Month: March 2025 (Page 3 of 5)

Thursday, March 13, 2025 (Court Day #780)

Mike Sullivan, who was voted onto the Santa Cruz Pickleball Club board at the end of last month, has been working hard on getting the net situation better at our local courts. Some courts need the whole net structure replaced. Other ones need just the mesh part of the net replaced. Mike talked to the city of Scotts Valley Parks & Rec Department and received permission to have four rolling nets permanently at the Skypark courts… but we have to raise the funds. Given that the Santa Cruz Pickleball Club only has organized play at Skypark for three hours a week, it seems more than just the club should be providing funding. So Mike started a GoFundMe to raise the $2000 needed. I stayed after work tonight to make up a couple of signs—with the GoFundMe URL and a QR code—to post on the gate and on the fence at Skypark.

On My Way

This was the second night since the time change with me driving to Scotts Valley. But while there is still light, the temperature was still a chilly 48°F. We were approaching sunset.

Skypark

I arrived at Skypark a few minutes before 7 p.m. just as a car pulled out and left me a spot to slip into. Nice! Too bad for the car right behind me. Sorry, no space for you!

Signs

As I walked in, I took the time to tape one of the signs outside the gate and another sign inside the gate. I hope that people take time to read it and donate to the new nets.

Games

It was a relatively slim turnout tonight. There were three courts empty when I arrived and only two of us waiting. That other person was Ray, one of my former students. At some point during the next 90 minutes that I was there, another handful of people arrived so we ended up filling at least six courts.

My first game was against David Ang and a man named Hal. I didn’t recognize Hal but he remembered me. He asked, “Are you the Andrew who organizes things?” I was a little puzzled, but I told him that yes, I was on the club board. That’s when he explained history of his paddle. A couple of years ago, Hal had left his paddle at Skypark and had come by my house to pick it up a few days later. I remembered the episode… we chatted in front of my house for a few minutes when he got his paddle.

I was playing in a game against Marco and another player, and his partner hit a ball that clipped the net on a crosscourt shot and went out wide. I dashed up and hit a really pretty ATP winner on the run. I didn’t think too much of it and turned to go back to the baseline when I heard some whooping and hollering. It was from Tim Feickert, who was cheering for my shot. Sometimes, I think that Tim is my biggest fan! Tim is a really good guy.

I played games until just before the lights clicked off at 8:30 p.m.

Aside from some highlight moments, I continued to play how I have lately… below my standard level of play. I think this is the fourth outing in a row where I felt like I was playing worse than normal.

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Friday, March 14, 2025 (No Play)

Pat McAffee, former NFL kicker and social media sensation, made a pickleball appearance in this video clip:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHG3zFHgG-c

Skypark GoFundMe

Today was the more formal launch of the GoFundMe to raise money for new rolling nets at Skypark. I used a photo of Skypark I’d taken at night and added a GoFundMe logo over the top, then posted to the Santa Cruz Pickleball Facebook group as well as the Santa Cruz Pickleball Club (Official) Facebook group. In addition, we sent out a email blast to current and former members of the Santa Cruz Pickleball Club.

Mike Sullivan had contributed $100 himself when he initially started drafting the GoFundMe page a week ago. Within four hours after my post to Facebook and the email blast, we raised an additional $1200 towards the nets. It was amazing. I put in a donation myself as well.

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Saturday, March 15, 2025 (No Play)

The launch of the fundraiser for new rolling nets at Skypark in Scotts Valley was so successful that we opted to raise the goal so we could buy more durable rolling nets instead. It added about $1000 to the financial target. Donations have slowed down, but I’m hoping more will contribute in the coming days.

Ben Johns

Top pro Ben John has been eliminated in singles in his last two tournaments. The second time he lost to the 17th seed in the round of 16. Now, Ben is still in his mid-20s—obviously, not very old—but the field of players is getting better and better and better as the years go by. Also, there seems to be a change in the game away from control and more to the use of power. It’s possible that Ben John has some undisclosed injury as well. I’m sure Beth is not happy with his performance. It will be interesting to see what happens over the coming months. Does he bounce back? Does he continue to have difficulty with his field of stronger players? Time will tell.

Pro Game Plan

In other Ben Johns news, pro player Tanner Tomassi played with partner Richard Livornese Jr. at PPA event this month and they went up against Ben Johns and Andrei Daescu in the round of 32. Johns/Daescu did go on to win the gold. Tanner later made a video for his YouTube channel analyzing that match but unfortunately, it is unavailable with this notice: “This video contains content from SVG Sports & Entertainment, who has blocked it on copyright grounds.” Oops. I guess Tanner didn’t ask permission and the whole match is considered too much to be considered fair use. (As one might expect!) Fortunately, The Dink shared a list of tactics that Tanner used:

Have a Game Plan
Tomassi & Livornese had one rule: no speeding up off the bounce.
– Lesson: If your opponents have faster hands, don’t feed the fire.

Keep ‘Em Guessing
Smart ball placement at the kitchen line kept Johns & Daescu on their toes.
– Lesson: Make the other team uncomfortable—unforced errors will follow.

Find Your Rhythm Early
Tomassi started strong with cross-court dinks—his go-to shot.
– Lesson: Stick to what you do best. Consistency beats flash.

Serve Big, Return Big
The first two shots can set the tone for the whole rally.
– Lesson: Take control early. Every shot matters.

No Free Points
Up 9-7 in game two, Tomassi & Livornese got tight and missed easy shots.
– Lesson: Against strong opponents, unforced errors are fatal.

All good insights.

Number of days on a court: 780
Number of total hours: 3,104
Number of paid coaching hours: 120.5

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

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

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

Monday, March 10, 2025 (Court Day #778)

Yesterday was the time change, which involves getting up earlier. Yesterday, I was feeling fine. I gone to bed early on Saturday night. There wasn’t much of an issue getting up to next morning. However, last night, had a really difficult time getting to bed… finally falling into a deep sleep around 2:30 in the morning. Then I woke up again about 5:50 a.m. and was awake for a couple hours before I fell back asleep for another 90 minutes. Overall, I was a miserable night of sleep.

Pick-le-ball!

This has been a weekend of what feels like nonstop pickleball.
• Thursday morning, Mark Dettle and I were out the Warriors arena in the morning to scope out things and do some prep for the halftime show.
• Friday itself was leaving work about an hour before closing to get ready for and then go attend the basketball game plus participating in that demonstration during the halftime break.
• Saturday night was confirming and coordinating replacement students so that I would have two full courts. (And it was successful. I had two full classes.)
• Sunday morning was pickleball play followed by a stop at my house to eat and grab my things then to Scotts Valley for 4 1/2 hours for teaching.
• Today there was some play in the morning, followed by the board meeting.

Games

I played an assortment of unmemorable games.

Tony Sloss and I played against Steven and Laura (the one who moved here from Visalia). Steven is Eddie’s brother. Months ago, I’d heard that Steven has aspirations of going pro. Tony and I found ourselves down by a wide margin in the game but clawed our way back tying up the game 9–9. I hadn’t played with Steven before. Steven is an exceptionally good player. Aside from making almost every shot look effortless, he hit some shots back over the net that a normal player would not be able to get. He did a behind-the-back sideline dropshot that dropped perfectly low into the kitchen. Maybe it was luck, but it was really good! When I was on the right side across from Steven, he attempted a speedup at me and I drove the back between the two of them for a winner. He gave me a big smile and pointed at me. Yeah, I can have quick hands at times. Tony and I lost 9-11. As you’d expect, Laura—who is not a bad player—let us stay close.

Meeting

I didn’t get to the picnic tables for a board meeting until 12:26 p.m. Val and her husband Stan plus Mark Dettle were sitting there waiting. Not too surprising, George was deep in conversation with someone a little bit away. Jackie had arrived at the park but was off in the bathroom. Soon we were into our meeting.

More Games

After our board meeting ended at 1:54 p.m, Jackie asked if I could stay and play one game. As it turned out that one game was very short so we rolled it into two. Jackie and a regular named Bob who wears a visor played against Mark Dettle and myself. In the first game, I hit a shot and lost my balance and stepped into the kitchen. While I was in there, the next ball came back at me and that rally was over. I can’t remember the last time I did that. It’s been years and years.

At 2:20 p.m., it was time to go.

I have not been happy with my last outings. I’m hoping that I will play better soon.

Number of days on a court: 778
Number of total hours: 3,100.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 120.5

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