Pickleball Journey

Thursday, March 26, 2026 (Court Day #918)

New indoor pickleball club opened up in El Segundo on the coast down near Los Angeles:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUqeMAyjN4d
They seem to be popping up more frequently in the state these days.

Teaching Logistics

With Scotts Valley Parks & Rec dropping Rec.us as their organizer for their court reservations and class registrations, I emailed S.V. yesterday, asking if they were going to be reaching out to me to set up the next round of classes or if I needed to reach out to them at some future date.

Today, Allison wrote back, carbon-copying Jennifer, saying that their summer recreation guide was going to print on Monday so my timing was very good. (I kind of hate to think what would’ve happened had I not contacted them!)

Regardless, there are some things that are very different with the City of S.V. versus working with Rec.us. Such as I need to provide my own insurance and as part of that insurance, they want me to pay and cover Scotts Valley’s liability for my classes as well! The good news is that part of my annual certification with PPR, they provide liability coverage as part of the membership. This afternoon, I sent off a couple of messages to PPR asking them about specific details of the insurance policy.

While Scotts Valley does have a 60%-40% split of the classroom revenue (teachers get 60%), they do also charge a $9 administrative fee per registration and also tack on a 15% surcharge for non-residents. In the end, in order to keep the nonresident class registration under $100, my take-home will end up being almost exactly the same as it would be with a 50%–50% split that I got from Rec.us. That doesn’t count the insurance rider for covering S.V. though. I do think it’ll end up being about the same if you don’t count all my time for all the S.V. paperwork!

Knee

My right knee has been stiffening up. It is a bit sore when I start to use it after not using it for a while, such as after sitting for a period or this morning after I woke up. As I move around, it loosens up.

Skypark Play

It had been a beautiful day today and it was still 75° as I headed to Scotts Valley after work. The sun was getting low in the hazy sky when I arrived.

Strong games were very limited tonight. And maybe that’s good, I was not playing my best. But then again, I tend to play better when I’m focused and playing against more difficult opponents.

I teamed up with Abhi and we lost 9-11 against Frabrizio and Paul. We were ahead 8-4 at one point. Abhi has strong power, but some shots where going long and some were going into the net.

Big Mike and I played against John (of John and Robin) and Beth. Beth had zero success driving hard against me. Several of my counters were winners for my side.

Something I had success with tonight was sliding left while at the net and anticipating a speedup and hitting winners off of those.

Aireo Paddles

Mickey stopped by this afternoon after his outing and dropped off the two demo paddles at my work that he had borrowed. He’d picked the same model as Mo plays with—the Titan Hawk. He placed his order late tonight. I know he’ll be happy with his. Mo keeps trying other paddles, but she keeps going back to her Aireo.

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Friday, March 27, 2026 (No Play)

Apparently, there’s now yet another sport that uses a pickleball court, called skyball:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVOu4-_kwXT
Boy. More information at skyball.us. It claims to be the “Future of Racquet Sports”. Me? I think not. My money is still on pickleball.

Pro Rally

This is a great rally with ATPs, resets, and more!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DV4vSd8EbgS/

Number of days on a court: 918
Number of total hours: 3,428
Number of paid coaching hours: 209.5

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

Tuesday, March 24, 2026 (Court Day #917)

Last night, Mickey, from Brommer Park on Sunday, stopped by after work and picked up a couple of my demo Aireo paddles from me to try out. On Sunday, he played with one of my Titan Hawk demo paddles and loved it. This was a chance for him to play with it longer and confirm his feelings.

New Indoor Courts

It was reported that a new business hosting indoor pickleball courts is opening up in Mountain View about 45 minutes north of me.

Indoor pickleball court gets approval to open in Mountain View

Skypark

I arrived at skypark at 6:38 p.m. and got into assorted miscellaneous games. 

Toward the end of the evening, Abhi and I teamed up won 14-12 versus Matt Babb and tall Daniel Borlean.

Daniel hit three fast serves deep to my backhand. For two of them, I was unsuccessful returning, but however, I got the third one back over the net. And it wasn’t just me, Abhi was also having a difficult time dealing with Daniel serves too. Daniel was serving extremely well.

We played again, but this time we won 11-6.

With only 8 minutes left and no takers, it was time to head home.

I left a feeling pretty happy about my play. (Starting out, not so much!) As I told Matt after my last game, “Now I’m warmed up! I’m ready to play!”

I headed out at 8:22 p.m.

Knee

I was starting to feel my right knee during the last game or two. It was not super happy with me. I’m hoping this will get better over time, but so far, it’s lingering.

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Wednesday, March 25, 2026 (No Play)

This rally has really impressive defense!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWMGtOFjmsv/
It’s also a lesson on never giving up on a rally… you never know.

Number of days on a court: 917
Number of total hours: 3,426.5
Number of paid coaching hours: 209.5

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

Sunday, March 22, 2026 (Court Day #916)

I made my way to Brommer Park at 9 a.m. As I walked out my front door, it was 57°F, but it felt quite a bit warmer in the direct sunlight. It cooled down yesterday, but overall it’s been a fairly toasty week with the temperatures in the 80s.

Brommer

I pulled into the Brommer parking lot at 9:16 a.m. There were still traces of the fog, but I expected that to burn off in very short order. The question I was mulling was how warm it would get today.

Games

My first game was with Kyle against Zach and his wife Julie. (Rarely play with Zach and Julie, I think they are very early birds.) I did my best to try to keep the game close. Kyle was grumbling at himself, he was making a fair number of errors.

Kyle and I played together again and this time before the game, he asked me what he should do. I told him that it’s far better to get the ball over the net and have one more shot than to force it and drive hard into the net and have the rally be over.

Reserved Games

Rick Arnold arrived and he was looking for some players to join him and René on the #3 court he had reserved from 10 a.m. until noon. He invited me, then Dan Dewey was invited to be our fourth. These would be some fun games.

Rick and I played against René and Dan. We lost 4-11.

We had a rematch and this time it was closer, 8-11.

In our third game, it was a switch. We won 11-2. René kind of lost focus in that game.

We changed our partners and this time I was playing with René.

René and I won 11-8. We have been leading 8–1, but we were able to stall their comeback and win.

Rene and I lost the next one 4-11.

In our third and last game together, early in the game, we were down 2-8 but I got really focused. I did not want to lose this game. René was pretty happy with my play. At one point, she said, “Wow, Andrew! Beast mode!” René and I won that last game 11-9.

René told me that people should only speed up against me if they want to practice having the ball come back. She said, “You are like a Wall!”

After one rally when René and I were getting attacked in the backcourt, René complemented me my defense. I handled several high-speed slams in a row, my reset off one was really, really good. 

I have to say, Dan is extremely effective with his lobs. He’s got good topspin and his height and placement are excellent. You really have to hustle to get back and have a chance to return the ball.

We had some really great rallies in some of those games.

Daydreaming

My problem during most games is it they tend to move rather slowly, and my brain starts to wander. The rally will start. I’ll be daydreaming about something else. I think this is one of the reasons that I tend to play better in tournaments. I tend to stay more focused.

I left at 12:05 p.m.—I had to get home then to teaching. By this time it was completely sunny and it was in the mid 60s. It was a beautiful day.

Knee

I was feeling my right knee a bit in the last couple of games, so I iced it when I got home. I was wearing the cooling wrap as I drove from my house to Scotts Valley to teach.

Teaching

At Skypark after teaching, I was chatting with Marco and Christina who were drilling. In the conversation, I shared that Matt Babb recently told me that his DUPR rating is too high, 4.7—“He’s not a 4.7,” Marco interjected—and that Matt would like to get it down to where it should be. “He should call me!”, laughed Marco. I told Marco that that is pretty much what I told Matt myself!

Line Calls

This is a good video about line calls:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVqCPh5jUo6

Hilarious!

A new pandemic is on the loose!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWKYU09kppL

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Monday, March 23, 2026 (No Play)

Articles regarding pickleball in jails and prisons, pop up now and then. I believe it’s good. It breaks down boundaries by helping socializations outside of natural groups. It’s common in prison for prisoners to continue gang affiliation or to build groups solely based on race.
https://www.newson6.com/tulsa-oklahoma-news/pickleball-for-prisoners-oklahoma-doc-introducing-inmate-games-with-the-goal-of-rehabilitation

Someday, if I have enough time, I think bringing pickleball to incarcerated individuals, maybe juveniles is something that I’d like to do. Maybe after I retire. I don’t have the time nor flexibility in my schedule now, unfortunately.

Number of days on a court: 916
Number of total hours: 3,425
Number of paid coaching hours: 209.5

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