Author: andrewlenz (Page 259 of 331)

Friday, September 21, 2018 (Court Day #201)

I left my house wearing my barely used pair of Kirkland athletic shoes. I figure my old pair is now shot. I had worn a hole through the insole with the bone on the outside of the ball of my left foot and it was uncomfortable. Also, all the tread is completely worn off. For whatever reason, my left shoe consistently wears down faster than my right shoe.

Brommer

I got to Brommer Park a few minutes after 9. It was misty and overcast. The weather was like my play today—that is, nothing you’d want to write home about. Today was one of the days when thoughts of giving up pickleball pop up in your head. A year ago, I would have been happy with my level of play today, so I guess that’s a positive way to look at it. The negative is that today was a definite slip from my play last week.

Failed dropshots. Dinks into the net. Popping balls up too high for an opponent’s easy winner. Serves too shallow. Misjudging lobs. Hitting balls that were heading out. Sloppy.

Had a first. I had a ball bounce off my paddle and hit me in the chin. It was a drive shot from Grita . . . who has a strong forehand! It hurt. What hurt more was when it happened a second time. Off my paddle and into my chin! In true dramatic fashion, I sought sympathy by dropping the ground and holding my chin. Stuart, who was my partner at the time, laughed and yelled, “Medic!” Beth Black, playing a game in the next court, a nurse, immediately stopped and asked if I was ok . . . me laying on the ground and all. When it was determined that nothing remotely serious had taken place, Kevin, disgusted with the frivolous interruption asked to reply their point. Sorry, Kevin! (Still, it did hurt!)

One thing that occurred to me is my back is sore. My upper right arm is also sore. I think that I may be not bending and getting low or otherwise playing as I should due to back pain and tightness. I was noticing it later, as I crouched down to receive a serve in a game with Grita against Beth and Ted/Theo and I even shared, “The Advil is wearing off!” My back was letting itself be known. It’s not skeletal, it’s muscular. I suppose that I need to work on my core.

Eric said he is going to be making more of an effort to play at Brommer than at Derby. That’s a shame, but Brommer continues to be where the better players show up. Unfortunately for me, Brommer days are weekdays and it’s harder for me to get away.

Saturday, September 22, 2018 (No Play)

This week, the USAPA and the Pickleball Channel released a new video on how to referee. It’s a good one.

Number of days on a court: 201
Number of total hours: 556

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Thursday, September 20, 2018 (Court Day #200)

I had a meeting and couldn’t get to Skypark until just about 8 p.m. It was already dark. Beth Black had texted late afternoon asking iif I wanted to meet up 30 minutes early to drill, but I told her that I couldn’t and I would be an hour late. As it turned out, it was 90 minutes late!

Ray, Robin, Elaine, Dave Black, Craig and wife Leah (in royal blue), Chris, Janet (green), Kristin, Laura (behind Kristin), Terry.

I played ok tonight, I didn’t play spectacularly, but did ok. I’m not unhappy with my play.

One of my favorite shots of the night was a dropshot I made from the baseline. Oleg wound up for one of his rocket forehand drives and hit the ball right into the net. A very effective and perfectly executed dropshot.

Dan is getting better. I hit a shot exacting it to be a clear winner but he was quick enough to get the ball back over the net. Quick hands.

Bruce and I played Oleg and Dan. We lost the first game. We were leading 9-8 in a very long second game when the lights clicke off at 9:30 p.m.

Court Day #200 is in the record books. On to the next 100!

Number of days on a court: 200
Number of total hours: 553

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Wednesday, September 19, 2018 (Court Day #199)

I dropped off our corgi for bladder stone surgery at the vet around 8:35, afterward made my way to Derby Park and arrived a few minutes after 9 a.m. under slightly misting skies. It was cold enough to want a sweatshirt. I didn’t have one but figured I’d be plenty warm in no time . . . which was the case.

John Pacholski setting up Derby instead of Dave Allenbaugh as a woman named Val looks on.

John P. and I will be playing an outdoor unsanctioned tournament on Saturday, October 6, up in the Bay Area, so we played a number of games together.

John’s wife Diane, Stuart, and George waiting between games.

Stuart and I played against lefty Steve and visor Tom. We won. Stuart may not get around much, but he’s very consistent on his drop shots and dinking.

John P. and I played a game against “grumpy” Mike (sorry, Mike!) and Chris (tall, newish tennis player). We took a quick lead but ended up losing by a couple of points. Chris was playing the best that I’ve seen him play. I remember hitting a shot thinking it was a solid winner only to have Chris manage to get it and hit it back over! He’s coming along.

John P. and I played a game against Grita and Val. On the very first service of the game, John and I took a 6-0 lead. The game was never in question. They did score four points, but that was it.

John P. and I played a game against Terry Long and Dean. Dean and Terry were both not themselves and were battling pain. Dean was also not playing as hard as he could have. As it was, John and I won. But it was not one to relish with both players taking it easy on us and also playing hurt.

I finished my day with a game against Terry Long and Dan. Terry said the ibuprofen was kicking in. And it sure seemed that way, we had regular Terry back! He was great. And Dan played the best game I’d seen him play. John and I lost that one by more than a couple of points.

What did I learn today?

I’m playing decently. Not fantastic—though Dean said we were playing well—but not poorly either. I slammed a couple of would-be winners into net. I hit balls that would have otherwise landed out. I missed three serves in the game Stuart and I played against Steve and Tom. But I felt good about the day.

John and I need to work out the kinks. There were a few hots where John awkwardly hit a ball with his backhand in the middle when I could have hit a very controlled shot with my forehand. Though, I even did the same thing once! Later, he intentionally held back and left a shot for my forehand and I hit a winner. He gave me a big smile.

Oh, and the dog surgery went well. Oliver will be fine.

Coming up on court day #200!

Number of days on a court: 199
Number of total hours: 551.5

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