Author: andrewlenz (Page 207 of 329)

Sunday, June 14, 2020 (Court Day #348)

As I pulled up into the neighborhood outside Derby Park at about 9:10, there was lots of parking . . . too much parking. Something was up. I grabbed my pickleball backpack and walked in anyway. Chris and his girlfriend Barbara were there by themselves hitting a ball back and forth. Without going into details, Chris explained there had been a significant verbal alteration between him and a club player on Wednesday. (Chris has a bad habit of not calling the score and this lead to a confrontation.) Figuring few, if any, players were likely to show up, we agreed to head to Brommer. (Later in the day, I found out that Binh had played at Willowbrook.)

On my way out, I ran into a woman—a very weak player, whose name escapes me, she started about a year ago—standing next to a running convertible in the street. She asked if people were playing. After I explained, she and the woman in the convertible opted to stay and play some by themselves anyway.

Brommer

I drove right to Brommer. There was also plenty of parking, but enough cars that I was hopeful. It was shortly after 9:30.

There was a tennis game going on and one all-women pickleball game going on at the far side.

“We’ve been waiting for you!” It was Stuart. Stuart, Tim, and Dean had been chatting next to an open court. Of course, they hadn’t been expecting me, but I was a fourth.

Stuart and I went on to play three games against Dean and Tim. Dean being the strongest player and Tim being the weakest, it was the most even arrangement. They won the first game—a close one. Stuart and I won the second by a wide margin and they won the third in a closer game.

A memorable moment was when Dean hit a crosscourt dropshot to my backhand which I sliced toward Tim with a ton of backspin and he hit the ball into the net. “Nice spin!”, came the compliment from Dean.

A funny aspect was at the start of the second game when Stuart suggested that we stack. I readily agreed and he tried to give me directions how to do it. I laughed. “Stuart, I’ve stacked in a tournament! I know how to do it!” As the game went on, I ended up directing him where to stand and what to do. Dean, not to miss an opportunity to tease Stuart, gave him a hard time once when Stuart was particularly confused about where to line up!

Those were fun games.

Dave D.

Dave Debiasi arrived around 11. Tim left about then. Dean and I took on Dave and Stuart. I was excited. This would be a very fun game. This was a battle. And I was playing well.

Dave wasn’t too sure about how to approach my play. He didn’t know what to expect. He knew I was playing lefty. After some good shots though, he shared, “I’m definitely taking you seriously!”

During this game, I had a lefty backhand around-the-post shot past Dave. Dean was impressed and happy, “That’s the shot of the day right there!” A good moment!

It was a challenging and enjoyable game. Dean and I went on to win 13-11. We were never behind.

The two last games were Chris and me against Dave and Chris’s girlfriend Barb. It was the most even teams configuration, but they had no chance. Both games we played were lopsided.

Dave was effusive in his praise after the games…

“You are a monster.”
“Some of those shots you made…!”
“You are playing at a high 3.5/4.0 level.”

Now, I was probably playing at a solid 3.5 level, but no way a 4.0 level and even high 3.5 is questionable. But I did make some good shots and overall played well.

11:30 and things were breaking up. A group of 5-6 players showed up, but only one looked vaguely familiar. They appeared to be a family. A couple about 60-years-old and a few 20-somethings. Nice to have unknowns on the courts.

I talked to Binh later. He there were 4-5 players at Willowbrook where he’d gone to play. He had thought there’d be too many at Brommer. With two at Derby, about fifteen at Brommer (plus that family), and Binh’s group, that’s less than 30. Maybe there were a number out at Scotts Valley. Dunno. Seemed light county-wide.

Number of days on a court: 348
Number of total hours: 979

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Monday, June 8, 2020 (Court Day #347)

I arrived at Derby at 9:15. Eric and John P. were there. They were playing singles, but I was very confused watching them. “You are playing singles, right? Isn’t the goal to hit the ball away from your opponent?” Now, Eric mentioned on a pickleball group Zoom conference that he’d been playing singles with John lately and it’s his “new favorite thing”. I was impressed. I like singles too, but it’s very demanding physically and harder on your body. But what they were doing today didn’t make sense. Then Eric explained. They were playing “Skinny Singles” but diagonally. “Oh, we wouldn’t play full court! That’s too tiring!” Ah! That makes much more sense—both in what I had been observing, plus their managing the physical demands!

Mark G. and I played a game against Chris and Binh. It was my first game and I was making a lot of mistakes. I got a little better as the game went on, but it was not a stellar performance by any stretch, in fact, it was pretty bad.

In a later game, I was playing against Binh and Wayne. My partner and I were up 10-5. Our opponents crawled back 10-8. Now, my partner at the time is a very competitive intermediate player and takes games very seriously. (Too seriously, in my book—I look at rec play as enjoyable training and wins/losses generally aren’t a big deal to me.) He more or less told me to stop making mistakes since they were catching up. I’m a pretty easy going guy, but that annoyed me. Pretty much for two reasons. It assumes that I’m not trying. Secondly, I playing left-handed! Seriously. That I can hold my own in a game with intermediate players, that’s an accomplishment right there. Regardless, I kept my irritation to myself. We went on to win 11-8.

11:30 and I were done. Chris, Mark, Wayne and Binh were still playing, but Mark and Chris had said it would be their last game. There wasn’t any point of me sticking around.

Number of days on a court: 347
Number of total hours: 977

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

Sunday, June 7, 2020 (Court Day #346)

I asked Binh last night if he wanted to play at Brommer today but he replied that he’d be playing at Derby instead and I was invited. Good enough.

I arrived at Derby at 9:15. Maree was there with her husband Mark G. Binh was off in the corner warming up with Allan K. Chris was there with his blonde girlfriend Barbara. Tom M., Sue, Wayne, Dave Allenbaugh and Jerry were there too. A pleasant surprise was Bryan from San Jose was also in attendance.

For health safety, we each served with our own ball. We did our best to never touch the ball of another person. Tom forgot a few times. Most of us forgot at least once—even me once. With that, I had a sanitizing wipe I had at the ready in my backpack and used.

Wayne was playing well. He was actually in a short dinking battle and won the point. Wayne, the banger! Impressive!

I can say, even playing lefty, I was still solidly in the mix in terms of skill. The most memorable game was Bryan and me against Maree and Binh. The last game of the day. He and I were both playing left-handed though we are both naturally righties. He for the challenge, me due to injury. We still won 11-6 or 11-7.

12:40 and we were done. Maree, Mark, Binh, Bryan and me all walked out to our cars together. There was some talk about going to lunch, but with COVID still affecting restaurants, it never materialized and we went our own ways.

Number of days on a court: 346
Number of total hours: 975

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