Sunday, September 21, 2025 (Court Day #853)
Last night, my graduating class from Harbor High School had its 40th reunion. I was one of the two main organizers, along with Julie G., who lives in Colorado these days.
A couple of other local pickleball players were there, Sycha and Rachel. Sycha graduated a year after Rachel and me, but she was one of several from other classes who came.
Targets for Class
I’ve been meaning to finish creating some court target mats for use with my students. The prefab rubber ones are pricey for what they are. Instead, I ordered a roll of grippy mesh material—the kind you put in the bottom for drawers or on shelving to keep things from slipping—in the size that I needed, then I cut that roll into equal size 18-inch square pieces. These have sat around untouched for weeks as I prioritized other things.
This morning, on my way to Brommer, I stopped by work and had our computerized mat cutter cut a 17-inch diameter circle out of a piece of paper chipboard to use as a template. (Since the mesh material was floppy, I couldn’t use the CMC on it directly.) I made three piles of grippy squares, and in turn, using a very sharp blade, I cut each stack into 17-inch circles using my new template. Success! I now have a bunch of targets for my students that cost less than a third of what pre-manufactured rubber ones would cost. Plus, being slightly off-white, they’ll contrast better with the court surface than blue or red or yellow.
Brommer
It was overcast and 63° when I arrived at the courts at 9:53 a.m. The parking lot was maybe half full.
Dave Ryan arrived moments after me and he asked if I wanted to warm up, which I did. We rolled into a game. Dave and I won 11-6 versus Oscar and Kevin. It was a good game.
Kevin joined me in a game against Shawnté and Hemie. We were down 1-5 but came back. I was trying to hit more shots to Shawnté. Shawnté twice intentionally “set up” his partner by hitting a short return to my forehand. I drove both of them for winners. Shawnte told me he wanted Hemie to “punish” me by returning those to my feet. Ah, practice. Ok. We won 11-8.
A dad and his son had reserved the tennis court and that took down four pickleball courts. Karen asked them about their reservation at 10:45 and they said that they had it for another 15 minutes.
Diana
I hadn’t played with Diana for months. She and I played against René and Asian Aaron and won 11-4.
Anthony
Anthony and I lost to Asian Aaron and Alex. It was Anthony’s first game and he went in with very little warm-up. We lost that one badly, I think it may have been 3–11, or 5–11. Anthony was making a lot of errors, but we did win the rematch, 11-6.
Hmmmm…
Oscar wanted me to play with him so—with my agreement—he grabbed my paddle and put it into the rack.
About five or six minutes later, Oscar came over and said we’d been bounced from the group… but then he went on to explain that it wasn’t both of us that were getting pushed out of the foursome, only me. The group ended up being Sean, Dave Ryan, Oscar, and Dave Van Ness, the tennis coach from Cabrillo.
I’d readily admit that the two Daves and Sean are better players than I am. Oscar and I can often be pretty interchangeable—though he’s a bit more consistent than I am—depending on how each of us is playing on a given day. And honestly, I don’t mind them bumping me for a better player. If I were in their shoes, I would want to do the same thing. That said, I wouldn’t pull someone’s paddle without asking them first. That’s a bit presumptuous. It’s never happened before, so if it happens again, I’ll talk to them about it.
The sun broke through the clouds in the middle of my last game.
I left at 11:55 a.m. It was time to leave and get ready to teach.
And?
How did I feel about my play today? I was very happy with my play. I was playing very, very well. Was I perfect? Of course not. But I was consistent in hitting good shots the vast majority of the time. I was playing good defense and generally handling hard drives very well. Over the course of the morning, I earned about half a dozen point simply off my serve. I successfully made some very difficult shots—like hitting a backhand volley reset into the kitchen while stretched out to return a drive down the middle off a high ball. It sounds kind of goofy to say, but that one was a pro level shot. Aaron complimented me on that one along with a few shots during the two games I played against him.
Teaching in Scotts Valley
My classes today got to be the first players on the newly resurfaced courts at Skypark. I have to admit, the courts look really good.
Social Media
This is a great rally. Watch the retreats and advances by the far team…
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOzm2zljQRA
Tuesday, September 23, 2025 (No Play)
I emailed Allison at Parks & Rec after several people texted me asking about when the courts would open for the general public. She said the City of Scotts Valley is shooting to have them open for everyone by this weekend.
National Mall
The National Mall of Pickleball event wrapped up a couple of days ago:
https://nationalmall.org/content/national-mall-of-pickleball-2025-recap
Also last week on the National Mall, on the 18th, they had a congressional pickleball event:
https://nationalmall.org/content/cong-pickleball-match-event-recap
Once of the participants was our local congressman Representative Jimmy Panetta.
Legal serve?
People will oftentimes post videos online about whether a server is legal or not, such as this one:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DO7ZuBvDFYX/
But if you slow it down, more often than not, they are legit. Such as this screenshot I took from the above video…. upward motion, contact at or below the waist, paddle below the wrist. Check, check, check. Legal.
Top 5 shots
The PPA Tour recently had a stop in Cincinnati. Here’s a video of some of the best shots:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DO65TS5EtDt
I think the backhand lob smash is by far the best shot. Though ALW’s behind the back spin drop shot was impressive. Their #1, while a nice shot, was one of the least impressive ones, in my opinion.
Hot Day
It was a hot one today. At least for Santa Cruz. Nearly 100 degrees. I think today was the warmest it has gotten this year. (A quick Internet search seems to bear that out.)
Thursday, September 25, 2025 (No Play)
Actress Emma Watson, made famous for her role in the Harry Potter movies, is obsessed with pickleball:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DO7muKHjK8Y/
This related article does make me ask, “What is she up to:
https://www.suggest.com/emma-watson-reveals-the-best-therapy-she-never-had-to-pay-for-following-hollywood-hiatus/2895917
Friday, September 26, 2025 (No Play)
Top player Ben Johns toying with opponents in Malaysia:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPCnIg4EufR
My Classes
As of today, my two mid-October classes are completely sold out three weeks in advance of the start date. That’s a nice thing, no scrambling to fill remaining spots.
Genie Bouchard
Here in California, former tennis pro Genie Bouchard has now qualified for her first pickleball final. She’ll be playing in a couple of days against Kate Fahey:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DPFU345Dl8K
College Pickleball
We finally have our first varsity pickleball program! Drury University, a private university located in Springfield, Missouri, is the first. Congrats to them for being a leader!
https://www.instagram.com/p/DO_XNKzkVLW/
Number of days on a court: 853
Number of total hours: 3,286.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 164.5
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