Pickleball Journey

Tuesday, April 7, 2026 (Court Day #923)

Big news, Joola has filed a lawsuit against 11 other paddle companies with regard to their core technology:
https://m.facebook.com/groups/thekitchenPB/permalink/2408611612986537/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Teaching

I sent Scotts Valley Parks & Rec a required IRS W-9 form in preparation for teaching classes through them this summer. They also require me to have them to be specifically named on a liability insurance policy. So I reached out to PPR (where I get my annual certification) about adding an insurance rider in addition to my standard coaching insurance. It’s another $90 to add SV.

There is a lot more paperwork and more expenses when teaching through the Parks & Rec department directly than when I was teaching for them through Rec.us which organized classes and reservations for them. Between their city administrative fee and the additional insurance and the nonresident fee for students registering, even with their 60%/40% (instructor/city) split, I still end up making about the same or even less through their program than I did through their expiring contract with Rec.us.

No Gear

With my wife off for spring break and my work demands, I ended up not going home for lunch today to take out and feed the dogs, so I didn’t have the opportunity to pick up all my pickleball gear midday. Instead, I ended up leaving work a bit early at 5:45 p.m., asking my nephew to close the business.

I drove home, changed, grabbed my stuff, then was on my way lickety-split to Scotts Valley.

Perhaps ironically, Jess had suggested to me at Skypark last week to try to keep at least some pickleball gear in my car so that I am ready at all times. That is hard to argue with! Though I would not be too keen on keeping a paddle that I really care about in a really hot car for long periods of time. I can’t imagine that it would be good on the various adhesives found in a paddle.

Skypark

I was walking into the courts by 6:20 p.m.

My first game was teamed up with Paul’s young son Declan against Paul and tall Dan. (Not Daniel Borlean.) We lost, as expected, but it wasn’t too bad. I think the game ended 5–11 or 6–11.

Alex, the bird researcher, and I played against Leo, who I had just seen a Derby Park two days ago, and a tall newer player named Shane. (There is a younger, shorter Shane who was there tonight also.) Before the game started, I was kind of kidding with Alex saying that I was expecting us to win 15–0. It wasn’t too far off. We were leading 10–0 when Alex got into some kind of battle with Leo when Alex hit the ball into the net giving them a point. But that would be the last and only point that they would make in the game. We finished them off with our next service, winning 11-1.

Matt, Alex, Aaron H.

After a few games against and with weaker players, I decided to hang out with Matt Babb until we could find two more similar skill players. Alex was done and we grabbed him and then Aaron Hicks came off of a game so we grabbed him too and then we had four.

I teamed up with Aaron and, in the first game, Aaron and I got spanked 4–11.

We switched sides and played again and we were much happier with the outcome of this game. We absolutely clobbered Matt and Alex winning 11–1.

The third and final game was much closer. At one point we were down 4-6, but then we tied it up 6–6, then took the lead 8–6. We were serving with a lead of 10-8 when the lights clicked out.

In that third game, Aaron and I were initially doing a poor job communicating properly for shots down the middle. But we did tighten that up after about five minutes of play.

It went from 66° and sunny to 59° and dark over the two hours I was there.

In one of the later games in the evening, my partner Aaron had just served and the service return came to him. Of our two opponents, he hit a drive to the one set at the net who simply drove the ball off a court for a winner. I wasn’t upset by the shot, but I knew it wasn’t the best shot selection. Aaron could’ve very easily hit to our opponent who was moving in. That would’ve made it a much more difficult shot than the stationary opponent.

---

Wednesday, April 8, 2026 (No Play)

I found this to be interesting… just how expensive it is to break into pro pickleball. The spectator tickets are high, pro registration to compete is high, youth “Next Gen” registration to compete is high… it makes it hard to go pro:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DW18hOxlSRN

Yet another example of why you want to wear eye protection!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DW453vLiQAh

Another Pickleball Facility

Another dedicated commercial pickleball facility is opening up in the Silicon Valley… Ace Pickleball Club in San Jose:

Pickleball company taps long-empty San Jose retail site for expansion

---

Thursday, April 9, 2026 (No Play)

I had a board meeting for the Santa Cruz Art League tonight, of which I had completely forgotten. So, while at lunch I had grabbed all my pickleball gear, there would be no play for me tonight!

This afternoon I sent copies of my instructor insurance as well as the new insurance rider covering the City of Scotts Valley to them. At this point, all their insurance requirements are now taken care of.

Foot

The top of my left foot was bothering me after my play on Tuesday night. It’s kind of weird, like I strained something. Regardless, it’ll get a break tonight.

---

Friday, April 10, 2026. (No Play)

Apparently there’s a new pickleball reality series coming out called “Partners”, connected with the PPA.

Another Pickleball Movie

And a new pickleball movie. I hope it’s better than the Lifetime network one that came out over Christmas that was roundly ridiculed.

Here’s a link to the film studio:
https://www.pinelinestudios.com/pickleball

Weather

It’s not looking good for play the next few days!

---

Saturday, April 11, 2026 (No Play)

Mike Cattivera texted me asking if I wanted to be a fourth at The Hub tomorrow afternoon. I’ve never been to The Hub in Campbell and I certainly would like to go sometime. However, tomorrow afternoon is a fundraising sale at the Santa Cruz Art League from 3 to 6 p.m., proceeded by a memorial for one of the art instructors an hour before that. I had to tell him no.

I had to work today and it was a little consolation to me to know that no one else was playing outside either with the rain continuing off and on all day.

DUPR Grumbling

Win a tournament decisively but still have your DUPR rating go down? Ouch!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXAhr2UksE1/

Number of days on a court: 923
Number of total hours: 3,442.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 209.5

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

Sunday, April 5, 2026 (Court Day #922)

I took our corgi Pepper for a long walk this morning. It was already warm with not a cloud in the sky. When I got home, I asked my son Nicholas—who drove down to Santa Cruz for Easter and brought his girlfriend—if he or they wanted to play pickleball this morning. Nicholas mulled it over then decided he wanted to stay home.

My right knee was bothering me a little bit while walking, but it gradually got better as my walk went on. Giving it a little bit of a break would probably be a good idea, but the sirens call of pickleball is too strong!

With the abbreviated morning, I decided to go to Derby Park instead of the more distant Brommer Park. As I drove, I figured it would be less busy with it being Easter and all.

Derby Park

I pulled into the Derby Park neighborhood at 10:20 a.m. and parking was a challenge; there were cars parked up and down the adjacent streets.

I parked a block away. As I walked in, I discovered that part of the parking issue was some kind of party and/or egg hunt that was going on for kids in the park.

Nonetheless, pickleball was hopping—no pun intended!

Games

Sam and I played against Mike Berger—I think that’s his last name—and Derby regular Paul. We lost 6-11.

It was busy and there was a bit of a wait between games, but not crazy long.

Tony Sloss and I won 11-9 versus Sam and young Ryan. I’d never seen Ryan before, but Ryan is a very good player with hard drives and spin.

Tony and I teamed up again this time against Ryan and stocky Mark, who I see at Derby Park now and then. This was less a game of unforced errors and more a game of forcing shots that make your opponent uncomfortable. Ryan can really rip drives. Tony and I lost that game either 5–11 or 6–11, I can’t remember exactly. Still, it was a good challenging game. Tony and I both made shots that we would want to have back. Tony apologized to me and I apologized to Tony in that game. But still, I wouldn’t say we were played poorly in that game. It was just a good game. I would have liked a rematch, but that didn’t happen.

I talked to Ryan briefly as he was getting ready to go and when I asked, he said that he didn’t have any tennis experience but he played ping-pong. Yes, that quick hand-eye coordination helps. Ryan likes to put a very healthy amount of spin on his service returns. There was one time when I did a lob and with the spin that he had imparted on the ball, it sailed wide as a result—I can’t remember the last time I missed a lob wide of the court—deep, occasionally, but wide, practically never!

Last Games

Young Leo and I played against the guy named Mark and Ted. If I remember the score correctly, we won 11–1. Regardless, it was a very lopsided win.

For my last game, I told Leo that I would pair up with Ted. Leo signed up too and then we grabbed Mike (my second game with Mike) just as Mike came out from a game. I was expecting Ted and I to lose this one, but Ted played pretty well and we ended up pulling out a win 11–6. That was a nice surprise.

I asked Ted the time as we walked off the court and he said 12 minutes after 12. It was time for me to hit the road. Family Easter obligation awaited!

---

Monday, April 6, 2026 (No Play)

Former #1 juniors tennis champion Roscoe Bellamy on pickleball and how it’s so different than tennis:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWrYX4OETLp

Adjustable Paddle Weights

I thought this was interesting. An ad appeared on social media for a company that makes weights that attach to the edges of your paddle, but can be loosened and repositioned, then tightened in that new location:

SLYCE SLYDRS™ — Adjustable Clamp-On Pickleball Paddle Tuning Weights – Increase Power and Control

Progression of Serving

Zane Navratil was interviewed about recent serve history in pickleball. This video is a year old, but is still current. For those new to the game—in the last few years—this provides some good insight on how the serve has changed:

Number of days on a court: 922
Number of total hours: 3,440.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 209.5

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

Friday, April 3, 2026 (Court Day #921)

This morning, I received one of the myriad of pickleball newsletters that I’m subscribed to. This particular one was from Pickleball Union. A section of the newsletter was discussing cleaning your paddle to help grip pickleballs. What I found amusing was that it referred cleaning off “ball fuzz”. What sport do they think they’re talking about? Tennis? Pickleballs don’t have fuzz, tennis balls have fuzz!

Mike Cattivera had reached out a few days ago asking if I could play this afternoon with a private group. I told him that I’d be meeting with my cousin from Florida but I would join them no later than 5:30 p.m.

Skypark

It was sunny and clear and 77°F when I arrived at 5:15 p.m. It would be Mike, Scotty, Max, and me. Scott was in the middle of a random game and Mike and Max were warming up on an otherwise empty court. It was warm in the sun and hot on the court surface.

Max and Me

Max and I teamed up first. The game stalled at 7-7, with a series of side outs, then we pulled ahead to 10-8, then won 11-8. A good way to start.

We had a rematch. Max and I went ahead 8-3 then went on to win 11-8.

Scott and Me

We rotated partners. Scott and I lost 5-11.

We did better on the rematch, pretty much flipping the score, winning 11-6.

We played one more together, but this time Scott and I lost 9-11 after being up 8-1. A pretty sad letting them go on an 10-1 run.

Ashley—the only face I recognized of the 16 or so other players on the courts—came over and asked if he could rotate in. I told him that we wanted to play one last combination of players, then we’d get him in. Mike and I hadn’t played together yet.

Mike and Me

Not a shocker, Mike and I won 11-2. (Mike and I are the strongest players.)

At this point, Max opted to hit the road and leave space for Ashley.

Ashley In

Mike and I won 11-9 against Scott and Ashley. I was trying to hit a bit more to Ashley, who was the stronger of our two opponents.

Mike and I won again 13-11. I was continuing to try to hit more to Ashley. 

We mixed things up and Ashley and I won 11-8. We really should have done better.

Scott and I lost 3-11, then we lost again 0-11. Ouch.

Done

It was 8:37 p.m. and—while the lights would be on for another hour since it was a Friday—we called it a night. I would’ve continued to play even though I was tired, but Ashley was done.

I felt that I played reasonably well. Not stellar, but not bad either. I didn’t make more than about half a dozen errors in that entire last game, including returns that should’ve been deeper. One of those errors, I was going for a shallow crosscourt winner but I slammed it into the net. I was kicking myself for that one.

---

Saturday, April 4, 2026 (No Play)

A notification from my DUPR app popped up on my phone telling me about the “no risk” DUPR reset going on. I already knew about it. And, well, there is risk, you could be out whatever fee they are charging and still not have any changed your rating for the better!

Just for kicks, I went to the app. I tapped on the “players” icon at the bottom of the screen, and it displayed a list of players in the my area. It showed the ratings for the players that have one, others show “NR” (not rated). I had to laugh at some of them for being so wildly inaccurate. For instance, Mark G. shows a rating of 2.6. Mark is actually in the 3.5 range. There’s a local woman who was showing a rating of 3.8, and there is no way that is correct, she’s definitely in the 3.0 range.

One problem occurs when you do DUPR games only with players that are approximately your own age and gender and/or within the same group of players. You can end up overrated.

Another problem is that if you always play with players that are a lower skill level than you, then it can be hard to move up.

Number of days on a court: 921
Number of total hours: 3,438.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 209.5

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