusing. Here you go, Danny, you are immortalized again!

Oscar

We mixed things up and Oscar and I played together. This time against Marco and Jordan. We gave it a valiant effort, but come up short 7-11. That was a good game.

We decided to roll it back and this time, Oscar and I pulled off the win, 11-8.

Last Game

My last game of the day was paired with Sean and Danny’s brother Brennan. We played against Pauly and a fellow named Austin. I vaguely remember Austin, I may have played with him before. In the last game, I was repeatedly hitting outballs. After one particular rally, Brennan said that he thought that I was kidding around by hitting those. Apparently, they were pretty blatant! Those continue to be an issue with me. It’s my number one Achilles’ Heel. We lost that game 8-11. We should have won that one.

I finished playing at 12:04 p.m. Time to leave and get ready to teach.

And?

Today was a much better day in terms of the quality level of players that I got into games with. Not all games, but most.

Overall, I felt that I played well. Sure, I wasn’t perfect. I had some returns into the net, some drives too wide or too long, some drop shots never made it to my opponents’ side of the court, some outballs that should have let fly. But the goal is to continue to improve and be closer to perfect than your opponents.

Classes

When I woke up this morning, my back was a little tight. I was going to take some ibuprofen, but forgot. When I got home to eat lunch before teaching, my plan was to take two ibuprofen, but I ran out of time—well, or so I thought. As it turned out, I ended up about 20 minutes early for class, but I always prefer to be early than even one minute late.

While I wasn’t able to get a full set of eight students for my Beginners class, I was able to arrange that for my Advanced Beginners class, thankfully. I much prefer being able to roam and give instructions versus having to partner with someone or be a fourth in a game.

Today was the last day for both my 4-week classes. At the conclusion of my Advanced Beginners class, I got a standing ovation. Well, the standing part is a given because there are no seats! However, the ovation part was spontaneous and appreciated. I love teaching and feel that I do a good job, so it is nice to get that recognized.

Number of days on a court: 765
Number of total hours: 3,075.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 111.5

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

Stand-up Comedy, Skypark, Greeting Card

Tuesday, January 21, 2025 (Court Day #764)

It was 52°F and dark—as you’d expect—when I arrived at Skypark at 6:49 p.m. 

It was a busy with a solid group standing around and waiting to play. 

Games

My first game was with Matt Babb against Chloe and Asian Aaron. That was a close and long game and, honestly, I can recall if we won or lost. Maybe that means we lost! Afterward, Aaron said I played well, but I did not feel that way at all.

Matt, Kirby, Dan

Matt Babb and I played against Kirby and one of the two tall Dans. (Not Dan Borlean, the other one.) We won the first game 11-4.

Then we had a rematch and Matt and I lost 11–5, but for this game, Matt had traded his regular paddle for an Owl brand paddle. Mid-game, he shared that he was having trouble adjusting to it. Also, in that game, there may have been as many as half a dozen shots where our opponents’ ball hit the crack in the court, which significantly impacted the trajectory of the ball… you’d go to swing at the ball and it’d be somewhere else.

We had a rubber match, trying to squeeze in the game before the lights went out at 8:30 p.m.—we only had about 10 minutes. We figured we’d get as far as we could. It turns out that we didn’t need much time that we took command in very short order and went on the win game 11-1 with a few minutes to spare.

And?

I don’t know what was going on tonight, but my drop shots tonight were pretty consistently awful. Although they gradually did get better over the course of the evening, mostly in the latter half of the evening. although I still missed a few that I shouldn’t have.

It was a chilly evening, it was 46°F as I was nearly home and drove through my neighborhood.

Pickleball Stand-up

A pickleball stand-up comedy routine appeared for me to watch on Instagram. I didn’t think it was overy funny or anything, but I’ve never seen pickleball mentioned by a comedian, so here you go:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_3CVGxPYxL


Wednesday, January 22, 2025 (No Play)

I received a promotional email today from Courtney Beyer looking to sell her cards and prints to our family retail store. One of her cards caught my eye.

Coincidentally, Mrs. Beyer lives only about an hour north of me.


Friday, January 24, 2025 (No Play)

I had a non-profit board meeting last night, so I didn’t play at Skypark.

The Kitchen Blockers protective eyewear that I ordered arrived last night. At first, I was thinking they were very uncomfortable, but then I figured out that they included foam pads to adjust them and that improved the feel significantly. I’m looking forward to trying them out in a game—that’ll be at night at Skypark!

Number of days on a court: 764
Number of total hours: 3,072.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 108.5

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

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