Sunday, March 16, 2025 (Court Day #781)
Ever since the time change a week ago, my sleep has been a little disrupted. This morning, I woke up at 5:30. It took me about 90 minutes to get back to sleep. Then I slept for another hour and a half.
It was overcast and 52°F. Rain was forecasted for tonight.
As I drove to the courts, I decided that I would have a focus in mind today. No speed ups, no lobs. That will require some discipline.
Brommer
I arrived at Brommer Park about 9:45 a.m.
Mark (who regularly sports a backwards cap) and I played against Kyle and Kirk. We won the first game in a solid fashion, then won a second game 11-2.
A man named Aaron and I lost 7-11 versus Marquis and René. We had been up 7-5, but then they went on a long unanswered run of 6 points.
Another Mark
A tall, slightly older guy—Mark—and I won 11-3 vs. Rick and Tony. (The Tony that looks like he could be a gym model.)
Mark and I stuck together against Rick and René and won 11-5.
We played a rematch and this time I was a bloodbath. We lost 2-11. My partner imploded in the game and give them five points in a row to kick off the match.
There was a rubber match and this time we lost 5-11. I wasn’t playing my best and my partner played a little bit better but far from great. He had at least three or four lobs that were short and resulted in slams and us losing the rally. I hit a couple of speedups into the net—more patience was needed! There is one crosscourt shot from Rene that I decided to hit down the sideline as an ATP near Rick, but it landed about 2 inches out. I also popped up a few balls. We had some great rallies in that game that resulted in some cheering from the audience of waiting players along the wall.
While I was far from perfect today, overall, I felt better about my play. It’s been a subpar for a week or so. I hope my normal play level sticks around!
Focus?
So, how did my goals go?
Well, I didn’t hit any lobs, but I did hit speedups. Most were effective. I will say there was one dink rally where I made a conscious decision not to do a speedup, but unfortunately, I hit that crosscourt dink into the net. That was a disappointment, but I’m happy about being aware enough to make a conscious decision.
My last game wrapped up at 11:57 a.m. I need to get home to teach.
Lunch
On my way home for lunch, I was sweating. The temperature climbed to 61°F. It was just about perfect pickleball weather, but it felt a bit warm. It went from overcast to hazy where the sun would fully pop out now and then. I have some minor soreness here and there, but no complaints!
Teaching
It did end up lightly drizzling briefly during my first class, and it was cold—I wore a sweatshirt for the first time ever teaching—and it was a bit breezy, but not pouring rain like during one of my classes a year ago! Ha! I’ll take it.
Monday, March 17, 2025 (No Play)
So The Kitchen posted on Instagram suggesting that late Apple founder Steve Jobs was a 5.0 level pickleball player.
For many people, Jobs is a nearly mythical figure. But here in Santa Cruz, Apple headquarters is a mere 30 miles away. An elderly friend of mine, Jim, was a real estate agent for Steve Jobs and drove around with Jobs while he was hunting for a new home. Jim was at a party at Job’s home decades ago while Jobs was on his carrot juice kick. I’ve known numerous people who have worked—or are still working for—Apple. Three years ago, I played pickleball with an Apple Vice-President. Now, Steve Jobs died in 2011, well before pickleball exploded. That said, I played on a pickleball court located in the Bay Area that was built in the 1970s. Is it likely that Steve Jobs was a 5.0 player? No. Is it crazily far-fetched? Also no. All that said, I couldn’t find any evidence of Steve Jobs ever playing pickleball. The Kitchen was fooling around. But would it surprise me if Steve Jobs played pickleball at least once? Not at all.
Number of days on a court: 781
Number of total hours: 3,106
Number of paid coaching hours: 123.5
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