Author: andrewlenz (Page 191 of 329)

Tuesday, July 20, 2021 (Court Day #394)

After closing time at work, I went to my car to grab my T-shirt and shorts when I realized that I’d forgotten my court shoes at home. Oops. That’s a first. I had a vague feeling this morning that I was forgetting something! That would cost me at least 15 minutes of play. I got to Skypark at 7 p.m. on the dot and things were busy. 23 people were there, 20 in games.

Mark D. suggested we set up a net and play 2 on 1, but I told him that I was waiting to play with Olga since we have a tournament on Sunday. Less than two minutes later, a court was open and I was on.

Shut out

Olga and I took on Mark D and Larry. If we win like this at the tournament, we’ll do very well! We won 11-0. It was my first shutout in a long time.

Next, we played Bruce and his wife Janet. After a shutout, I was expecting us to do every well, but this was a battle. I made almost no mistakes in the first game, but a few of my drops ended up in the net in this game. Olga made more errors too. That and Bruce and Janet are better players. It was back and forth, but Olga and I came from one point down to win 13-11.

Newbies

The next game, we played some newer lesser skilled players, Kate and Cathy, whom I’d never met before. Given the skill level and to rest my tennis elbow, I played the game lefty. We won 11-3. It’s one of those games were you relax and don’t play as focused. Both women were very nice.

We convinced Oleg to get into a game with us. He partnered with Mark D. Oleg is very precise with his shots. He’s not perfect, but he has shot power and great angles. Olga and I lost this one 11-7.

New Guy John

There was a tall thin man named John. (We have far too many Johns in the pickleball community!) John and Bruce took us on. John is a pretty solid player. Olga and I lost this one 11-9.

We then had a rematch with John and Bruce. This time, we played better. Olga and I won this one handily 11-2.

We left at 8:33 p.m. Olga said she needed to feed her father-in-law, I believe.

I was very saddened to learn that Olga and Oleg will be moving to Los Osos, about two hours away. They have family there. In the parking lot, Janet said already knew, but it was news to me. Such a bummer.

Home

While it felt all right, I still iced my forearm when I got home. I probably should have iced my shoulder too, but it wasn’t convenient. My nephew Grant is visiting from out of town this week to do Junior Guards at the beach every morning. (He and his dad rented a house in Capitola last week, the first week of Grant’s 2-week program.)

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Wednesday, July 21, 2021 (No Play)

On Monday, the tournament sent out a Paypal invoice for registration payment. I took care of that. Today, Mike, the organizer, sent out an email saying those registered for the tournament were listed on their website. I visited and that list is below. It turns out that Olga and I are listed twice. Also, I added red dots for local teams, that is, John P. and Barb and also Shawnte and Hemmie.

So, twelve teams. It’ll be fun. They will likely break us up into two leets/pools with playoffs. Playing 11 games would be a marathon, that could be four solid hours of play. With me not playing righty for nearly two years, Shawnte likely has an edge versus my skill—at least I know, I’d pick him over me! While it’s been a couple of months, I’ve played against Hemmie and unless she’s improved a lot, Olga is better. In mixed doubles, the skill level of the women on opposing teams is often more of a factor than that of the men. Women after often targets in a game as players assume the women are the weaker players. Barb S. is good player, probably on par or better than Olga, but with me playing righty, I’m better than John. As for everyone else, no idea. It looks like a couple of teams of spouses.

I have a very mild sensation of a charlie horse in my right forearm. But it’s not hampering at all.

I got email that from Mike, the tournament director, that he fixed our double entry.

Number of days on a court: 394
Number of total hours: 2,020

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Sunday, July 18, 2021 (Court Day #393)

Yesterday afternoon, the siren’s call of the tournament got the better of me. I typed up an email to Sue S. to see if she was available to play as my partner for mixed doubles on Sunday. I texted her and asked her to check her email. It turns out that she will be out of town at that time, but she asked me to keep her in mind for future tournaments. I wracked my brain for a minute and Olga came to mind. I figured there was a good chance that she was already committed, but I wrote her then texted her husband Oleg asking him to let Olga know she had email. Time was critical, since the registration deadline was today! Nothing like the last minute!

A few questions and answers later and Olga was in! I’ll be playing in the 2021 Monterey Pickleball Palooza at the Chamisal Tennis & Fitness Club next Sunday! (I just hope my tennis elbow and rotator cuff surgery shoulder don’t act up!)

Brommer

I had told Olga that I’d be at Brommer Park at “10-ish”, in case she could make it and we could practice together. That turned out to be 10:20 a.m. As I walked in, I got a handful of “Hi, Andrew!” greetings. That’s always nice! I hadn’t even set down my backpack before Dave Black called over, “Andrew! We need a fourth!” Now, Dave and Beth Black and Leslie have always been in the “advanced player” group. To be invited to play with this group is a privilege. Generally, they are going to pick the best player available or just warm up and wait until a player shows up who can keep up. This was a fun and challenging game. I played right-handed—I figured I’d play righty today until I could “feel it” starting in my right arm. With that tournament in seven days, I need my right arm functional, not practiced but useless.

Dave and I played a couple of games against Beth and Leslie. I very much held my own.

Olga Practice

When our game ended, Olga was free too. (We played out the rest of the session as partners until Olga was done for the day.) Olga and I took on Patty and Juls. We took a quick lead, but with some errors on our side and some excellent shots from Patty and a few from Juls, they came close to tying up the game. But then Olga and I wrapped up the win.

Juls stepped out and Oleg replaced her. I noticed a few times when Oleg could have smacked the ball and ended the point, but instead he was kind to his wife and kept the ball in play. I played well.

We played a third game against Patty and Oleg. We had split the first two games. This time, I warned Olga that I was switching to my left hand since I was starting to feel my right forearm. The difference? We went from being very competitive—even with Oleg being kind on 2-3 points over those first two games—to losing 11-4. I don’t have the same power and precision with my left. It’s just the way it is.

Duey

The final two games were Oleg and me against Patty and a man who had been her classmate in middle school locally decades ago, Duey. Duey is tall, athletic, and has a lot of experience with racket sports: tennis, racquetball, and others. Nonetheless, tennis is not pickleball. When I asked later how many pickleball games he’d played before, he said about two dozen. Even playing lefty, there wasn’t much doubt as to the outcome. Oleg and I won both games. That said, Duey will be a force if he sticks with it.

At 1 p.m., I was ready to head out. Only 2 1/2 hours of play, but it was looking troublesome to get into more games as things thinned out, though there were players still around. As I got ready to go, Patty said, “You’ve really improved.” “I play so much better right-handed.” “It’s amazing what you do [playing left and right handed].”

I was quite happy with my play today. Good games, good performance.

Illegal Serves

On three of my serves today, Oleg said that they were illegal and I gave him the point. This happened twice serving righty and once serving lefty. I was skeptical, but Patty agreed with him—at least, vocally on one of those serves. That is worrisome. I need to get out my mini sports video recorder (fake GoPro) and record some games. That still doesn’t mean that they are correct—maybe they are—but if they are complaining, that means it could become an issue in the tournament or later in rec play. Again, worrisome.

Home

I iced my shoulder and forearm. My back is fatigued and sore. Pickleball does that sometimes of me. Crouching, leaning, twisting. Yep.

Number of days on a court: 393
Number of total hours: 2,018.5

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Thursday, July 13, 2021 (Court Day #392)

I wasn’t decided if I would go to pickleball tonight, though . . . geez. My dog just passed the most nose-curdling gas ever. *cough* *gasp* At least I have the windows open!! Anyway, as I was saying . . . boy, that smells so bad. Arg! Ok, as I was saying, I went home after work, did a few things, then elected to go play. I did get out of work relatively early tonight, so even going home first, I got to Skypark not that late. I was walking into the courts at 7:08 p.m. . . . and things were jumping!

I opted beforehand to play tonight entirely left-handed. I didn’t even put on my forearm strap for my right arm and didn’t even take one shot righty. I’m going to let it rest.

I walked in and with no open courts, was on the bench waiting. I had barely sat down when Mark Dettle called me over. A woman in his game had to leave and I jumped right in without warmup as Mark’s partner with the game tied up 2-2 against Kristin Long and Sharyl. I think we lost, but it’s was close.

A surprising win was me and Larry’s wife Jacquie against her husband and Christina. Wonders never cease. But that said, I’d never played with Jacquie before. She doesn’t hit a lot of great shots, but does a good job simply getting the ball back over the net. Larry is sometimes his own enemy. He loves to intensely spin shots, but occasionally overdoes it and a ball sails out. We won 4-5 rallies with Larry hitting a ball out due to trying to do too much spin.

Janet

Janet was playing like a rock star tonight. She has come so far since her skill level a few years ago. She was making some really, really good shots. A couple of outings ago, after she hit a control shot into the net, I suggested that she consider replacing her old paddle with a new one. Then, last time, she told me, “Andrew, you were right! I needed a new paddle.” Larry is a rep for Gearbox so that’s what Janet happened to try and replaced her old paddle with.

For the last game and the last players still there, Janet and I played Kristin L. and Mark Dettle. It was a back and forth battle. I think Janet served 10-9-1 three or court times in a row! We finally won 13-11.

At 8:59, Kristin was done. She said her hip was bothering her. Aches and pains are common in pickleball! We all called it a night. I really enjoyed the evening and felt good about my play.

Number of days on a court: 392
Number of total hours: 2,016

To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.