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
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