Thursday, May 15, 2025 (Court Day #803)

My wife or daughter sent this to me. Dr. Sagar Desai, an orthopedic surgeon, shares why about a quarter of his patients are pickleball players:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIbcEMKAXqW

Here’s another one from the doctor featured in the above video:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DJXiIWqP2c-

The lesson? Warm up. Know your limits.

After Work

I was delayed at work by a customer who wanted to pick something up 15 minutes after closing time… but, of course, I took care of her. After that, I dropped off my brother Matt at my parents’ house and headed out to Scotts Valley to go play.

Skypark

It was beautiful clear skies and 66° when I arrived at the courts sometime around 7 p.m., give or take.

There was a very convenient parking spot next to the court when I arrived. As you would expect with easy parking, it meant a light crowd with only maximum of about half a dozen people waiting at a time. I got right into a game and rolled from game to game to game.

Games

My first game was a disaster. I was missing shots right and left. I let two or three shots go by me that landed literally on the sidelines—though I was thinking, “Sooner or later, when your opponent is painting the lines, one of those balls is going to land out.” And the next one did!

The second game was a little bit better, as was the third. By the fourth game, I was dialed in and playing well. After some quick net work on my part, Aaron Hicks kidded, “We need to start calling you ‘Handrew’!”

The last game was John and myself against Ben and tall, thin Mike C. Midway through the game after I made a couple of mistakes, John encouraged me, “I need you to carry us!“ I did tighten things back up, but it wasn’t enough. We ended up losing 8–11. We checked the time to see if we could fit in another game, but it was already 8:31 p.m. I knew the lights would be going off within two minutes.

I played on courts tonight with Aaron Hicks, tall and thin Mike C., a guy named Phil, Ben, John (whose friend is Gabi), Paul Winn. Aaron is a far cry from when he started. He made an outstanding shot tonight.

The great thing about pickleball is it doesn’t matter if you are old or young, an immigrant or a native, a man or a woman, have a thick accent or no accent, are tall or short, liberal or conservative, a believer or an atheist– it all doesn’t matter. It’s a community.

Knee

My right knee—the one I had surgery on—rarely bothers me while playing. But later in the evening, I noticed it. Hopefully, it returns to normal quickly.

Pro Domination—ouch!

A PPA tournament is going on this weekend in Atlanta. It popped up on social media that Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns beat Riley Newman and his sister Lindsey Newman in two games taking only 15 minutes and not allowing the siblings to score even a single point. That’s painful. Being that I had a group dinner—about a dozen people—with Riley and Lindsey about a year ago, I’m sympathetic. Here’s a video:

Mini Tennis?

Federico Staksrud, who captured the #1 singles ranking from Ben Johns, complained that singles pickleball “has become mini tennis.” One of the things special about pickleball is the net play and the related strategies. Paddles evolving to have more grit allows for more topspin and therefore hitting harder… it becomes more dangerous to advance to the net and perhaps open up lanes for passing shots. Here’s a full article:
https://www.timesnownews.com/sports/pickleball/world-no-1-federico-staksrud-expresses-concern-over-singles-pickleball-say-has-become-mini-tennis-article-151644427

Saturday, May 17, 2025 (No Play)

My niece, Gigi, had her First Communion today down in Corralitos. Afterward, we headed to Aldridge Lane County Park nearby for a picnic to celebrate. While there, I noticed a sign stapled to a post. It was from Rec.us looking for instructors to teach tennis at the single tennis court there. Rec is the company that I’m contracted with to teach pickleball at Skypark. Corralitos is part of the County of Santa Cruz (just very south), as is Willowbrook Park in Aptos.

Number of days on a court: 803
Number of total hours: 3,152.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 135.5

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