It was completely overcast and 59° when I left my house a few minutes after 9 a.m. While I barely feel it, tennis elbow continues to be a concern so I’m going to play left-handed again today. There’s no point in going to Brommer Park seeking higher level play, so Derby it is.
It’s been over a week since I’ve played last. And that last time was in St. Louis, Missouri. All the traveling that I have been doing has been providing more recovery time for my body.
Plantar Fasciitis?
What is curious, is that a couple of days ago, there was some pain running underneath the length of my left foot. I’ve never had plantar fasciitis, but I suspect that that may be what this is. I’m hoping that it will just go away, but I may need to do some research to see what will help it.
Derby Park
I walked up the gate at 9:15 a.m. Two of the courts were still empty.
Even with me playing lefty for all the games today, Mark G. and I won 11-8 against Marin and Bihn.
Marin and I lost 8-11 versus Charles Overbeck and Anne. Charles, of course, is still a very strong player with a very long reach!
Charles and I lost 3-11 versus Marin and Scott. Not my best game. Charles is always patient with my lefty playing. He saw it before some years ago when I had really bad chronic tennis elbow.
The Derby scene at 11:19 a.m.
Marin and I played a game against Jeff and his brother Scott. I decided to play that game right-handed. Marin and I took a big lead only to lose 11-9. Jeff and Scott got dialed in and they were painting the lines like crazy.
I left shortly after 12:30 p.m. With all the clouds moving offshore, it got sunny and warmed up to 66°.
Number of days on a court: 933 Number of total hours: 3,472 Number of paid coaching hours: 209.5
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After waking up about 3:15 a.m. to get to the airport and fly St. Louis, I landed about 1:30 p.m. local time. My cousin John kindly battled very long line of cars to pick me up. (The airport there is poorly designed with a massive bottleneck for picking up passengers!) I hadn’t see John since our grandfather’s funeral in 2006 when John came out to California to honor his namesake, John Lenz II. I had reached out in February to let him know that I was coming and to see if we could hang out some.
John is the GM of the private Algonquin Golf Club which also features a $3.3 million Racquet Center built in 2022 with tennis courts and pickleball courts.
I later learned that it costs $75,000 for the club initiation fee and $1,400/month for ongoing membership. ($16,800/year.) This is outside of my budget, but on the flip side, housing and the cost of living is far lower here compared to my California coast. Here, the median home price is about $250,000. The median home price in Santa Cruz is currently $1.4 million. My wife and I could buy 4-5 homes here in St. Louis for the value of our pretty average 1700 sq.ft. house on a small lot back home.
A month ago, John had connected me via text with his Director of Racquets, Brian Pillar, who is a certified coach for tennis as well as pickleball. Brian kindly said he’d find players and get a game together for me.
The Club
Next to the courts, the parking lot was pretty full. John told me that a pro-am golf tournament was going on. John took me to the racquet center pro shop and introduced me in person to Brian, then John headed off to meetings.
Brian had arranged a doubles game from 5-6 p.m. (That’s why I caught super early flight… to get in some pickleball!) There would be a little wait.
It was just Brian and myself in the pro shop for a couple hours. We were chatting off and on while he was doing work on his laptop and not answering the phone.
Fun candle holders in their pro shop!
Brian is a super nice guy. It became clear during our discussions that his first love is unquestionably tennis.
New Arrival
About 4:30 p.m., a man named Barry Stone entered the pro shop. Brian obviously knew him and Barry was talking about getting back from a trip. Barry is not just a pickleball players, but is also a golfer.
Play Time!
At 4:38 p.m., Barry and I went out and started warming up one of the two empty pickleball courts.
Barry on the court!
The courts are beautiful. Good nets, good surface. It was warm and a touch muggy but not too bad.
Brian came out and after we warmed up for a bit, we played two on one, with me covering half of my side against Brian and Barry. I was up 8-1 when a fourth showed up, Eric. Eric is about six foot. Brian is a little shorter than I am and Barry and I are about the same average U.S. male height.
After a couple of games, Dave arrived. Brian had said earlier that Dave is a really strong player. Brian bowed out when Dave arrived.
We played a few games, rotating partners. John arrived after his meeting to check on things. John asked Brian how I was going and Brian said I hadn’t lost a game. I corrected the group that I had lost one.
The sun was getting lower in the sky but it was still a bit hot and Brian wanted to shift over to the partially shaded court. I’m not a big fan of that kind of lighting, but I’ll admit that the shade was nice.
Around 6 p.m. a few people arrived on the other court. Brian said they were having a lesson.
There was one rally with Barry on my right covering the sideline and I left a little too much room to my right and left the middle open. Eric took advantage and hit a winner. Oops. I was kicking myself. My later games were not as strong as my earlier games, which is kind of funny since I had not played right-handed for about two weeks. You’d expect my later games to be better as I got reacclimated to righty. But I may have relaxed too much also!
At 6:18 p.m, people were done. I would have played longer but one can’t play alone… plus John was patiently waiting.
Me, Dave, Eric, and Barry.Me and Brian recorded for posterity.
It was a great group of fun guys. And I can see why everyone likes Brian!
[Later note: The evening after the trade show ended on May 19, John took me to a St. Louis Cardinals game. While there, he shared that Brian told him that I’m a good player and have fast hands. Nice to hear.]
OGs of Pickleball
In this list, I’ve met three. Kyle Yates, Ben Johns, Morgan Evans. I’ve seen Tyson McGuffin play in person. I haven’t met Jennifer Lucore, but we’ve corresponded a few times over the years. I remember being told that Scott Moore came to Santa Cruz one time to run a clinic, but that was before I started playing in 2017. https://www.instagram.com/p/DYXS4oQEThX
Aireo and Nico
Our local Bay Area-based paddle maker, Aireo, made an appearance on a Nico the Lefty social media post of his top paddles of May 2026. That’s good exposure for them! Nico has come out of nowhere and is now a cohost on Zane Navratil’s podcast. https://www.instagram.com/p/DYV-ybmEfic/?img_index=5
Anna Leigh Waters on NBC
Young phenom player, current #1 female player in the world, Anna Leigh Waters, continues to make appearances in the mainstream media, this time on NBC News. Pickleball is continuing to get noticed. https://www.instagram.com/p/DYZvJb8GpC0
Glorya Jean Tate Park, down in Marina, has two new public pickleball courts that are set to open on June 6. Not that I’ll likely use them anytime in the near future, they are a little less than an hour of driving to the south of me.
Marina courts under construction.
Friday, May 22, 2026 (No Play)
Here’s a new story about pickleball problems in Cupertino about 40 minutes north of me: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYXlC04I-NI “Cupertino officials are moving forward with measures to reduce noise from the city’s growing pickleball scene after nearby residents complained about constant sound from courts at parks and schools. Proposed solutions include sound barriers, restricted playing hours and possible court modifications as the city tries to balance recreation demand with neighborhood concerns.”
I should mention that Matt Babb kindly reached out a few days ago checking on me since he hadn’t seen me in a few weeks at Skypark. I explained that I’ve been doing a lot of traveling and I’m also dealing with a little bit of tennis elbow. It was very nice of him to reach out.
Saturday, May 23, 2026 (No Play)
Pickleball has invaded Major League Baseball! The Milwaukee Brewers installed a court during spring training!
“The game that has swept the nation over the past couple of years has swept up the Milwaukee Brewers coaching staff and is showing no signs of stopping. From the coaches to the front office, pickleball has been the way to bring the organization closer together, fuel their competitive fire, and keep their minds sharp.”
Pickleball is not a Sport!
Show this to anyone who says the pickleball is not athletic! https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYjsTg2k5ZS/ I’ve never given anyone the middle finger in my life, but here’s my version, haters!
Number of days on a court: 932 Number of total hours: 3,469 Number of paid coaching hours: 209.5
To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.
My brother John is out of town for work and my sister‘s husband Mike was going to run my niece and nephew to school in Scotts Valley this morning but he came down with a bad sore throat. Last night, my sister asked me to take the kids instead and—of course—I said yes.
Alarm!
I was brutally awakened at 4:11 a.m.— it was the burglar alarm at work! I immediately sat upright and grabbed my phone. I remotely turned off the alarm and then checked the security cameras on my phone. It appeared that everything was fine. Having dealt with real break-ins, this kind of thing generates a lot of adrenaline and anxiety. I ended up being awake for the next two hours. It was miserable.
Brommer Park
I arrived at Brommer at 8:15 a.m. We’d be having our board meeting shortly after organized club play ended at noon. We had the whiteboard out so I ended up playing with random players.
I was continuing to play left-handed today to keep my tennis elbow from getting worse. It’s still mostly mild, I want to keep it that way—or even better, give it time to heal!
Janell and I won 11-8 versus regular Ed and lefty Daniel Nachman. Janell is one of those players who plays much better than you’d expect.
For my last game of the day, I was paired with Shawnté against Cary and Marquis. After the game, I was talking to Marquis and he said he can switch and do a lefty forehand, but when doing lefty backhand, he wiffs on the ball. Fortunately, the only time you’d do a lefty backhand is when you can’t play at all with your right.
At about 12:15 p.m., I dashed over to our monthly Santa Cruz Pickleball Club board meeting over in the picnic area for my role as board VP.
Overall, there was nothing of significant note in the games today.
Missing Paddle Found
Deanna (Matt Zachary’s syster) told me that found my missing paddle—as mentioned last time—at Derby Park. Apparently, someone demoed it (fine) but left it out somewhere on the courts and didn’t return it the bag with the rest. Thanks, Deanna!
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