Author: andrewlenz (Page 42 of 327)

Thursday, July 10, 2025 (Court Day #828)

I left work at 6:40 p.m. It was a rather warm 70°F and very sunny as I made my way to Scotts Valley.

I was thinking, as much as I would love to win every game, I would much prefer to play well to the best of my abilities and lose than to win and be unsatisfied with my play.

The first game was Paul and myself to get against a couple of guys whom I don’t know. It was a quick and lopsided win for us.

Next, Colin and I played against his dad, Mike, and Paul. Colin was outplaying Mike, Paul was outplaying Colin, and I was outplaying Paul. And yes, Colin and I won. The rallies were short, so while they wanted a rematch, I was more interested in a new set of players.

Mo, Jax, Mauricio

Mo and Jax finished up their game and then Mauricio and I took them on. The game was pretty close, but we pulled off a win.

We played a rematch and we won again, this time 11-7. I was playing very well.

In the next game, we lost 0–11 to Jax and Mo. Sometimes, things just go off the rails.

We played once more and also lost this game, but it was fairly close, 8-11. Mauricio was not having his best night, I’ve seen him play better.

It was 8:35 p.m., the artificial lights were out and while there was maybe just enough light to probably get in part of another game, it wasn’t worth it.

As I drove home, it was still a warm 63°F.

Ouch!

During one rally tonight, Jax lobbed the ball over my left shoulder. I yelled “Switch!” and moved my left leaving the lob from Mauricio to get. All went well until Mauricio got to the ball and hit a drive… right into the right side of my jaw! That stung a little bit!

And?

I felt like tonight was redemption. I felt like I was playing like a 4.0 again, instead of like a 3.0. Sure, I made some mistakes, but I was very consistent and played well. At the end of the evening, Jax told me that I had had a very nice scorpion shot and Mo complimented my hand speed.

When developing playing skill, it’s like a rolling hill. You gradually get better, and then have periods of time where you have a relapse and play subpar, followed by a rise again. Hopefully, tonight was me climbing back out of the pit of bad play that I’ve had for the past two weeks.

I went home satisfied for a change.

My next play should be Sunday morning, followed by a new round of 4-week pickleball classes that I’ll be teaching on Sunday afternoon.

During a couple of rallies, the backside of my right hand was bothering me a little bit. I’m not sure why. It wasn’t super painful, but it was a little uncomfortable. Fortunately, it was only very slightly nagging and not a big concern.

---

Friday, July 11, 2020 (No Play)

I guess the good news is over the course of the last couple of weeks my right knee seems to be bothering me less. I’m continuing to wear the elastic knee brace regardless.

On the flip side, the back of my right hand, which I could feel last night, is bothering me a little bit today on an ongoing basis. I was moving something cumbersome at work today and it aggravated the back of my right hand.

Angry Pro Loss

So, Zane Ford—after losing to James Ignatowich—sought to destroy his paddle in frustration. He smashed it on the ground a couple of times to no avail, then attempted to break it over his knee. This happened last month, on June 19, but it’s still been buzzing on social media, so I figured I’d share a link. TMZ even reported on it:
https://amp.tmz.com/2025/06/19/pickleball-star-zane-ford-meltdown-paddle-break-carvana-ppa-tour

They claim that it only bent a little bit. Ummm… no. It was fully broken! Here’s a precise screen grab I made so you can see for yourself! That handle is well over the other side of his leg!

---

Sunday, July 13, 2025 (No Play)

I took today off from playing. Yesterday, we had our big 57th anniversary event for our family business. It was a crazy amount of prepwork, especially over the past month. Then we had a group dinner for reps and demonstrators and my extended family over at my parents’ house afterward. A nice big article about the event appeared on the front page of the local newspaper this morning. There were some minor errors—my parents are still the owners of the company, for instance—but overall very good.

But why I mention it is a good part of the event yesterday took place in our parking lot and I ended up being outside for most of the day. The thought of putting on sunscreen didn’t cross my mind that morning, so I end up very sunburned on my face and neck. I opted do not play this morning since, in addition to that possible morning sun, I had to spend three hours in the afternoon out in the sun to teach classes. Being out the sun for six hours after getting a bad sunburn would be an unhealthy idea. 3-4 hours of exposure was more than enough today!

Number of days on a court: 828
Number of total hours: 3,223.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 150.5

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

Tuesday, July 8, 2025 (Court Day #827)

As I headed after work to Scotts Valley, it was still pleasantly in the mid-60s and sunny.

As I drove, I was musing how bad my play looked on video in that game against Frabrizio and Alex in the mini tournament last Saturday. It was depressing. My goal for tonight is to try to make fewer errors… such as keeping my return of serve in instead of hitting it too long, targeting my opponents’ kitchen line for drops instead of thinking about the white tape of the net—which I seem to have been hitting more frequently lately. Also I need to be more patient in my attacks and not slam any balls into the net. My goal is to play patient and play smart. “Now if I can just keep that in mind and execute it,” was what I was thinking.

I was very anxious to get out to play. I feel like I’ve been playing subpar lately and I feel like I need to get out and redeem myself.

Skypark

Parking was a pain in the rear end. I greedily grabbed a spot from a player who was leaving down the street then I was walking in at 7 p.m.

Games

My first game was playing with Rachel against her sister, Irene, and also Kirby. As with most games with little to no warm-up, it was a little rough for me.

My second game and beyond was paired with Kirby against various opponents.

There are a few times in early games where I was getting frustrated and annoyed with myself. Shots were not going where I wanted them.

Played against Aaron Bartley and his wife. His wife has gotten much better and her drives are a lot to handle. We probably would’ve had an easier time of things that we had managed to get her into the soft game. Kirby and I got clobbered in that first game, and it wasn’t even close.

We had a rematch and this time we won a close game.

We played the third game, which was another close one, but this time they pulled off the win.

The next to last game was against linebacker Mike and the shirtless tattooed guy who serves with his back to the net. I forget his name. He’s been around maybe six months now.

Last game was Kirby myself against Matt and Paul. It was fairly close to start with, but then Kirby and I pulled ahead and continue to extend our lead until the end of the game which was roughly 8:35 p.m.

And?

It was still above 60° when I left Skypark.

I hit two of my serves into the net tonight. Both times I was a little distracted. The first from from shifting courts, the second one from thinking about the previous rally.

I would say most of my errors came from hitting the ball too high and not too low into the net. Too low happened maybe half a dozen times over the course of the evening. Yes, I still returned two or three serves too long, giving my opponents a point.

---

Wednesday, July 9, 2025 (No Play)

This popped up as a suggested YouTube video. For all the complaints that pickleball gets for its confusing scoring, honestly, it’s nothing compared to tennis. Tennis has a crazy scoring system.

Pickleball score simply counts up 1, 2, 3, 4… for each team and also has a server number, either 1 or 2. It’s pretty easy. It’s still confusing to some at first, but it’s not complicated. Tennis has advantage, 40, deuce, 15, love, 30. It’s only not nutty to some because they are used to it.

Number of days on a court: 827
Number of total hours: 3,222
Number of paid coaching hours: 147.5

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

Sunday, July 6, 2025 (Court Day #826)

I got an early jump on things today and by 8 a.m., I was on my way to go play.

It was overcast and 54°F… not exactly a warm morning. Enough moisture was falling out of the air that I used my windshield wipers.

I pulled into the Brommer Park lot at 8:10 a.m. 

Games

Oscar and I lost to Jordan and Shawnte 9-11. That was the game of the day. It was awesome. Fantastic rallies. (Later, Oscar told me, “We should have won that game.”)

This the games were pretty solid today. The lopsided game with Hugh and myself playing against little Linda and tall Nick. We beat them 11–2. It was also a short game and never in doubt.

The last game was Hugh and myself against David L. and Dan Dewey. That was a close game. We lost 10-12.

Hugh utilizes a drop serve and has the best drop serve that I’ve seen. Over the course of a few games, he had a few opponents return his serves into the net. He’s got some good angles on that thing too.

I checked the time it was 12:44 p.m. and time to go take my brother Mike to the airport who was heading back home after visiting for the holiday. 4 1/2 half hours of pickleball. I was pretty exhausted.

Baby!

Oh! Drew and his wife had a baby Tuesday. His name is Beau. Congrats to them! And David and Minori are expecting their first baby in September.

---

Monday, July 7, 2025 (No Play)

DUPR got back to me with the response that I was expecting but hoping not to get.

Dear Andrew, 

Thank you for reaching out. 

Please note that your rating has been assigned to you based on your performance in the matches that have been uploaded to your profile.

On the other hand, after reviewing your profile, we have observed that you have very few matches recorded and a very low reliability score. This indicates that the algorithm has limited information about you, making your rating more susceptible to significant changes. The more data the algorithm has about you, the smaller the changes to your rating will be. Conversely, with limited information, the system will attempt to recalibrate your level based on any new data it receives. 

If you believe that your rating does not accurately reflect your skill level as a player, we kindly recommend adding matches at the level you believe corresponds to your abilities. Since the algorithm currently has limited information about you, your rating will undergo significant changes initially before gradually stabilizing. This will make it easier for your rating to calibrate to your true skill level even if you are currently higher/lower than your true skill level. 

Finally, if you add such matches but are unable to win them, this will indicate that your skill level is below the chosen level, and your rating will adjust accordingly. 

If you have any further questions about your rating or profile, please do not hesitate to contact us again. 

We appreciate your patience and cooperation during this process.

Best regards,
Sam
DUPR Support

Instructional Video

This pertains to tennis but the “tactical geometry” applies to pickleball as well:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKbfLn8Ipot/

Number of days on a court: 826
Number of total hours: 3,220.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 147.5

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