Tuesday, February 28, 2024 (Court Day #630)

This morning, my wife asked if I was going to play pickleball tonight and that it was probably going to rain later in the week. Truth be told, playing hadn’t even crossed my mind up until that point. By the time I came home for lunch, I had decided that I was going to go play, so I collected everything that I would need and brought it with me to work.

After work, I changed, then dropped off my brother Matt at my parents’ house on my way to Scotts Valley. It has been a very nice sunny day today but by that time it was getting dark and the temperature on my car read 55°F.

CHP

I saw flashing lights in the distance in my rearview mirror. They were approaching quickly, and then I saw there were two of them. I slow down a little bit and hugged the right side of the slow lane to give them as much space as possible. Highway patrol cars. I hope everyone is ok at the other end. They had taken the same exit that I took less than a minute later, their flashing lights disappeared down the main city thoroughfare racing to somewhere.

Skypark

My biggest concern this evening was parking. With the city of Scotts Valley blocking off the overflow parking for the courts, I had a feeling it was going to be a bit of a challenge. But as it was, I was able to park on the street nearby. In the darkness, I saw at least one car parked in the unpaved area and another parked between some trees. As time goes on, doing that could easily result in a ticket.

All the courts were full and there were about 10 people who needed to get into games. There was a pretty typical assortment of regulars there tonight, but there were also a couple of UCSC students—Cait and Diana, whom I met a few weeks ago—and another six who might’ve also been UCSC students but I didn’t ask. Pickleball continues to get more and more popular with younger people.

Games

In my first game, I partnered with Scott against Cassidy and another young woman whose name was given to me but I’ve forgotten. Scott beat them by a score of 11-3 or maybe even 11 -2. There were only two or three games tonight that I considered lopsided or otherwise not super challenging. The rest of the games were pretty good. By the time the lights clicked off shortly after 9:30 p.m., my back was pretty stiff. I’d been pretty tired for at least half an hour and there was definitely a fair part of me that just wanted to go home and rest.

Midway through the evening, I hit my left elbow and little fingers of my left hand with my paddle. That’s a first! I may have hit my fingers once before, but never my elbow! My elbow hurt into the next game and my little fingers were numb too! That was a good whack!

One guy, Mike, whom I’ve seen a few times now at Skypark, asked, “You have such fast hands, what level do you play at?” I told him that either high 3.5 or low 4.0.

It is good to see Matt and Paul, Tim, Max, Tiffany and Nicole, and others. I got into a few good games with David though his girlfriend Minori was not there tonight.

Ouch

I noticed myself wincing at home whenever I turned a certain way. My back was telling me that it wasn’t happy.  I took an ibuprofen and iced my knee. 

My right wrist bothered me a little tonight. It had been doing so well. Hopefully, it’s just a small setback.

Wednesday, February 28, 2024 (No Play)

The NPCA National Championship is coming up next month in San Diego. (National Collegiate Pickleball Association, if you are wondering.) March 15-17. Duke, Texas A&M, Washington, Ohio State, Penn State, University of Florida, Georgia Tech, and others totaling over 50 competing colleges from all across the USA.

Costco

My mom sent me a photo of a pallet inside Costco today. Selkirk has “The Ultimate Premium Pickleball Set” for $69.99 . . . two paddles, some balls, and a sling bag. I don’t know about “ultimate” or “premium”, but it’s probably a good starter set. But, boy, pickleball is getting more and more popular, no?

Ball Not Cracking Up

The PPA is reaping the challenges of partnering exclusively with a brand new ball that was never previously on the market. The Vulcan ball is not garnering a lot of praise on the pro circuit. Supposedly, some start ‘out of round’ and others get ‘out of round’ but then return to round after sitting for a while. Vulcan might have been better off to put the ball on the market, get feedback, improve the ball, THEN pay a ton of money to a pro tour for sponsorship. I’m sure Vulcan will work to improve it, but, boy, how embarrassing for them!

Thursday, February 29, 2024 (No Play)

Hey, it’s leap day!

The current forecast calls for a 47% chance of rain on Sunday morning. So Derby Park club play is in question as is my afternoon beginners class.

Growth

I’ll share a tidbit. Pickleball participation grew by 52% in the USA. (It grew 86% in 2022.) Even if growth drops to 10% this year, it’ll pass soccer and maybe even baseball for the most participation among team and racquet sports. Crazy.

Merger

It’s official today. After months of “on again, off again”, the PPA and MLP are now formally under one roof. That took a long time of negotiations, breakdowns, and more negotiations. But it got done!

Friday, March 1, 2024 (No Play)

I was listening to The Picklepod podcast and they were interviewing Tom Webb, the Chief Marketing Officer for the APP. During the discussion, Tom shared that their research shows that the average age of a pickleball player is now 35.8. And that number continues to drop. What also surprised me was the prevalence of pickleball in India. It’s now one of the top five countries in the world for pickleball.

Spaniard Jaume Martinez Vich appeared on the next Picklepod program and described his transition from tennis—he was a D-II national champion—to pickleball: “Pickleball is more like chess.” Ah. I love it. Indeed it is.

Backpack

My replacement PBAW backpack arrived this week. This morning, I moved everything from the one with the split seam to my old generic backpack and kept the new PBAW sealed. The Engage backpack that I ordered is expected next week and if I really like that one, I’ll just sell the PBAW one or gift it to my brother or something.

Saturday, March 2, 2024 (No Play)

Ah, the life of a site coordinator.
It’s 8:45 p.m., and I’m gazing out the kitchen window at the dark sky wondering if the gaps in the rain clouds will spread and lead to sun tomorrow morning to dry the courts. Or will a delay until 10 a.m. be enough? Uncertainty. It’s all a bit of a guessing game. I’ll admit it causes me a trace of anxiety. I don’t want to delay or cancel if I don’t have to. But I also don’t want to have to struggle with wet courts . . . or worse case, be responsible for someone slipping and getting injured. Sure, it’s a game, but there can be serious consequences. When in doubt, cancel, but again, I don’t want to ruin people’s fun.
Ah, the life of a site coordinator.

Number of days on a court: 630
Number of total hours: 2,736.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 17

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