Category: Pickleball (Page 196 of 325)

Friday, June 4, 2021 (Court Day #381)

I arranged a game tonight at 6:45 p.m. I arrived at Skypark in Scotts Valley straight from work at about 6:35. There were a boatload of tennis players and three unknown pickleball players on a court. On another court, Oleg and Olga were warming up. I joined in. Soon Kristin arrived and not long after was Adrian.

Adrian sat out the first game. Oleg decided to play the whole evening left-handed. Oleg is a strong player so that help even things up a bit. We rotated through partners.

A tall younger man, Brandon, wandered over from another court and asked if he could play with us. He quietly said that he was better than the players than he’d been playing with. (It turned out that Brandon’s a lower intermediate player, I’d put him at a 3.0.) Adrian told Brandon, “Ask him.” Adrian was pointing to me. Oh, yeah. I organized the gathering. I let Brandon play.

It’s interesting sitting and watching through a full game. Watching a volley rally, I couldn’t help but think, “Hit the ball down!” It seemed too many shots were going back either level or higher than how they came across when there were opportunities to hit the ball down. If you can get your opponent to volley upward, that is when winning shots become available.

Brandon left as soon as it was his turn to sit out a game.

Oleg’s frustration with his left-handed play was obvious, but he wasn’t playing poorly. But I can 100% understand and relate firsthand to his feelings about a shot he knows he could have made right-handed. It is indeed frustrating.

Kristin explained she had a hike to do the next day and left around 8 p.m.

At 8:40 p.m., having just finished a game, Oleg was done. I was ready to play another few games, but it is what it is. We were treated to a beautiful sunset. In a couple of weeks, it will be the longest day of the year, then we will be on to shorter days and darker nights.

As with most outings for me playing lefty, it was a mix of really nice shots and frustrating shots. But it was an enjoyable evening.

Oh, I should mention, this is post 403. A few posts ago, I hit 400. The 400 that I am actually looking forward to is 400 outings. That should happen in the next few months.

Number of days on a court: 381
Number of total hours: 1,083

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Monday, May 31, 2021 (Court Day #380)

With my wife wanted me to install a gopher trap this morning, I arrived at Brommer Park about 9:15 to sunny skies and busy courts.

The most comical moment today was Alan finally testing out my Players Rogue 2 paddle that he’s been wanting to try, while I tried his. We both hated them and switched back to our own paddles then went on to come from behind and win against Leslie and Juls. What didn’t I like about Alan’s paddle? Weight, weight distribution (longer paddle), too much bounce (more power, less control). Could I get used to it? Sure, just as I’m sure he’d get used to mine.

I played through a variety of games over the course of the morning.

A familiar man arrived as little after noon. “Hi, Andrew.” Shoot. I’ve obviously met him but I couldn’t recall his name nor the circumstances. We got into a game and he mentioned to the others that today was his third day out. His name was Doug. Ah. Ding, ding! I’d taken him from sitting on the wall to the first time on a pickleball court warming up here 8 days ago on Sunday.

And it turns out Paul was the name of the man who I thought was coaching yesterday. He was merely introducing his daughter and fiancé to pickleball. He was visiting from somewhere but grew up here and may be moving permanently back. Paul is a good intermediate player.

I ended up playing with Tony against Paul and Doug. Tony, a tall, fit man whom I’d never seen before. He was sporting a Cabrillo College basketball polo shirt. He said he’d been playing for about 7 months. I looked him up and found this:
https://athletics.cabrillo.edu/sports/mbkb/2019-20/releases/20200302idzh21

After a game, Tony said, “If you are playing left-handed, you must be pretty good right-handed.” I said, “I’m a solid 3.5 playing right-handed.” He looked at me somewhat blanky. Later, I figured that he probably didn’t have any reference for what that meant. Regardless, very pleasant fellow. We talked him into two more games after he said he should go home to keep his wife happy.

Doug, as I anticipated after I played with him the first time, is doing really well for his third time out. Sure, there are some strategy things that I shared with him after our last game—being patient and waiting for an attackable shot, for one.

At 1:27 p.m., it was time to head home and the “honey do” list!

Number of days on a court: 380
Number of total hours: 1,081

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Sunday, May 30, 2021 (Court Day #379)

I dropped off my daughter at work and arrived at Brommer Park at 9:10. It was sunny and would get a bit warm. I brought donuts that were left over from work yesterday to share. I had to work hard to get folks to eat them! Too healthy, these people!

There was an older man named Gerard who said he was visiting from Sacramento. More specifically, I found later he’s actually from Carmichael, CA, east of Sacramento. I played a few games with and against him with Juls and Greg (tall, gray ponytail). Gerard has no soft game. He clobbered everything. He got by due to the skill level of this opponents but had I been playing right handed instead of unnatural left, I would have taken advantage of that.

There was a tall man named Clayton who partnered with Greg (tall, gray ponytail) against Maree (who I haven’t seen in a year) and me. Clayton is a easy-going guy. Good player.

College Kids

There were 5-6 college age guys playing game after game on a court. (It’s always great to see some youth out playing!) After they finished up a game, Allan K. asked them if we could play their best two players. That turned out to be Cole and Steven—though Steven said it was open to debate. Cole is a decent player. He used slice drives, spin shots, and could get the ball back over the net. Allan and I were soon down 5-2. Allan told me, “We need to play better before we get embarrassed.” That would be bad! I dialed it up—instead of being a bit lazy and relaxed. We went on to win 11-5. Afterward, Cole shared with his cohorts, “That was real.” I never did tell them that I’m not really a lefty. Oh, on ball that was coming to my side of the court, short near the sideline, I shouted, “I got it!” But Allan didn’t stop and I ended up careening into him and slamming him to the ground. I felt bad, but no blood and he was ok.

Chris and played a game against his girlfriend Barbara and Maree. I’d never seen Chris play this gentle, but it was his girlfriend after all. The outcome was never in doubt. Even lefty, I was playing better than Maree and Chris is night and day compared to Barbara.

One of the college guys, Wyatt, played with Maree against Chris and me. Chris made some uncharacteristic errors (“I’m playing like a rookie’) and, heck, I’m playing lefty but the final score as still a lopsided win. 11-6 or 11-5.

Game with Mike

Rick A. and tall Mike were drilling/warming up. Jackie arrived. When I asked, she said she was waiting for her foursome at 1:30. It was 1:15. I told her we had time for one game before her friends came. Mike and Rick were agreeable. Mike and I took on Rick and Jackie. I was playing quite well—a good thing for the last game of the day. Jackie didn’t have any warm up. Mike and I won 11-2. I felt better today than after having feeding up slams to our opponents the last time I partnered with Mike.

There was a guy teaching/coaching two younger beginners. He had no paddle. Definitely instructing. I’d never seen him before. How can a guy I’ve never seen before be coaching newbies? You’d think I’d know anyone qualified locally to teach. Dunno.

Graduation Advice

I was watching this Tim Allen commencement speech to Hillsdale College. In it, he says, “Don’t aim were you don’t want to be, keep that off of your radar, aim where you want to go.” How many times have we hit the ball into the white tape at the top of the net. Too many.

Number of days on a court: 379
Number of total hours: 1,077

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