Tuesday, April 14, 2026 (Court Day #925)

I could definitely feel my right knee after playing five hours of pickleball yesterday. In fact, as I was trying to go to sleep last night, it was aching some. I was moving the positions of my legs to find the most comfortable spot. Some positions made the aching worse and others made it slightly better. But I was tired enough that I did manage to get to sleep pretty easily.

I may have shared this before, but it’s a good one so here it is just in case. The rule of thirds:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUWIp-JEn49
A third of the time, you feel awesome about your play. A third of the time you feel you are playing ok. A third of the time you ask yourself why you bother to play! That’s normal and it means you are being challenged. It’s good.

Autograph Line!

I have to say, this video is a far cry from pre-pandemic when, at a tournament, I could just walk right up to #1 doubles team Kyle Yates and Ben Johns sitting under a canopy as they waited for their next match and ask them for their autographs. Here’s a video clip of the line to get #1 women’s Anna Leigh Water’s autograph:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXFj7dBEYPO

Skypark

I arrived at Skypark at 6:45 p.m. It was a nice day today and still comfortably in the mid-60s and sunny.

It was busy tonight, but it wasn’t too busy. At most, there were 10 people waiting to get into games.

Young Leo—often seen at Derby—and I won 11-0 versus Abhi and Shreyes. This was my third shutout win at Skypark in the last month or so. It’s nice when it happens against competent players. Sometimes, it’s just momentum. I’ve been on the losing side of shutouts a few times in the last decade of playing.

I was in two games where my partner—whomever that was!—and I lost 11-13 after being up in both 9-4!

Ashley and I put our paddles up and we ended up in a game with a couple of women. One was Blake and I don’t recall the other woman’s name, but I’ve never played with her before. After the game was done, Blake told us that she could tell that we were pulling our punches. I will say they had a handful of very good shots. Some of the mistakes we made were from taking it too easy in the game. I think at one point they were winning 4–2, but Ashley and I went on a long run of points at the end of the game winning 11–5.

When I left it was 55°.

Wednesday, April 15, 2026 (No Play)

A new massive racquet sport facility—nearly 200,000 sq.ft.!—is opening in Arizona and will feature pickleball and padel. About 50 indoor courts are expected as well as a pro court with spectator seating.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DXFdEOcgam9
I hope they did a solid business plan. Indoor does seem like it’d be a bigger drawn in hot (and cold) Arizona, than here in sunny California.

Number of days on a court: 925
Number of total hours: 3,449
Number of paid coaching hours: 209.5

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