New Year’s Day, January 1, 2018 (Court Day #110)

I woke up fatigued. My back was tired. To be honest, I didn’t have the strong drive to play. The aches and pains tempered that. But I take every opportunity these days to play pickleball. Especially since rain is in the forecast. (Thank God. It’s been a very dry season.) I pulled into the Brommer parking lot a few minutes after 9 a.m. Dan Bliss was blowing off the court, Wayne and Richard were helping set up.

My play over the course of the day was inconsistent. Excellent games and implosion games.

An Upset!

Leslie and Susie were signed up in red on the schedule board. John P. asked Leslie if he could play up and join them. Leslie said yes. So we took them on. John said something Leslie about it being a learning game, expecting to us lose. Leslie played it off though. Surprisingly, we won the game 11-1. Leslie and Susie were both sub-par. John and I both played exceptional games. And I had an around-the-post shot off the right side of the net. Leslie turned around to see my shot drop comfortably well within the court behind her. “Yep. It’s in.” That’s the way the game went.

When Karen heard about the game, she said she wanted to play with us with Susie as her partner. We lost that one 11-8. Susie played far better in the second game . . . and, of course, Karen is a great 4.5 player. A very respectable game outcome, however. Oh, in the midst, after a point, Karen told me, “Nice hand switch!” I’d moved my paddle to my left hand on a very angled shot at the net from Susie. It was maybe a touch higher hit than I wanted, but it wasn’t a pop up and it did get back over the net.

Heading to the waiting area, John said that I’ve “bumped” in terms of skill. “You’re getting balls that you never would have gotten in the past.” That’s a nice verification of what I’m feeling. I do believe that I’m gradually improving.

Mixed Doubles

Melody asked about Paso Robles. She asked if I’d be interested in playing with her. I hesitated. I told her that men’s and women’s doubles are on Saturday and mixed was on Sunday. I’m not sure if I want to make it a two day event. I told her registration doesn’t open until February 1st. She acknowledged that I have time to decide.

Shortly after, she and I played a game together as partners. It was a disaster. I played quite poorly. It was embarrassing. But at least Mel knew I was playing worse than normal.

Last Games

Later, John and I beat Mark and Susie 11-4 or 11-5. Leaving the courts, Susie told us, “You guys are playing great.”

The last game was Oleg and John P. against Olga and me. Oleg is the strongest player, and Olga the weakest, so the outcome (we lost) wasn’t a huge surprise.

I was in the car and on the road home to family at 1:10 p.m.

Tuesday, January 2, 2017

Epilogue. Sore left hip. Sore right hip. Right ribcage pain. Overall aches and pains. Oy. I’ll need a few days to recover!

Number of days on a court: 110
Number of total hours: 310.5

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