Tuesday, March 11, 2025 (Court Day #779)

It’s never fun to wake up to a trail of dog barf. I was starting to think of the best way to clean it up when I heard our 14-year-old corgi Oliver making heaving noises in the other room! I ran over and picked him off off the rug and set him on the hardwood. Nope, too late. So, now, barf on the rug, barf on the wood floor, barg on the carpet in one of the bedrooms. I’ll spare you the photos that I shared with my wife! I spent about 45 minutes scooping and using the portable shampooer to clean it up. Later, my wife shared that the room still smelled a little bad even with me leaving the window open. Oliver likes to eat dirt and rocks and leaves and sometimes his own poo when you aren’t watching him like a hawk. *sigh* Nonetheless, those things don’t always agree with his digestive system!

Proton Paddles

Proton, a paddle maker based out of Arizona, has filed for bankruptcy. Starting a paddle brand in a fast-growing sport is no guarantee for success. I’ve never played with one of their paddles, but they are a known brand. Maybe they spent too much on sponsorships.

Targeting

I read somewhere recently that the UPA has decided to discontinue their new targeting rule, which penalized intentionally hitting a ball at an opponent’s head. I think it was ill-advised in the first place. Any time you use the word “intentional” in rules, it gets really subjective instead of objective. I like the goal—have fewer players get hit in the face—but true solutions are elusive.

Joola Compliance

I heard on a podcast that Joola paddle company has opted to have two separate versions of some of their paddles, one with USA Pickleball certification and one with UPA certification. UPA allows a more gritty paddle surface than USA Pickleball does. I find it kind of annoying—and I’m sure some of the paddle companies do too—that the UPA decided to make their paddle rules different. Since they launcheded their own association to compete with USA Pickleball, it seems like they are differentiating themselves just for the sake of differentiating themselves. It seems like a waste of time and effort.

Time Change

With the time change this past Sunday, going forward it’ll be lighter later, so it will still be light when I get to Skypark after work. It does mean I’ll soon need to switch between sunglasses to a different form of eye protection midway through the evening session. Still, I prefer to have the light!

Skypark

I left work and arrived at Skypark at 6:39 p.m.

It was a bit cold tonight and I ended up wearing my sweatshirt for the whole evening. Granted, I could’ve taken it off midway through the session and probably have been warm enough.

My last two or three outings have been disappointing as far as the level of my play. For instance, tonight, I hit the ball into the white tape of the net at least three or four times. There is one or two instances when I went to drive a ball hard and the ball ended up in the net. That is always embarrassing.

My first game was with a couple of 3.0 players and a 3.5 level player. Once the game was done, I was happy—well, not exactly happy but thankful—I was not in a game with three strong players. Shots were simply not going where they should’ve gone and it involved a certain amount of exasperation and frustration. Sure, I was still the strongest player on the court, but my play was definitely not what I’d like to see.

Number of days on a court: 779
Number of total hours: 3,102.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 117.5

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