Category: Pickleball (Page 249 of 326)

Sunday, December 2, 2018 (Court Day #230)

I arrived at Derby Park to set up at 8:45. The courts were a bit of a mess with leaves and worms. I could have used another 5 minutes on the blower battery, but not bad. The weather would be fantastic. Sunny. Cool. Not too breezy. And only little downtime between games, the field maxed out at about 34 players, instead of 40-50.

I was happy to see some better players trickle in. Kim, Leslie, Kevin. And more my level, Dave Cox and Eric.

My lower back was pretty tight on Friday and it was again today.

A surprise, John P. and I beat Kevin and Dave Cox 11-0. Dave bore the brunt of the errors. Though, John and I had already played two games and Kevin and Dave were just starting.

Dave Cox and I played against Kim and George. Kim played extremely well. She was quick to poach and made good use of angles. She made a few mistakes, but easily outplayed Dave and me, no question. Dave was still warming up, I think.

Dave Cox and I signed up in a box with Leslie and Kevin. I figured we’d split, but Dave wanted to be partners. Leslie was questioning the pairings, asking, “Are you two doing a tournament?” No, just Dave’s request. We lost 11-5 to Leslie and Kevin. The final point was me returning Leslie’s serve into the net. Embarrassing, but Dave and I were outclassed.

Kevin and John P. (sunglasses) and my shadow. “Will we appear in your blog?”, asked John. “Do you want to be?” With a smile, Kevin said, “For a small fee!”

John and I played a game against Eric and Ted. Before the first serve, I asked John, “What’s your prediction for this game?” “I don’t know . . . 11-7?” I had a hard time arguing with that. But it was a balanced game. Last week, Eric was rusty. Today, he was playing pretty well. And Ted played well too. It was back and forth and in the end John and I lost 13-11. Good game.

Eric, MaryAnn, Ted, Christine (in fuchsia), Kim, Allan (leaning down), Chris.

The last game of the day was Susy and me against John and Eric. Eric wanted to play with my new Prince paddle, so we swapped. John wanted to try a different paddle too, so I gave him Eric’s Selkirk and took John’s Paddletek Bantem. When Susy saw that we were all playing with unfamiliar paddles, she grabbed a new paddle from her bag. Johns paddle was heavy. It was like wielding a hammer. (My new Prince Paddle is 8.0 ounces and felt light in comparison to John’s.) Susy and I won, but it was close and we all knew we were playing with a handicap. Eric liked my Prince paddle and offered to buy it from me if I opt to not keep it. In that last game, my elbow was really starting to ache. Not enough to keep me from playing, but there was pain with certain shots. Someone online said a heavier paddle cured their tennis elbow—my anecdotal experience is the opposite. Also, partway through the morning, it tweaked my ankle. The same one I’m rolled about a year ago. (I’m not sure what I did, maybe rotating on it, but it went on to give me trouble into the evening, as did my elbow.)

So?

If I had to pick one thing today to improve, it would be my dropshots. I had a number end up in the net. And some others were a touch too high and were attackable. As they say, “The hardest shot in pickleball.”

Eddie, the woman who asked at Brommer Park if I needed help when my car wouldn’t start, kindly followed up and asked how my car was. I told her it was just a battery and all was well.

Karl, whom I hadn’t seen for a few weeks, asked what was new. I told him about my tennis elbow. “Well, at least it’s the winter season.” Rain does take its toll on outdoor pickleball sessions! Forced recouperation! Rain is predicted for the middle of the week. Thursday night or Friday morning will likely be the first opportunity to play again this week. I am not happy about my elbow. I don’t want to have to sit out playing for some long period of time.

Tuesday, December 4, 2018 (No Play)

While at work, a customer shook my hand with a firm grip. Far from a crushing handshake but the corresponding pain my elbow was surprisingly intense. As much as I tried to hide it, I think it showed in my face, since a flash of doubt seemed to appear on his. Fortunately, it didn’t last too long, but, boy, did that hurt!

If I straighten my right arm and make a tight fist, I feel the pain on the back third of my forearm to my elbow. It’s kind of like a cramp or a charlie horse. The first time I do it, it’s very painful. If I do it repeatedly the pain subsides, but it has an ache that fades over a minute or so.

My wife has had a minor shoulder issue for some time, and recently has been seeing a chiropractor. She suggested I go see hers. Since the co-pay is only $10 and there’s was an early appointment, we set up an appointment online for Thursday morning. I doubt I’ll get a miracle cure, but any improvement would be a blessing.

Number of days on a court: 230
Number of total hours: 630.5

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

Friday, November 30, 2018 (Court Day #229)

The tennis elbow arm band I had ordered arrived yesterday, so I had it for use today. The rain stopped but the courts were still wet, so an email was sent out delaying play until 10 a.m. I opted to go a bit early and by the time I arrived at Brommer Park at 9:45, five of the courts already had games going.

Chuck, Dave DiBiase, a woman, and Alan Cable on the near court.

Today would be my first day playing with my new Prince Response Pro paddle. We’ll see how it’s goes over time, but so far I don’t notice a huge difference. It seems that it may have less power, but it was an abnormally windy day today, so that changed the dynamic and made it a bit harder to tell. I do like the longer handle, for sure.

The Upset

I saw that John P. had signed up in red in a box with Stuart and Kevin. I added my name to that box. Even though they were signed up in red, I knew I could easily hold my own with that group. As we walked o the court, I asked John, “Should we split up?” I was a bit surprised, but he replied, “No, this is fine.” “Ok!” So we played as a team against Kevin and Stuart. We lead the most of the game—if not all of it—and won by a decisive margin. 11-5 or something. Woah. Shocking.

Another Blast from the Past

Fun today was seeing Bob Hansen again who was the UCSC tennis coach and I took a tennis P.E. class or two from him about 30 years ago. I said hello and introduced myself again. I told him the last time I did seen him was at Derby Park and my other tennis P.E. coach Phil Kaplan had been there at the same time. Bob pointed out Josh, a tall older man, who Bob said had married Phil’s sister Sue. Small world!

Playing with a Big Boy

Kevin and I played a couple of games against Bryan and Binh. Bryan is a great player. He’s all control and angles. Bryan passes up winning shots just to keep the game going. If he were playing seriously, many points would be over quickly. I noticed at least two. Of my dropshots were too high, but he simply dinked them back over. One moment of glory was me getting into a volley battle with him at the net and winning the point. I’ll take my wee little victory! I made too many mistakes, I learned over into Kevin’s side of the court to poach a volley and my winner was instead hit into the net. That’ll impress Bryan—not! Inconsistency. Still.

Car Troubles

Things has gotten quiet and I made my way to the parking lot at 12:15; I had to head to work. When I turned my key in the ignition, the engine turned over, but wouldn’t catch. I tried again, no dice. And again. Drat. Eddie (female) asked if I needed any help, but I told her I’d be ok. I called for roadside assistance. Visor Tom—whose last name I learned today is Brandow—also checked on me. Mark Creed (Maree’s husband) had driven up and was watching the last two games going on. While waiting, I walked up and said hello. I told him about Bryan passing on winners, Mark said, “Bryan likes to play with you, move you around, draw you out of position, and make you look silly.” (Not in a mean way, of course!) When I meantioned my car, Mark offered a jump. 10 minutes later, my car was running.

I drove right to my wife’s and my regular service garage.

My 2004 Volvo getting dropped off for a fix.

When we walked out to my car, the service tech noticed my tournament T-shirt. With a smile, he said, “Pickleball.” I told him I’d been playing nearby at the park. “I haven’t played in many years, but we played it during P.E. in high school.”

The tech called me a Uber and I was on my way home, pickleball gear in tow!

And?

My elbow hurt a couple of times on shots today. I’m not doing slice shots since my brain/body revolt at the thought. I suspect that they know it would hurt. It hurts most when I lock my elbow or straighten my arm then clench my fist.

Overall, ok play today. Not where I want it to be, I made far too many unforced errors. Still, as I’ve been thinking lately, if I were to play a version of myself from a year ago, I’d kick that version’s butt! Gradual but definite improvement.

Number of days on a court: 229
Number of total hours: 626.5

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

Sunday, November 25, 2018 (Court Day #228)

On Friday, also known as “Black Friday”, I bit the bullet and ordered a new paddle. $133. Prince Response Pro, on sale about $40 off. It’ll probably show up in next week. Having only one fully functional paddle is asking for trouble. (Like taking only one pair of shoes to a tournament!)

On Saturday night, I was applying heat to my right elbow via a microwaved rice bag. Certain actions are causing noticeable pain in it. And what else do I do on a Saturday night? Study singles strategy!

Derby

I got to Derby Park about 10 to 9. Wayne was already there in his folding seat. With the recent rain, there were a smattering of worms which had set up residence on the courts. I could have used another five minutes on the blower battery! It was a beautiful sunny morning.

Minutes into warmup, it became quite apparent that my right elbow would give me trouble today. It was painful. When the first game started, I was grabbing it between points.

An overflow crowd. Dave Cox, Janet (black), Kim (lt. blue), man, MaryAnn (pattern), local Mike, Robin.

Eric reappeared. I’ve barely seen him in the last couple of months. And he was rusty too! Eric is usually pretty sharp, but the lack of play showed. He and I took on Kim and Cathy—always formidable—and while we initially kept it close, they ran away with the game. Eric made a lot of mistakes and I made more than normal as well. I did have my moments. After one volley battle at the net, a bystander—I think it was Nick—told me, “Great point! If you can go up against Kim, you can go up against anyone!”

Eric and I ended up in a game with Janet and Bruce. They wanted to play together which resulted in unbalanced teams. Eric and I walked away with that one. I think it was 7-0 before they scored a point.

Sitting on the bench waiting for my next game, I asked Stuart about the pain in my elbow. He asked about the muscle on the back of my forearm. I told him the pain is at my elbow. He continued the muscle quizzing. “It’s tennis elbow.” “It started after the tournament last weekend.” Stuart reached into his bag and pulled out a Velcro pressure strap. I slipped it on and used it’s until Stuart left a couple of hours later. It’s hard to tell if it helped or not, but it did seem to hurt less. Correlation doesn’t always equal causation, so I am hesitant, but I’ve seen many people use them over the years so there must be something to them. Alan K. said he used to use one himself.

Visitors Back

Referring to he and his friend, I asked a tall, older man, “Were you two at Brommer on Thanksgiving?” He replied that indeed they were. I pointed out to him Mike and wife Mandy, from Santa Barbara, whom I’d played against on Thanksgiving three days ago at the Brommer Park, and were back playing again but this time at Derby.

Dave Cox asked if I’d play with him against Mike and Mandy. “They are really good.” Sure, I said. And we went on to play four games. Mandy and Mike were targeting Dave. Dave told me, “Hit to her.” I told him, “We hit to her if we want to win. We hit to him if we want to get better.” I don’t know if he caught my drift. In rec play, I want the best challenge I can get. It’s nice to win, but that’s not my goal. I want to get better. While I didn’t target Mike, per se, I didn’t shy away from sending the ball his way.

In  the second game, to end a dink rally, I popped Mike in the shoulder with the ball.  In the third, tit for tat, a shot to my right upper arm: “You got me back!” After the game, I showed him the red mark and the circle on my skin made by the hole in the ball. With a big grin, Mike apologized. I assured him, “It’s all part of the game.” He shared with a big smile, “I does feel good when you get one though, doesn’t it?” Yep!

Dave and I won the first three games. The games were tough. Mike was playing aggressively, poaching shots and encroaching over into Mandy’s area of responsibility. Sometimes, it would work, but it was also resulting in points for us since Mike would be out of position. Dave told Mandy, “If you lose, you know who to blame!” Dave made a couple of errors on the next two points, so I kidded with Mandy, “If we lose, I know who to blame!” We did lose the last game 12-10, but Mike and Mandy are down to earth and fun. Dave has to work on his lobs—when they come in  the middle of a dink rally and are too short, they are point killers.

Jane—who helps coach the girls tennis team at Santa Cruz High School—watched the last game. She interjected from the sideline, “That was a really nice dropshot, Andrew!”

I did ask Mike his rating. He said he’s a 4.0 but played with a good partner in a recent tournament in a 4.0/4.5 bracket and won a silver medal. He’s a good sparring partner. As Mike and Mandy left, I yelled over, “Make sure to come back!”

”We will!”

The last game of the day was Wayne and me against Jane and Dave Cox. Jane played the best that I’ve seen her play. And it wasn’t just Wayne feeding her drives while she was at the net, she made some great shots. She and Dave won a lopsided game. Wayne plays a good drive game, but there is only so far you can  get with almost no soft game. Still, it was fun.

Monday, November 26, 2018 (No Play)

I received an email today from Becky at Paddletek which included a return label for the extra paddle they accidentally sent me. She thanked me for my honesty. I’m a good guy, that’s what I do.

Someone posted in the Facebook Pickleball Forum complaining about Pickleball Central’s Black Friday marketing, saying it’s misleading. Boy. It’s not necessarily deceptive but it certainly plays on a person’s assumptions. Including mine! I didn’t save $41 on the paddle I ordered. I saved $41 on the “bundle” I ordered that included products that I didn’t want. Even though the non-paddle products showed up “0” on the invoice, they were included in determining the total value. Still, it wasn’t a bad deal. The paddle I ordered would have been $15 more ($148) on Amazon.com. Plus when I added our club coupon code—crsantacruz—it knocked another $7 off the order total. (And SCPC gets a matching $7!) So, I saved about $20 and got a free bag and some free balls. (In addition to the Dura 40 balls I put on my order.) The thing is I may never use the balls or the bag. We’ll see.

Dave Cox texted about playing together in a tournament in January in San Juan Bautista. It’s moot, I have conflict and am not free that day.

The right elbow is doing a little better today, but is still not good. Last night, I ordered a Tennis Elbow forearm band on eBay. I figure I can use all the help I can get on that front. This may take a while to heal. It’s looking like rain the next few days, but Friday morning may be ok to play. All I can do I should hope.

Tuesday, November 27, 2018 (No Play)

Last night I did some homework reading up on Tennis Elbow. It’s still pretty sore. The horrible thought came to my mind that this might be a permanent thing. I had to give up bagpiping in a pipe band and competing at highland games due to chronic wrist issues—”overuse syndrome” according to the neurologist that tested me.

I went home for lunch and found a box on my front door. I more or less knew what it was. Yep. From Pickleball Central. It’s like an early Christmas!

The thing that I thought was cool was them inserting a brochure promoting the USAPA. In my book, the more pickleball players that are members of the USAPA, the better!

The overall length of the Prince Response Pro is 1/4” to 3/8” shorter than the Tempest. (That’s a surprise.) It’s a bit wider at the middle. The handle is slightly longer. It’s definitely more rounded in shape. All that said, it’s not radically different in overall shape and from across a court, you probably couldn’t tell the difference—other than the face graphics. The other thing is the surface has a different feel. It feels spray coated. The Tempest feels more “ribbed” in terms of texture. I hope the Response still applies spin well.

I hope that I get a chance to play with the new paddle soon—and without elbow pain!

Number of days on a court: 228
Number of total hours: 624

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