Month: January 2026 (Page 1 of 4)

Thursday, January 29, 2026 (Court Day #896)

I was tired and tempted to go home after a long day at work, but I need the exercise and I knew that once I started playing I’d be happy to be there. This seems a common theme lately. I’m tired at the end of the day, want to head home, but go play instead.

I drove to Skypark shortly after 6:30 p.m. and it was a little warmer tonight, 59°F—at least for January.

It was 50°F when I left shortly after 8:30 p.m. I wore my sweatshirt the entire session—that’s unusual.

Going back to finish typing up this entry, I made no notes about the games or my performance. I can only guess that it was far from memorable either way.

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Saturday, January 31, 2026 (No Play)

In my opinion, this might work in singles if you could get into this circumstance, but not so much in doubles, especially not popped up this much:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DTwLCkkjV4N

Dean tried something like this on me 7-8 years ago when I was still a 3.0 player. A “no look” deception just like this. Even then, I was ready and able to attack the ball and I put it away for a winner.

I think this shot is too much risk for not enough reward. Unless the opponent is really out of position, it’s not a “winner” shot, it’s a “keep the rally going” shot.

They are in doubles position in the video—not singles position nearer the centerline—but this shot would be almost always ineffective in doubles… except for maybe very specific circumstances, like the player across from the shot is hugging the middle or the shot is made when the opponent is in motion toward the middle.

Maybe his other videos are great—he is a pro player—but I’m not convinced on this one. Maybe Travis could show him using this in one of his pro games successfully and then I’d believe in this shot.

Number of days on a court: 896
Number of total hours: 3,375.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 194.5

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

Tuesday, January 27, 2026 (Court Day #895)

I was hoping to leave work earlier, maybe at 5:30 p.m., but we had two people out sick today. When you run a family business, your life is not your own!

I pulled into the Skypark lot in Scotts Valley at 6:58 p.m. It was dark and seemed colder than the 54° that it was.

When I arrived, it was—by far—the busiest I’d ever seen! There were a whole lot of young fresh faces.

Ball to the Head

Matt Babb did a speedup and if I hadn’t turned my head, it would’ve hit me squarely in the mouth. Instead, he hit me in the jaw near my right ear. That stung! Matt apologized, but I know that he was not aiming for my head. It’s part of the game.

And?

The games were of no significance tonight, other than subpar performances.

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Wednesday, January 28, 2026 (No Play)

There are days when you wonder to yourself, “Why do I subject myself to playing this game?” This morning I woke up with that feeling. I was very unhappy with my play last night.

Actors & Pickleball

Another famous person spotted playing pickleball, this time Zac Efron:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DTRdUoljmw2

New #1 Mens

This week, Gabe Tardio is now ranked #1 in the world for men. The era of Ben Johns holding the #1 spot for months (or years) on end appear to be over.

Power Play

The Kitchen offered up their top five pickleball power players. Some are actual players, others are business people:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DT-wRhekUJU

Here’s their list:
1. Tom Dundon (Owner/investor of pickleball.com) [Wikipedia]
2. Connor Pardoe (CEO of the PPA and MLP)
3. Anna Leigh Waters (#1 Women’s player)
4. Ben Johns (#1 Mixed Doubles male player)
5. Richard Lee (CEO of Joola) [Linkedin]

Number of days on a court: 895
Number of total hours: 3,373.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 194.5

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

Sunday, January 25, 2026 (Court Day #894)

I arrived at Brommer Park at 9:56 a.m. It was cold, 50°F, and overcast.

Aside from the first game of the day, the games are pretty strong with me playing with other 4.0 level players.

I was happy with my play today, although I did hit a number of service returns out. I need to work on returning serves that are low to my outstretched backhand. That continues to be an inconsistent shot for me.

Luke

There was a guy named Luke who came today. I’d guess that he is in his late 20s. Tall, thin, brown hair and sporting a mustache. He said he’d come a couple of times previously. He said moved to the Los Gatos area from Wisconsin for work and that his parents got him into playing pickleball after he previously played a lot of tennis. Luke has a lot of good slice and can drive shots very well. He does have more work to do on his consistency and soft game.

The courts barely filled up today and I rolled from game to game to game with very little break in between.

Typti

So, I heard about this last year, but it’s now starting to get some buzz. There’s a new sport called typti:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DT54V_zkuqf

To quote the social media post:
“Steve Bellamy, founder of the Tennis Channel, is launching a new racket sport, called typti. The entrepreneur has about 80 investors for his new company, including actors Kyle MacLachlan and Chris Pine, director JJ Abrams and comedian Tiffany Haddish.”

It’s basically tennis with mini tennis rackets and a foam ball. It’s played on a pickleball court—surprise!—and it has an odd aspect . . . if you hit the ball into the net, you can still hit it over with a second hit as long as you hit it with something other than your racket… shoe, hand, whatever. Oooohh-kay…

Honestly, I’m annoyed by typti. It smells of greed. People looking to get rich have seen the growth of pickleball and are disappointed that they missed the boat and can’t “get in early” on the sport. Instead, they start their own sport and get in early! Plus—a bonus—you can steal back courts from those annoying pickleball players who took over the tennis courts!

I will say, an advantage of this newly-invented sport is the fact that they use quiet balls. We are currently stuck with noisy paddles and balls. USA Pickleball launched their initiative to develop a quieter version of the sport, but so far, there has only been minor progress.

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Monday, January 26, 2026 (No Play)

An Australian sports commentator took a nasty looking spill while trying out pickleball live on the air. I’m not sure how this became news, but here you have it:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-15495487/Tony-Jones-Channel-Nine-fall-TV-Australian-Open-2026.html

The comments below the story are very harsh! Woah.

“Old fat bloke falls over and doesn’t hurt himself in the slightest; more at eleven.”

“Couldn’t happen to a better slob. Dreadful commentator is way past his use-by date.”

Instagram Post Removal Update

So, I mentioned on January 24 that Instagram removed my joke shared on a Third Shot Sports post. I appealed the removal, explaining that it was a joke. No dice. Denied.

Well, at least I thought it was funny!

Number of days on a court: 894
Number of total hours: 3,372
Number of paid coaching hours: 194.5

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