Author: andrewlenz (Page 231 of 330)

Wednesday, July 17, 2019 (Court Day #283)

43rd day out playing lefty. Tennis elbow.

I was moving slowly. I arrived at Derby Park under foggy skies at a relatively late 9:30.

Derby Park on my approach.

A first, Janet had opened the courts, temporarily replacing Dave Allenbaugh as the site coordinator for the day. I’d never seen her open before.

I had to wait a short time, but soon I was warming up with someone then into games.

There were two pre-teens signed up in a box. Sterling and his older sister whose name escapes me at the moment. I’d guess he’s about 7. Later, I learned that these two are Art’s grandkids. I’m a softy. I signed up in their box so they’d get to play and I tried to convince players to be a fourth. It wasn’t an easy feat, but I managed to convince Dyane—a tall, gray-haired regular—to join the box. We beat the kids 11-2, but it was a fun diversion.

I had my first game with a Santa Cruz High School student, Tristan. We played against Janet and a woman. Tristan and I won. Tristan will be very good if he sticks with it—he’s already competent. We won by something like 11-6. Walking off the court, I leaned in and said, “I’ll share a secret. I’m not left handed.” His mouth dropped open with a smile and he said something like, “Woah!”

There was a new middle-aged woman on the bench named Jasmine. I introduced myself and let her know that I’m the site coordinator for Derby on Sundays. She asked if there were any more paddles. Sure enough, I checked the official SCPC backpack and there were no paddles left. Between Art’s grandkids, new guy Bill, and another player or two, all the club loaner paddles were in use. I offered her my personal second paddle, which she gratefully accepted.

Jasmine is a quiet smiley sort who understands pickleball is a game. Wendy and played a game against her and Art and she took her errors in a humble and positive fashion. Wendy even commented on Jasmine’s “good sportsmanship”. In that game, I was proud of myself. I managed to run back and successfully return a deep corner ball that had been lobbed over my left shoulder (forehand side). The bonus—that I can’t take as much credit for—was it also being an amazing crosscourt drop shot. Some luck involved, but it was cool though!

In a game against Wendy, she commented that I “don’t let the ball bounce”. Maybe I was volleying out of the air, but I think she was actually referring to my half volleys. While at the net, I can to hit the ball back when it’s still very low. “It’s good,” she said, “it gets the ball back faster.” It is good that I can manage to “dig out” low balls left-handed.

Chris and I had a game against Ted B. and tall Asian new guy who has an unusual name. I was lucky to pronounce it even right after he told it to me. Good luck for me remembering it until I head it a few times. Regardless, he obviously had some prior racket sport experience. It was a very good game. At first, it was back and forth, then Chris and I pulled out ahead and won 11-6 or 11-5. It was nice to be in a game with solid intermediate players and hold my own. It felt like a milestone. I don’t know how long I’ll be forced to play left-handed, but I’m trying to make the best of it.

Today was a good day. For the first time in a long time, I felt good about my play. Sure, I had a few wild serves and a number of shots that didn’t go exactly where I wanted, but it wasn’t bad at all.

I checked the time: 12:09. Time for work.

Saturday, July 20, 2019 (No Play)

The day after I played, my left wrist was a little sore. Yep. Comes and goes. I can’t win. It seems something is always hurting. I was originally hoping to play yesterday morning, but work was too hairy. Too much to do and not enough staff. Thursday night for play was out since I had a nonprofit board meeting followed by dinner guests. At least work is closed on Sundays, so I’m almost guaranteed one day to play per week.

I still need to get a “tennis elbow friendly” paddle. On the “to do” list.

Number of days on a court: 283
Number of total hours: 779

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Sunday, July 14, 1967 (Court Day #282)

42nd day out playing lefty. Tennis elbow.

Thanks to the wonders of the internet and probably the flakiness of WordPress, my draft of this entry disappeared. Maybe it was boring anyway, right?

I opened the courts, it was all pretty routine. We had a couple of visitors from Texas.

The nearest fellow I’d never seen before. I think his name is Brad. The man to the far right in the tie-dye is an older newbie named Bill.

It was busy day with about 20 people waiting to play at times. Leslie is the one in white just right of the middle.

Leslie came again this week. Two weeks in a row now. Later, she wanted to make an announcement and asked my permission as the site coordinator. Heck, in my book, she’s on the steering committee that runs the club, she can announce whenever and wherever she wants! Of course, I didn’t hesitate and gave my permission. She promoted the new yearly membership and encouraged people to sign up.

One of the regulars, Charles had stopped in at work yesterday to shop and we chatted a few minutes. He said he’d stumbled upon this blog and read some. (Hi, Charles!) I got to play against him in a game today when partnered with Binh. Charles is really tall with a lot of tennis experience and a big wing span which makes him formidable. He’s still an intermediate player, but a pretty strong intermediate who takes advantage of your mistakes. With weaker players, you can get away with balls that are a little too high. Not with Charles, he’ll keep you honest!

I was more frustrated with my play than anything today. Binh and I got to play a few games together. It’d been weeks. We stacked, practicing for our tournament next month. I did better stacking than the typical switching left and right courts. Binh is getting noticeably better. It’s good. He’ll make a good sparing partner when I’m back to playing right-handed, helpfully in the next six months—but who knows.

I had to leave early, a few minutes after 12. My wife texted, anxious to leave town. I asked a Janet to close for me and she was willing.

I spent the afternoon with my wife and son in San Jose co-signing for him purchasing his first—used—car. With car payments, there is even more incentive to for him to start his career! Not that he needs any incentive. He’s responsible and level-headed. And with a UCLA applied math degree and cum laude to boot, I can’t see him not landing a good job.

Number of days on a court: 282
Number of total hours: 776

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Wednesday, July 10, 2019 (Court Day #281)

41st day out playing lefty. Tennis elbow.

I arrived at Derby Park at 9:05. I was the fifth arriver. Dave Allenbaugh was still setting up. My son Nicholas had an appointment this morning and couldn’t join me. And good thing too, read on.

I warmed up well. And played ok for the first few points. After that, not so much. I played ok, but too many balls flying long. A couple serves out. It was frustrating. This was not a good day. I was not even playing playing at a low 3.5 level.

At 9:45, I got a call from work. Staffing drama. *sigh* Every number of years, some part of the staff doesn’t get along. Someone is sarcastic. Someone can’t handle being directed by a manager. Arguments over the radio station. Something. Today, I had two of my employees were threatening to quit over each other. This was essentially a work emergency. It was the end of pickleball for me today. Often, these things are simply communication issues. Regardless, it required my immediate intervention. Such a bummer.

Afternoon

With three hours of personnel meetings, it appears things are worked out and everyone is getting along. Disaster averted. Almost all the staff gets along great, so, fortunately, these incidents aren’t common.

Number of days on a court: 281
Number of total hours: 773

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