I left work a little before closing time and got to Skypark a few minutes after 6 p.m. I was player number 9, but poor Judy is recovering from knee surgery and was only knocking the ball around gingerly, so I was into a game very quickly.
Left to right: Judy, Janet, Sharyl, Mark, and near court, Debbie, Kristin, Larry and his wife Jacquie.
I felt out of sorts right away. I wasn’t playing as well as I normally do.
I quickly figured out that I was exhausted. Dragging. Fatigued. As I played more games, my right forearm began to hurt. My tennis elbow was coming back. Damn. So a total of 12 hours of play over three straight days then playing again with only two days between was overdoing it. (As if I should be surprised, right?)
The last game was Janet and me against Mark D. and Adrian. I played that game lefty. We lead most of the game but lost after they came back and tied up the game 10-10.
The four of us left shortly after 9 p.m.
The company was good, but I was not into it. I wasn’t having my normal amount of fun. It vaguely felt like work being on a pickleball court.
Saturday, July 10, 2021 (No Play)
So. My right forearm aches a bit when doing certain things. Lifting a heavy water container out of the fridge hurts. Even typing is not 100% comfortable. Yes, I overdid it. When it started to hurt Thursday night, I should have switched to my left hand, but I get so much more power and control playing righty. It has to be at least half a skill level’s worth. (Like 3.0 versus 3.5.) I hit Adrian and Mark both twice in the chest Thursday night. A successful body shot for me lefty is rare. It’s frustrating playing lefty.
Tournament
I got an email yesterday about a tournament later this month about an hour away in Monterey. July 24 and 25, round robin, unsanctioned.
Of course, I’m thinking . . . can I? Will my arm be good enough? Can I even take a day off from work? Though mixed doubles is on Sunday, men’s doubles is on a Saturday, a workday for me. Could I find a partner? Would it be fun or frustrating?
And tomorrow. Do I play? Do I take the day off? If I play, Brommer or Derby? Will I be frustrated going back to the hell of lefty again?
Sunday, July 11, 2021 (No Play)
I opted to take today—my normal Sunday play day—off from playing. I need to recharge and give my right arm time to heal. Sure, I can play lefty, but I’ve been overdoing it. I need to “want” to be on a court. The desire needs to be there. My body has been telling me “no” but I’m used to taking every opportunity to get out and play.
I did run into my parents and they mentioned that my brother John was excited about pickleball. (I’d taken him out for his first pickleball outing very recently.) He was telling my parents all about it and how it’s better than tennis and combines ping pong and badminton and tennis together. He has small children, so getting out of the house can be a challenge. Still, maybe he can start playing regularly some day.
Number of days on a court: 391 Number of total hours: 2,014
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Stuart visited our family business today. He’s redoing the court reservation whiteboard for Brommer Park. An email went out to the SCPC membership this morning saying that Brommer will be officially reopening for club play on Monday, July 12. That will be 16 months after the pandemic shutdown occurred. I could have never imagined. Anyway. Stuart picked up some white dry erase spray paint, a black enamel paint pen, some masking tape, and some vinyl stick-on numbers to number the squares on the whiteboard. I’m sure it’ll look good when it’s done.
Scotts Valley
I tried to get out of work as quickly as possible. Even then, it was nearly 6:40 p.m. by the time I got to Skypark. Kristin’s plan was for everyone to start at 6 p.m., but I had told Kristin I might not be there until 6:45.
Sharyl, Larry L., Terry S., Mark D., Adrian, Janet, Kristin were all there. Mark announced my arrival to the others: “Andrew is here!” He was happy to see me, it turned out that I would be their fourth!
Terry and Sharyl on the near court, Janet and Adrian on the far side.
We rotated through partners. After about an hour, Sharyl had to go. So we played games to 7 points instead of 11 to get the three waiting players into a game more quickly.
I think my biggest problem tonight was court positioning. Closing up the gap between my partner. This is a very common issue among even intermediate players. There were a few points where I needed just another half step . . . maybe ever over the middle line. (Then there is Stuart who was recently complaining that I was coming too far over to his side and crowding him . . . you can’t win.)
The Youngsters
About 9 p.m., I asked Janet if she wanted to play with a young couple playing singles. There was a tall fellow with dark hair, Marcus, and his friend/companion, Emma, with light hair in a ponytail. They are both graduates of St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California—about an hour and a half of driving north of us. It had only take me watching a few shots across the courts to know that Emma has some significant form of formal tennis training. Her footwork and body preparation for shots was impeccable. When I asked her about that, “High school…?” then she started to answer, “College…”, but Marcus blurted out “D1!” Ah. Makes sense. With a big grin, Marcus said, “Pickleball allows me to keep up with her…almost!”
After the game with Janet, Terry and I played them. When I asked for yet one more game, Marcus said they hadn’t eaten dinner yet. I said, “I haven’t either!” “Hardcore pickleball players,” he observed. They agreed to another game, this time with Adrian as my partner.
It was fun. Emma was really good at poaching and hitting the ball angled off the court. She had quick hands too. Once she learns a soft game and adjusts to the ball and the court size, she could be really, really great.
Home
It was 10 p.m. by the time I pulled up in front of my house. My wife asked, “How was your other family?” Since it was 30-40 minutes later than normal, she was concerned that I was unresponsive in a ditch somewhere. She didn’t call or text, but was still worried. “Let me know if you are going to be later than normal.” Busted.
Nationals Tempest
The 2021 Nationals will be at Indian Wells again, here in California. They sent out a notice this week telling people that all attendees, staff, volunteers must be vaccinated against COVID-19. Some people are up in arms over this. Me? People! Just get vaccinated! Or don’t come. This isn’t a medical school you got into that you would be avoiding and would affect your entire career path. This is a game you play for fun. But some are into the conspiracy theories that are out there. Pseudoscience nonsense that pops up on YouTube from nutcases. Don’t get me started. Some of us actually have science degrees and can differentiate real information from garbage that’s coming from a source that, in some cases, should know better but is misleading people. Had the internet been around, would these same people have eschewed the polio vaccine or the smallpox vaccine? Will COVID-19 variants continue to circulate for years to come because we never reach herd immunity? It’s a shame. Sure, there are a small percentage of people who have some medical condition that may validly prevent them from being vaccinated but that’s a pretty darn small percentage.
Number of days on a court: 390 Number of total hours: 2,011
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At our family Independence Day gathering yesterday, I arranged to meet my brother John this morning at Skypark to teach him to play. He only lives five minutes from the courts. It was a work-from-home day for him so he couldn’t stay for a long time. When I got to the courts at 8:45 a.m., he was in his car doing work email. Two courts had a game going and on a third, Janet and Juls were warming up. I hadn’t seen Janet since last year—she’d cut off her long hair in favor of a buzz cut. (Her husband Bruce was working.) I greeted them and told them my brother John would be playing for the first time. John and I warmed up while Janet and Juls continued to warm up next to us.
Janet played with John for his first game. He did really well. Sure, he had a surprisingly hard time serving into the box and even with warning, John forgot and hit 2-3 volleys while in the kitchen. Oops! Though he did realize the fault as soon as he hit those. But he has great hand-eye coordination and is quick getting around the court. Juls made a comment about John being related to me based on his play. (It was meant as compliment!) Juls and I won the game by a wide margin, but, heck, it was John’s very first.
Gary
Serendipitously, Marianne arrived with her son Gary Meyer. Now, Gary was one year ahead of me at Harbor High School, graduating in 1984. My brother John (class of 1987), myself, and Gary all ran track one year together when we all overlapped. Gary earned “Most Improved” for running hurdles. He went from slow to just about in the mix. Kudos for him sticking with it! I was pretty much always in pack with sprints, but only placed in the top three once in high school. (I only ran track in my junior and senior years.) John and I were both fast—John a little faster—but not quite fast enough to win. (Though I did have the fastest shuttle run time in junior high school, so I was quick on starts and stops.) I was always fighting pulls or muscle tears in both my quadriceps in high school. I’d sprint then need a week or more to recover. I was never 100% and couldn’t properly train. It was frustrating. Anyway, enough of that. Gary remembered John and John remembered Gary. They were happy to see each other 37 years later! Both are now sporting a significant amount of gray! (John has a nearly white goatee right now, enough that Juls asked me if John was my older brother…I’m always teasing John, I sometimes introduce him as “my older brother”!) Gary is a super nice and mellow guy.
I played with John for another game or two. One against Gary and his mom. At one point, laughing, John asked me amused, “Are you playing left-handed?” “I’ve been playing lefty all morning.” John has missed out on my tennis elbow and shoulder surgery adventures and me playing lefty for nearly two and a half years!
John did a pretty good job following my early advice about keeping his shots low. And getting up to short shots while coming from the baseline.
Gary was incredulous, “John, today is really your first day playing?”
John stayed about hour and a half before he had to go, though I didn’t check the specific time.
The Return of the Longs
A man walked in. I called over, “Is that Terry Long?” “Hi, Andrew!” (I knew full well it was Terry.) I hadn’t seen Terry in a long time. He and his wife Karen—who was also there—own a second home in Arizona. But it’s summer and very hot out in that state, so they are back in Santa Cruz. They were playing with Leslie and Steve Bachman, both of whom are on the S.C. Pickleball Club board.
I was really hope I’d get into a game with the Longs, but it was not to be. Playing righty—a ‘warmed up’ righty—I could hold my own as well as Leslie or Steve in that game. I say “warmed up” because after playing lefty when I arrived, my first righty game was one in which I was happy to not be playing with the Longs. I would have embarrassed myself! But I got far better as the morning went on.
Scott
I played a game with a man named Scott against Mark Dettle and Kristin L. I’d never met Scott. Scott is pretty decent. He makes strong shots, has quick hands, but then he’ll hit an overhead into the net or hit a shot long. (Like I never do that!) He’s mortal like the rest of us, but a strong intermediate player.
Kristin was funny: “How does it feel to be in your 50s—you are in your 50s, right?—and have all of your hair?” “I count my blessings!” My hair has unquestionably receded some at the temples, but so far, still lots of mostly dark hair. Now, if I could just lose about 25 pounds!
Terry and Janet (far side) walk up to paddle tap Maria and Larry.
Terry S. and Janet finished up a game against Maria and Larry. Janet offered to sit out and let me in. There was a quick discussion of what the teams should be. I ended up with Terry and she said something to the effect of “everyone would want to be your partner!” It’s nice to be wanted! Terry and I won. Larry makes good use of spin. His shots are annoying—always good, right? I want all my shots to be annoying! I know my serves were, in that game three of them in a row never made it back over the net. I feel that I do a good job of mixing up my serves too . . . hard/fast, spin, angled, lob, etc. One local player was described to me as a “one-trick pony” when it comes to serves—you know what’s coming and have an advantage as a result. I’ve always remembered that.
Marwan
Marwan, a very tall man from out of town who said he is visiting his son and little grandkids, ended up in a game with us. (He said “Marwan” is an Egyptian name.) It was Mark Dettle and me against him and Janet. Mark and I won, but it wasn’t due to Marwan’s play, he’s solid player.
Terry S. (wearing shoes later in the day) replaced Janet and we played again. Mark and I lost. We then had a rematch, swapping sides and we lost again.
A real surprise was Janet and me beating Marwan and Mark 11-4. Janet did surprisingly well. But we swapped sides and the tables turned and then they won by a significant margin. Marwan’s serves are very fast. I might say they are even better than Dean’s serves from yesterday. Marwan pulled off an ace against me . . . and it wasn’t even close. Fast, low, angled off the court. Boy, I’m glad I never saw those in tournaments! Though I wish he was around regularly so I could face those serves more often in rec play. But aside from that one ace, I got all but one of his serves back over the net.
One cool moment was me taking a wide dink from Mark by switching to my left hand, then Marwan deciding to make an upward body shot attack at me after I dinked forward to him. I was fast enough to swap my paddle back to my right hand, make a tiny backswing then slam the ball for a winner. Whew. Close one!
1:08 p.m. and Marwan’s family was waiting for him and Larry was burnt and done for the day. Time to go.
Focus
Greg’s insight yesterday about being more focused after playing offhanded seemed to ring true for me as well. I’m much more deliberate in my shots while playing righty. This is a good thing.
Icing
Once home, I iced my forearm as a precaution and much later, iced my shoulder. My body is quite fatigued after 9 hours of play over two days. Sore back, sore calves, sore hip. For that much play though, my right forearm is holding up surprisingly well. There’s a mild ache at times, sure, but not so bad that shaking hands would cause intense pain like two years ago. Having the forearm strap tight is no doubt helping. Over an hour after play ended, I still had the impression of the strap on my arm. Maybe part of that is dehydration. I don’t sweat all that easily, but I was today! I went through a big water bottle that I had maxed out with ice.
Tonight, I got a group invitation to play tomorrow night at Skypark. My wife is supportive, so I may be playing again!
Number of days on a court: 389 Number of total hours: 2,008
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