Thursday, July 2, 2026 (Court Day #943)

For the last two nights I’ve been wearing a plantar fasciitis support on my left foot. This thing which keeps my foot closer to a 90° angle relative to my leg and keeps the facia running underneath my foot in a more extended position. Typically, at night when your body relaxes, the length of your foot tends to be “down”—more in line with your legs—as if your calf muscles were contracted. The idea of the brace is by keeping the underside of your foot stretched out, it helps your foot heal and gets you past plantar fasciitis sooner. So far, it’s hard to tell if it’s making much difference. Last night, I bent the metal insert to more of a right angle, and I found it to be very uncomfortable because the end of the metal was digging into the top of my foot a little bit. I think I will try to adjust that tonight.

Skypark

I left work at 6:29 p.m. under cloudy skies with patches of blue. It was comfortably in the mid 60s. Unlike Santa Cruz, when I got to Scotts Valley, it was mostly sunny with a little bit of haze. I walked in at 6:40 p.m.

Games

Tonight, I played with the Aireo Cyclone paddle. Since it’s a demo paddle, I keep the paddle completely stock, including the grip. For my own paddles, I play with a larger grip—which involves adding wraps of grip tape. I’ve had the paddle for about six months and I figured it was time to try it regardless of imperfect grip size. The paddle does have exceptional power.

Games

I warmed up against Paul, then I played with a guy named Chris. Paul played with Chuck. 

Across the way, Mike C. was playing in a game with John, Alex, and a young guy who I later learned was Toby. The hope is Mike and I can play together in a tournament in October. I’m signed up but Mike is waiting to make sure he’ll be available that day. The more we play together in advance of the tournament, the better.

Toby is a tall, thin young guy who was playing with young John against me and Mike C. At one point, after I won a rally, John was telling Toby, “He’s a quick mofo.”

I played with Mike C. against Alex and that guy named Chris. I didn’t record if we won or lost, but I suspect we won.

We wrapped up about 8:35 p.m.

A group of youngsters still going.

Video Inspiration

A great tweener crosscourt shot!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaTbIZ3SiOG

Friday, July 3, 2026 (No Play)

Hmmm. I’m not sure what happened . . . so there is this post that came from The Kitchen…

Best Courts in USA
https://www.instagram.com/p/DaVl1F-kS9H/

All fine and dandy… AND in the “part 2” follow-up post of the best courts, our local Brommer courts made an appearance! I was really excited and shared it in the local Facebook pickleball group. BUT… then the The Kitchen’s post got deleted! Jared, who is the founder/CEO/president of The Kitchen, has made more than one appearance locally at Brommer Park. I got to play with him last year, there’s a post here with him mentioned. I’m not sure what happened, but I’m bummed that the social media post was removed. (It, no doubt, confused some local Facebook people since the link I shared went nowhere!)

Number of days on a court: 943
Number of total hours: 3,493.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 221.5

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