Sunday, March 22, 2026 (Court Day #916)
I made my way to Brommer Park at 9 a.m. As I walked out my front door, it was 57°F, but it felt quite a bit warmer in the direct sunlight. It cooled down yesterday, but overall it’s been a fairly toasty week with the temperatures in the 80s.
Brommer
I pulled into the Brommer parking lot at 9:16 a.m. There were still traces of the fog, but I expected that to burn off in very short order. The question I was mulling was how warm it would get today.
Games
My first game was with Kyle against Zach and his wife Julie. (Rarely play with Zach and Julie, I think they are very early birds.) I did my best to try to keep the game close. Kyle was grumbling at himself, he was making a fair number of errors.
Kyle and I played together again and this time before the game, he asked me what he should do. I told him that it’s far better to get the ball over the net and have one more shot than to force it and drive hard into the net and have the rally be over.
Reserved Games
Rick Arnold arrived and he was looking for some players to join him and René on the #3 court he had reserved from 10 a.m. until noon. He invited me, then Dan Dewey was invited to be our fourth. These would be some fun games.
Rick and I played against René and Dan. We lost 4-11.
We had a rematch and this time it was closer, 8-11.
In our third game, it was a switch. We won 11-2. René kind of lost focus in that game.
We changed our partners and this time I was playing with René.
René and I won 11-8. We have been leading 8–1, but we were able to stall their comeback and win.
Rene and I lost the next one 4-11.
In our third and last game together, early in the game, we were down 2-8 but I got really focused. I did not want to lose this game. René was pretty happy with my play. At one point, she said, “Wow, Andrew! Beast mode!” René and I won that last game 11-9.
René told me that people should only speed up against me if they want to practice having the ball come back. She said, “You are like a Wall!”
After one rally when René and I were getting attacked in the backcourt, René complemented me my defense. I handled several high-speed slams in a row, my reset off one was really, really good.
I have to say, Dan is extremely effective with his lobs. He’s got good topspin and his height and placement are excellent. You really have to hustle to get back and have a chance to return the ball.
We had some really great rallies in some of those games.
Daydreaming
My problem during most games is it they tend to move rather slowly, and my brain starts to wander. The rally will start. I’ll be daydreaming about something else. I think this is one of the reasons that I tend to play better in tournaments. I tend to stay more focused.
I left at 12:05 p.m.—I had to get home then to teaching. By this time it was completely sunny and it was in the mid 60s. It was a beautiful day.
Knee
I was feeling my right knee a bit in the last couple of games, so I iced it when I got home. I was wearing the cooling wrap as I drove from my house to Scotts Valley to teach.
Teaching
At Skypark after teaching, I was chatting with Marco and Christina who were drilling. In the conversation, I shared that Matt Babb recently told me that his DUPR rating is too high, 4.7—“He’s not a 4.7,” Marco interjected—and that Matt would like to get it down to where it should be. “He should call me!”, laughed Marco. I told Marco that that is pretty much what I told Matt myself!
Line Calls
This is a good video about line calls:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVqCPh5jUo6
Hilarious!
A new pandemic is on the loose!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWKYU09kppL
Monday, March 23, 2026 (No Play)
Articles regarding pickleball in jails and prisons, pop up now and then. I believe it’s good. It breaks down boundaries by helping socializations outside of natural groups. It’s common in prison for prisoners to continue gang affiliation or to build groups solely based on race.
https://www.newson6.com/tulsa-oklahoma-news/pickleball-for-prisoners-oklahoma-doc-introducing-inmate-games-with-the-goal-of-rehabilitation
Someday, if I have enough time, I think bringing pickleball to incarcerated individuals, maybe juveniles is something that I’d like to do. Maybe after I retire. I don’t have the time nor flexibility in my schedule now, unfortunately.
Number of days on a court: 916
Number of total hours: 3,425
Number of paid coaching hours: 209.5
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