Monday, May 25, 2026 (Court Day #934) Memorial Day
I got up in the middle of the night and there was pain running along the underside of my left foot. This has to be plantar fasciitis. This is a novel thing for me and I hope that it goes away soon. It’s really annoying.
Binh texted me about 8:45 a.m. asking if club play was cancelled at Brommer Park. (I’m assuming he let his club membership lapse or he would have received an email notice!) I told him that the club never cancels play for holidays, and I added that I was personally planning to play at Derby Park. He was ready to join me at Derby Park until his fiancé explained that she wanted him to stay and entertain family until they were gone. I told Binh I’d be at Derby Park for a few hours regardless.
I pulled out of my neighborhood at 9:33 a.m. It was completely overcast and 61°F. The sky looked like it was threatening to rain a little bit.
To continue to help with my recent occurrence of mild tennis elbow, I played every shot lefty today. As typical for me playing lefty, today was a mix of highlight shots and inexplicable wild shots. In a game with a man named Rick against Larry, tall Larry of Lloyd’s Tire Service and Joel, Joel twice said that I have fast hands. And that was playing lefty!
It was mostly routine games today. I left about 11:45 a.m. Things to do, people to see.
Eastern U.S. Vandalism
So, a man went out and cut pickleball nets at two different parks in Pennsylvania after he hurt himself playing and figured no one else should be allowed to play either! Wow.
https://6abc.com/post/man-charged-vandalizing-parks-pocono-township-allegedly-told-police-was-due-pickleball-injury/19166821
Wednesday, May 27, 2026 (No Play)
Here is a clip from the new pickleball movie appearing on Apple TV, The Dink:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DY0WlASPmVy
I don’t have night hopes for it being a good film, but who knows. It won’t be available for viewing until July 24, so we have about two months yet.
Automated Line Calling System
Owl A.I. is implementing a new digital line calling system for MLP tournaments this year. Given all the complaints about “hooking” (intentionally mis-calling line calls in your own favor), this will be a step forward!
Sunday, May 31, 2026 (No Play)
Here’s a quick video about a doctor who treats tennis elbow for pro pickleball players:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DY7qbj6JIHJ
Wednesday, June 3, 2026 (No Play)
Pickleball returns to downtown San Diego after an apparently successful appearance last year. My mother-in-law lives maybe 10 blocks from where this is held, so it’d be easy to get there if I were to go down to participate.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZGqTQNNSyU
“Gaslamp Urban Pickleball returns July 30 with 8 outdoor pickleball courts in the heart of the Gaslamp Quarter. Enjoy social play, music, giveaways, the Game Day Market, the Zero Proof Garden, and summer fun all season long.
Whether you’re an experienced pickleball player or trying pickleball for the first time, this is one of the most unique pickleball events in San Diego.
Every Thursday | July 30 – September 3 4 PM – Sunset
Gaslamp Quarter, Downtown San Diego”
Friday, June 5, 2026 (No Play)
Anna Leigh Waters again on national media, this time on CBS Sunday morning.
Saturday, June 6, 2026 (No Play)
The “DUPR Reset” statistics are in.
Over 400,000 matches were submitted during the reset window. 53% of players received a boost. (Meaning nearly half had no boost and kept their previous rating.)
Of those who did increase, 91% moved by just 0.3 points or less.
It was also reported that 8% of boosted participants saw an increase between 0.3 and 0.5 points.
That leaves 1% (100% – 91% – 8%). So 1% saw an increase of over 0.5 points. (Most likely, these are lower rated players who were playing few games.) There is some mysterious rounding going on since DUPR specifically states the 91% and 8% figures. But they also say that “less than 1.5%” had a 0.5 to 1.0 increase and 0.1% (1 out of every 1,000) increased by more than 1.0.
To make this more understandable with a little rounding, let’s say just 20 players participated. 10 players got no boost. 10 players got a boost. 9 players got either a 0.1 or 0.2 boost. 1 player got 0.3, 0.4, or 0.5 boost.
DUPR has an article about the results here:
https://www.dupr.com/post/the-dupr-reset-is-complete-heres-what-the-data-shows
Sunday, June 7, 2026 (No Play)
Today was my first day of summer classes. I have two full beginner classes. It’s odd. A few months ago, I couldn’t get signups for a beginner class and changed it to an intermediate class. Then, now, I filled up two beginner classes. Go figure.
Unlike most morning before teaching, I didn’t play today. This morning there was an ice cream social for an elderly religious sister, Sr. Noella, who is moving back to her home state of Michigan. She sang out our wedding back in ’94 and I’ve gotten to know her some over the years. We also have some common friends—she knew my grandmother and knows my parents—and she worked as a nurse at the hospital where my children were born and I remember her checking in on when my daughter was born over 25 years ago.
Teaching
Two of my 1:30 p.m. students couldn’t make the first class and one couldn’t make the second class. The second class was kind of rowdy!
It was fun to get out and teach again after a two-month break.
Number of days on a court: 934
Number of total hours: 3,474
Number of paid coaching hours: 212.5
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