Weather-wise, it was a weird day today that started out chilly and foggy, and then got sunny and nice and then got foggy again.
I made a quick departure after work. It was odd, I could feel very slight mist falling on my skin as I walked out of work. About halfway in my drive, the sun broke through the clouds and it was 63°F in Scotts Valley.
As I drove, I was hoping that my rebound from poor play would continue. I’ve been playing a bit closer to my normal self the past week. My two-week-long regression was no fun.
My right knee has been feeling better the past week, however, today it has been a little bit sore.
Skypark
I walked into the courts at 6:35 p.m. and it was hopping.
Standard fare, lots of folks waiting.The sign-up board as I came in.
Gabe and I played against young Zach and lefty Adam. We were down 1-3, but came back and won 11-3. (Yes, that’s a 10-0 run.)
I spent the entire evening rotating through games with Gabe, Zach, and Adam. We played a number of games with Gabe and myself paired up then we switched things up and Adam and I paired up together. The games were fairly even and back-and-forth. Gabe has gotten better. He’s a 3.5 these days.
And?
I was not happy with my play tonight. While I didn’t play terribly, I wasn’t dialed in. Just too many mistakes here and there. I hit the white tape a couple of times, two of the three lobs that I hit were slammed back for winners, a few of my drop shots weren’t even close to being successful.
Number of days on a court: 830 Number of total hours: 3,230 Number of paid coaching hours: 150.5
To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.
With it being such an action-packed weekend, I was exhausted last night and was asleep before 10 p.m., which is unusual for me. I woke up about 3:30 a.m. and listened to podcast for about 30 to 40 minutes before I fell back asleep. I was awake again just about 8 a.m.
It wasn’t too long after that this Mark Dettle, president of the pickleball club, texted me and told me that he was dealing with a family emergency and might not be able to make our monthly board meeting today. He asked me to run the meeting if he didn’t arrive. I agreed. He also let me know that Spencer had resigned from the board, which is a total bummer because Spencer was organizing the summer training sessions for our members. Now, we (the board) are going to have to scramble a bit.
Brommer Park
I had to park down the street since the lot was full and I was walking into Brommer Park a few minutes before 10 a.m. Being a club day, it meant signing up on the dry-erase board. People were still signing up in a single color, regardless of skill, since it wasn’t 10 a.m. yet.
Games
My first game was paired with tall Andy against little Linda and Bruce. We lost. It was a case of which one of us, Bruce or me, had the stronger partner.
Now that it was after 10 a.m., the various skill colors came out. Black for novice, Green for Intermediate, Red for Advanced, and Blue for 4.0+.
I signed up in blue. I ended up in a game with Connie against a man about my height with short-cropped blond hair named Kris and Andrea, a regular. Andrea and I won 11-2. They were not in the right color.
The next game was Andrea and me again versus Kris and a woman named Laura from out of town and Kris again. Andrea and I won 11-3.
Manda and I won 11-5 vs. bat glasses Chris and Kris. Kris got respectable after warming up. He was rough in the first games I played with him, but now he was playing better.
I played well this morning. I made some shots that surprised myself!
I was debating playing one more game. The board meetings are scheduled to start at 12:15 p.m.
I opted to do one more game and was hoping it would be a quick one… but not so much. An English woman, Val, and I played against JP and little Linda. We won 11-8, in a back and forth game.
SCPC Meeting
It was 12:20 p.m. when we were done. I grabbed my backpack and walked the 40 feet to the alternative table by the court gate where we’d be meeting. (There was a group over in our regular spot with the newer tables.)
More Games
We finished our board meeting at 1:47 p.m. and a few of us decided to play. Mike Sullivan and I played against Jackie and Ken, a regular. After the game, we rotated partners and I was paired with Ken. Ken was funny, “Can you carry a 229 pound player on your back?”
The answer was yes, apparently. Regardless of the partner rotation, I won every game with Jackie and Mike and Ken.
Last game of the day was Hugh and myself against Brian and Ken Smith. (Ken Smith is good friends with one of my regular customers at work, Jim Potterton.) I rarely see Ken but he obviously comes from a lot of tennis background. He is really strong with his compact backhand shots, angles, and his low drives over the net. Those were really good games.
I wrapped up play a few minutes after 4 p.m.
Aside from the very first game of the day and maybe a little bit of the second—which were kind of funky—I felt that I played quite well today.
Here is a Vegas news channel story on the project: https://news3lv.com/news/local/las-vegas-pickleball-project-sparks-debate-over-federal-spending In the video, Kentucky senator Rand Paul says that he’s played pickleball, but then goes on saying that the government shouldn’t “be in the pickleball business.” I disagree. If what he says is true, then all the public tennis courts, baseball fields, soccer fields, and skate parks should all removed and turned into something else since the government should not be in the tennis, baseball, soccer or skating business. Right?
Number of days on a court: 829 Number of total hours: 3,228 Number of paid coaching hours: 150.5
To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.
I left work at 6:40 p.m. It was a rather warm 70°F and very sunny as I made my way to Scotts Valley.
I was thinking, as much as I would love to win every game, I would much prefer to play well to the best of my abilities and lose than to win and be unsatisfied with my play.
Light crowd for some reason.
The first game was Paul and myself to get against a couple of guys whom I don’t know. It was a quick and lopsided win for us.
Next, Colin and I played against his dad, Mike, and Paul. Colin was outplaying Mike, Paul was outplaying Colin, and I was outplaying Paul. And yes, Colin and I won. The rallies were short, so while they wanted a rematch, I was more interested in a new set of players.
Mo, Jax, Mauricio
Mo and Jax finished up their game and then Mauricio and I took them on. The game was pretty close, but we pulled off a win.
We played a rematch and we won again, this time 11-7. I was playing very well.
In the next game, we lost 0–11 to Jax and Mo. Sometimes, things just go off the rails.
We played once more and also lost this game, but it was fairly close, 8-11. Mauricio was not having his best night, I’ve seen him play better.
It was 8:35 p.m., the artificial lights were out and while there was maybe just enough light to probably get in part of another game, it wasn’t worth it.
As I drove home, it was still a warm 63°F.
Ouch!
During one rally tonight, Jax lobbed the ball over my left shoulder. I yelled “Switch!” and moved my left leaving the lob from Mauricio to get. All went well until Mauricio got to the ball and hit a drive… right into the right side of my jaw! That stung a little bit!
And?
I felt like tonight was redemption. I felt like I was playing like a 4.0 again, instead of like a 3.0. Sure, I made some mistakes, but I was very consistent and played well. At the end of the evening, Jax told me that I had had a very nice scorpion shot and Mo complimented my hand speed.
When developing playing skill, it’s like a rolling hill. You gradually get better, and then have periods of time where you have a relapse and play subpar, followed by a rise again. Hopefully, tonight was me climbing back out of the pit of bad play that I’ve had for the past two weeks.
I went home satisfied for a change.
My next play should be Sunday morning, followed by a new round of 4-week pickleball classes that I’ll be teaching on Sunday afternoon.
During a couple of rallies, the backside of my right hand was bothering me a little bit. I’m not sure why. It wasn’t super painful, but it was a little uncomfortable. Fortunately, it was only very slightly nagging and not a big concern.
Friday, July 11, 2020 (No Play)
I guess the good news is over the course of the last couple of weeks my right knee seems to be bothering me less. I’m continuing to wear the elastic knee brace regardless.
On the flip side, the back of my right hand, which I could feel last night, is bothering me a little bit today on an ongoing basis. I was moving something cumbersome at work today and it aggravated the back of my right hand.
Angry Pro Loss
So, Zane Ford—after losing to James Ignatowich—sought to destroy his paddle in frustration. He smashed it on the ground a couple of times to no avail, then attempted to break it over his knee. This happened last month, on June 19, but it’s still been buzzing on social media, so I figured I’d share a link. TMZ even reported on it: https://amp.tmz.com/2025/06/19/pickleball-star-zane-ford-meltdown-paddle-break-carvana-ppa-tour
They claim that it only bent a little bit. Ummm… no. It was fully broken! Here’s a precise screen grab I made so you can see for yourself! That handle is well over the other side of his leg!
Sunday, July 13, 2025 (No Play)
I took today off from playing. Yesterday, we had our big 57th anniversary event for our family business. It was a crazy amount of prepwork, especially over the past month. Then we had a group dinner for reps and demonstrators and my extended family over at my parents’ house afterward. A nice big article about the event appeared on the front page of the local newspaper this morning. There were some minor errors—my parents are still the owners of the company, for instance—but overall very good.
But why I mention it is a good part of the event yesterday took place in our parking lot and I ended up being outside for most of the day. The thought of putting on sunscreen didn’t cross my mind that morning, so I end up very sunburned on my face and neck. I opted do not play this morning since, in addition to that possible morning sun, I had to spend three hours in the afternoon out in the sun to teach classes. Being out the sun for six hours after getting a bad sunburn would be an unhealthy idea. 3-4 hours of exposure was more than enough today!
Number of days on a court: 828 Number of total hours: 3,223.5 Number of paid coaching hours: 150.5
To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.
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