Sunday, April 17, 2022 (Court Day #485)
Today was my first day playing in almost 2 weeks. Between traveling for a trade show for work in Orlando, Florida, and other assorted obligations, I hadn’t played for 12 days. I initially hoped to squeeze in pickleball on my trip to the eastern seaboard, however it was jam-packed for work with no chunks of free time—in fact, my flight home was scheduled for less than 2 hours after the close of the show. (With one of my staff leaving for vacation the next day, I wasn’t going to spend an extra day in Florida just to play pickleball!)
Derby
It was 46°F when I was about to leave my house, so I grabbed a sweatshirt. A visitor was walking in ahead of me and when I went to set up the courts, he helped. By 10 o’clock, all the clouds had burned off though it was still a bit chilly. It was really great pickleball weather aside from the fact that it got breezy later.
Newbies
We had four happy newbies in their 20s come today. They had never played pickleball before and hadn’t watched any videos or read anything online, so they were starting from scratch. There was James, TJ, Nancy, and Olivia. They are all UCSC graduates, except for Nancy, who is a Cornell grad. While waiting for the game I had signed up for, I explained to them the basic rules and strategies and since there were only three club paddles to loan out, I loaned Olivia my Paddletek paddle. I got a couple of balls and had them volley back and forth to each other outside the fencing to get used to the paddles and a ball.
When I went to play my game, I offered that they should watch and see how it’s played. I did warn them, “We’re advanced intermediate players, so don’t freak out with how we play.” (TJ later said that he had played pickleball in high school but it wasn’t anything like what he saw in my game with Adrian, Allen, and Wai. He said they were more goofing around in comparison.) They watched until our game shifted to a further court—as we do at Derby during club play—then the newbies left. Of course, I was worried. Did they give up? It turns out, they just were outside the gate somewhere, not quitting before they start.
When their box came up at about 11:30, I stood to the side of the net and watched them play two games against each other, giving them advice along the way. In the midst of one game, TJ said, “Thanks for your patience.” They very much seem to enjoy themselves, when I said I hoped they would be coming back in the future, they said, “Oh yeah, definitely!”
We have a Easter gathering today had my brother’s house with extended family and some of his friends starting at 12:30, so at noon I found someone to close the courts for me . . . Tom M. was willing to do it.
Rain is predicted for this week, we’ll see.
Monday, April 18, 2022 (No Play)
It rained tonight. Even with a shorter amount of playing yesterday, and nearly all easier games, my body is a bit sore. My right glute in particular. Ah, the trials of a 2-week layoff!
Number of days on a court: 485
Number of total hours: 2,286.5
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