Author: andrewlenz (Page 82 of 327)

Tuesday, August 27, 2024 (Court Day #707)

It had been a warm day but started a cool down as it approached evening.

One of my staff agreed to close up our family business so I can leave early for pickleball. As I drove to Scotts Valley, I was sporting a mild headache, but I didn’t think of it once I was on the courts.

As I was driving along the freeway, I noticed that my gas light was on. I looked over to the readout on my dashboard and it read that I had “0” miles left before running out of gas! Arg! (My morning commune is a whopping 2-3 miles, so I don’t often bother to check my gas level.) As soon as I got into Scotts Valley, I stopped at the gas station and filled up. The stop might have cost me one game. (That’s what one thinks about, right?)

Skypark

I arrived at Skypark around 6:05 p.m. Not all the courts were set up yet. I got into a game fairly quickly against Scott (Jeff’s brother) and tall John. Alex was my partner and we won—not a huge surprise. Tapping paddles at the net, Alex said, “That was all Andrew.” But I told him, “No. You played well.” He did.

I got into game after game with Mauricio as my partner against David who had different partners for just about each game. David partnered with Francis, a shorter older guy named James, and someone else I’m forgetting. Those were fun. I was playing well and David is always a challenge.

The last game was the best game. It was Mauricio and myself against David and Mike, the guy who is retiring at the end of the year. We were ahead 8–5, David went on a tear and they went ahead 10-8. Mauricio and I then scored 2 points and tied the game at 10–10. They went on to score 2 more points and win 12–10. Fun stuff.

We’re just enough time to tap paddles then walk over and start taking down portable nets before the lights clicked off a minute or two after 8:30 p.m.

Tonight, I went home happy. I climbed out of my slump and played well. Finally.

---

Wednesday, August 28, 2024 (No Play)

Pickleball continues to get notoriety. Actor Jamie Foxx was in the news recently for his pickleball parties…

Hollywood’s Most In-Demand Pickleball Game
Jamie Foxx’s three-court compound has become a prime invite: “It starts at 3 p.m. and the next thing you know, you’re dancing and it’s 11 p.m.”
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/los-angeles-in-demand-pickleball-game-1235979117

Tennis Pros Play Pickleball

Active top tennis players Alcaraz, Fritz, Wozniacki and Rybakina played pickleball in a short demonstration game with retired great Andre Agassi:
https://www.tennis.com/baseline/articles/carlos-alcaraz-showed-off-his-pickleball-chops-would-you-have-guessed-he-looked-like-a-natural

Number of days on a court: 707
Number of total hours: 2,935.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 69.5

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

Sunday, August 25, 2024 (Court Day #706)

There are days when you are less inclined to go out and play. Today was one of those days, but I definitely need the exercise and really need to trim some pounds. Plus usually when I actually get to the court, I have a good time.

My wife told me that it was supposed to be warmer today and, indeed, it was sunny and already 70° by 10 a.m.

As I drove to Brommer Park, I was hoping that I would play better. This past week I’ve been rather unhappy with the level of my play.

I arrived at about 10:20 a.m. after having a leisurely morning. There was plenty of parking and there were empty courts available.

Patty

I sat on the wall for about five minutes waiting to get into a game but then Patty D. arrived and asked if I wanted to warm up with her. There was an empty permanent court which we used for about 10 minutes or so. Patty noticed Art and a man named Carlos had arrived and we were warming up on another permanent court across the divider. Patty asked them if they wanted to play a game and Art said they would after they warmed up a little bit longer. We joined the second half of their court to finish warming up ourselves.

First Game

The game would be this tall guy named Carlos and me against Patty and Art. Art was the least strong player but we did not target him. Carlos and I won something like 11–5 or 11–4.

Next

The next game was Marquis and myself against Patty and Carlos. This is a good challenging game, but Marquis and I did win and it wasn’t very close. We were both playing well.

I offered to sit out the next game, so I took a spot on the wall to wait.

Marco and Brianna

The next game would be Patty and myself against Marco and Brianna. Patty and I got smoked. After sitting for a bit, I was playing horribly and Patty wasn’t playing that great either. I slammed a couple of high balls into the net, I returned a serve long, hit a drive wide… it was just all around embarrassing. Patty joked about her partners suddenly playing poorly with her.

I hadn’t played with Brianna for probably a year. She’s gotten much better. She was very consistent today.

Since that game was over so fast, we switched sides and played again. (Marco and Bri went and got water first.) This game was taking longer. It was 4-1 in their favor when Conner came and asked Brianna to enter into her SCALPEL league game. Spencer take over her spot.

When Spencer came in, I asked Marco what the time was. 11:42 a.m. I told Patty I didn’t have time to play a new game from scratch as she had suggested, so we continued at 1-4.

Patty and I lost that game is 11–2. We got clobbered. Marco was playing extremely well and while I was starting to warm up after my break along the wall, I wouldn’t say that I was playing great. Patty wasn’t playing at her top form either.

And Off!

By 11:57 a.m., I was in my car and on my way home. I had classes to teach at Skypark.

And?

There was a mix of games that I felt that I played well and also games where I felt I did not play well. But at least nearly all the games were challenging.

Jason Brown was there, but I didn’t get the opportunity to play a game with him. He and his wife are planning to move out of the area to the East Coast sometime later this year. I’ll miss them.

Number of days on a court: 706
Number of total hours: 2,933
Number of paid coaching hours: 69.5

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

Thursday, August 22, 2024 (Court Day #705)

I couldn’t get out of work until a little bit later, but my hope was that my later arrival might at least yield a good parking spot next to the courts.

The sun is getting lower and lower in the sky with each trip out to Scotts Valley. I’m still wearing sunglasses when I arrive, but soon, I’ll be going right to my protective clear plastic glasses.

Skypark

When I arrived at the courts at about 7:05 p.m., I was astonished to find the no one was using the dry erase board. Yes, it was up, but when I looked around, it wasn’t needed. And no one would need it all night long. There were only three people waiting to get on a court. It was a warm evening, maybe that was part of it.

Games

In my first game, I teamed up with one of my students, Ray. We played against Francis and a regular, the tall fellow named John. This was the most equitable combination of players. Ray is still at 2.5 level player at best. We lost.

Matt Babb and I played a game against David L. and Francis. Matt and I did win by quite a margin, however, it was not as easy or as lopsided as it could have been since I was not playing ideally. I did a pretty good job of not speeding at balls that should’ve not been sped up. But I was not very focused and sometimes didn’t remember who is serving or what the score was. As I said, I was not very focused!

Mo and I played two games against Tim Feickert and Rachel. Both games went to 9–9 but then we lost both. Still, those games entertaining. We were all very much enjoying the company.

Mo, Tim, Rachel, and I have finished up that second game at 8:27 p.m., just before the lights clicked off. I help take down a couple of nets and made sure the dry erase board was over by the bin since it was left out a couple of weeks ago.

I got a quick photo of David. He can be a character!

I decided to call it a night and head out without a lot of hanging out.

---

Friday, August 23, 2024 (No Play)

Jackie sent out a photo to the SCPC board about some stickers that she had made for the club.

Number of days on a court: 705
Number of total hours: 2,931.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 66.5

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