Sunday, March 15, 2026 (Court Day #914)

When I left my house shortly before 8:30 a.m., the sun was trying to break through the foggy haze. While it was 52°, the weather prediction this morning was for the high today to be in the mid-70s. It was going to be a beautiful day.

Today was my sixth day playing in eight days. That’s the most playing I’ve done in an eight-day stretch in quite a long time. I can feel it a little bit in my right knee and also, somewhat surprisingly, a little bit in my right elbow where the bones meet. Though both are mild and are nothing that would keep me off of a court.

Brommer

I pulled into the Brommer parking lot at 8:35 a.m. and I got into a game pretty quickly.

I would be playing with Brian and Kim, frequent regulars at Brommer Park, and our fourth would be John. I don’t know John’s last name, but he makes appearances now and then. John is a big dude—about 6-foot and stocky. This time he had his young son in tow. When I asked, he said that he had four children, three daughters and a seven-year-old son who is there happily hanging out on the wall while his dad played. Like Ashley, John has some really nice deceptive inside-out shots.

Brian and I teamed up and played against John and Kim. John was the best player of all of us. I would put him at a high 4.0 or even a 4.5 level player. Brian and I lost 7-11.

We asked if John wanted to play again, but he said that he was going to wait. Apparently, he wanted to get mixed in with other—maybe better—players.

The rest of us decided to go onto a court and hit the ball back-and-forth until someone decided to join us. There were a couple of other players that were on the wall, but they were taking a break and we’re not interested in getting into a game right then. It’s not like we were worse players, the ones on the wall were equal or weaker than our three. Fortunately, Mo arrived and we waved her over, so we had ourselves a game.

This turned out to be a well-balanced and long game. In the end, Kim and I won 13–11.

Kim, Dan, Brian

The next game was Kim and myself playing against Dan and Brian. Dan was playing very well. Kim and I lost 5-11.

We played a rematch, and this time the result was even worse, with Kim and I losing 1–11. I felt myself getting frustrated in that game—it wasn’t frustration with my partner or frustration with my opponents, it was frustration with me hitting attackable shots. That’s not to say I felt that I was mostly responsible for the loss—I didn’t—but I certainly played my part.

Fortunately, we played a third time and this time, while we did lose, it was a highly respectable outcome with the final score 10–12.

Dan and Me

Dan and I teamed up and played against Ed and the very tall Dave. I like playing games with Dave, he’s very upbeat and personable. Ed was also playing very well today, the best I’ve seen him play. Dave’s got a good reach and he got shots back over the net that I was expecting not to come back. He also puts good spin on the ball. Dan and I won 11-8, but it was a battle.

Dan and I played together again and won 11-6 versus Ken and lefty Greg. I was expecting us to win that game, but we did have to come back from being down to do it.

Dan and I played together one more time and we won 11-3 versus Ken and whomever his partner was for that game. I don’t recall. Maybe it was Greg again.

Last Game

In my last game of the day, Mickey and I lost to Dan and Ken 6-11. 

It was now 11:50 a.m. and I needed to get home to get ready to teach.

Pickleball Royalty?

Bob Hansen, the former UCSC tennis coach, stopped by to see a fellow named Morgan play. Morgan is 57 and was playing with Casey, Sean, and Dave Van Ness, the Cabrillo tennis coach.

Bob was saying that Morgan was a student of his decades ago, while he was at UCSC. He said that Morgan, while in high school, played quarterback for football basketball and tennis. Morgan wanted to play football in college, but they told them told him that he was too small. So Morgan came to UCSC which had no football team. He decided that he wanted to play tennis for the university, but—as Bob shared—Morgan didn’t make the cut. But Morgan was persistent and continued trying the next year. Bob said that because he kicked a player off of his team right right before, Morgan got to play for UCSC in nationals.

From there, Bob said the Morgan’s trajectory was just up and up and up and up. Morgan became one of the top tennis players collegiate tennis players in the country. Later, he did the pro tennis circuit for a while.

The years later, he played pickleball a few times then decided he wanted to play in the pro nationals. However it went, Morgan is now a top ranked senior pro pickleball player.

Bob was pointing out to me that Morgan would switch up his backhand—sometimes he slices and sometimes he comes over the top for topspin. The point of that, of course, is to throw off his opponents. Watching him, there is no question that he is a very good player.

And?

I felt that I was playing reasonably well today. I did slam two high balls into the net to may have otherwise been winners. I hit a handful of shots long over the course of the morning. My main issue today was hitting my drop shots too high. But better are too high than too low! With too high, you always get at least one more opportunity to get the ball back over the net.

Teaching and More Games

After my class ended, there was a player at the end of the courts that one of my advanced beginner students pointed out as being very good. Of course, I was intrigued and couldn’t help myself and walked up afterward my classes were done and asked the three standing there if they wanted to have a game.

There was a guy named Karl, Christen (a woman, tall and thin, pronounced “Kristen”), and a short athletic woman named Jess. Jess was the woman pointed out by one of my students.

We warmed up for about 15 minutes and then got into a game. Karl wanted to play with Christen, so I played with Jess. We played a game we won 11-4. Then we played a rematch and we won 11-1.

We mixed up partners and this time I played with Christen. This was a much closer combination did Christen and I won 11–8.

The three of them don’t have my soft game. I think they’re used to their drives and slams overpowering whatever opponent that they have. Instead, I didn’t have much trouble handling 99% of them. Karl drove one shot right at me and I had my paddle facing tip facing exactly towards the ball which flew past my paddle and hit me squarely in the chin. That was a weird one.

[Later note: I actually had a mark on my chin for a couple of days from that!]

Monday, March 16, 2026 (No Play)

Selkirk was the first paddle company to come out with a patent design with an open throat, that is, an opening in the paddle just about the handle loosely resembling a smiley face.

Well, there’s a new paddle company releasing a paddle that expands on this open throat design.

KOBO Thunder AXE Infinity Pickleball Paddle

Here’s what they say:
“Designed through a rare collaboration between an aerospace engineer, a race-team graphic designer, and a padel paddle designer, Thunder AXE Infinity blends aerodynamic science, structural innovation, and elite-level feel into one futuristic performance weapon.”

And all yours for about $400!

Tuesday, March 17, 2026 (No Play)

Timex, the famous watch company, released several Snoopy pickleball watches this month:
https://timex.com/pages/search-results?q=pickleball

Wednesday, March 18, 2026 (No Play)

USA Pickleball wasn’t fooling about them doing paddle testing at tournaments. Here’s some photos of them in action:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DWCcqbrErbV

And this is exactly why you wear eye protection. It’s always a shot that you don’t expect that causes damage:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DV6N4_ekdwi

Here’s an example of pros (the nearside is #1 Anna Leigh Waters) playing in high winds. Watch that ball curve!
https://www.facebook.com/reel/2119450465539799

Number of days on a court: 914
Number of total hours: 3,420.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 206.5

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