Category: Pickleball (Page 263 of 326)

Friday, August 24, 2018 (Court Day #188)

I arrived at Brommer Park at 9:05 a.m. under foggy skies. It would burn off in the early afternoon.

Mike sits while play starts to gear up at Brommer.

I got in a good game right off the bat and managed nearly all pretty good competitive games. As I was helping put away a net, Jane asked, “Are you still playing?” I told her that I was. (At least I was hoping though things we’re winding down some.) Nex thing I knew I was partner with John Connor against Jane and lefty Steve. Wow. Strong players. The breeze was behind our back and John and I both returned some serves long. It wasn’t a super long game, but challenging and fun. They were all laughing and enjoying the game. John and I lost 11-7. I held my own.

I grabbed by backpack and said my goodbyes. Dave Cox yelled over from all the way across the courts, “Andrew! Got one more?” I pointed at him and gave him the thumbs up. Dave and I were teamed up against Oleg and Dave DiBiase. I sure seemed to be back to my old self. Dave was the one making most of the errors. I wasn’t perfect, I had to apologize a few times, but I played well.

After today, I was happy. I wasn’t mulching quitting pickleball!

I had two positive comments about my serving. Rich (from Palo Alto) told me that my serving has gotten better and that I’m “mixing up” my serves. Unpredictability is good. And Jane exclaimed later, “What are you doing with your serves?”, then went on to say something about the balls not going where they were expected. The answer? Side spin. It makes them curve. Against Steve, I was just mostly hitting straight to his backhand (his right hand) which is a bit odd since I more often serve to a person’s left hand side, but then again, most people are right handed!

Training Session

Mid-morning, Karen Long asked if id seen the flyer posted by the court signup board. I said no, and she said Terry would be doing a workshop. Karen said they’d be mailing it out, but I grabbed my phone and took a photo of it anyway.

By late afternoon, I’d been bundled into the requisite group of four with John P., Eric, and Allan.

Also by late afternoon, my left hip was hurting. It was enough that I was limping a bit. It had stiffened up when I was sitting at my desk for about 20-30 minutes straight. Hopefully, it won’t be a lingering thing. I did opt to play in our softball game tonight. We lost, but it wasn’t due to my play. I got on base and didn’t make any glaring errors in left field. This will likely be my last season of softball after about 17-18 years. Pickleball is calling!

Number of days on a court: 188
Number of total hours: 518.5

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Thursday, August 23, 2018 (Court Day #186)

There are a crazy number of big fires going on in California right now. Yesterday, the sun was red well before sunset. Today, you could see the smoke making the sky hazy and impersonating fog even with the fires hours away.

But the smoke wouldn’t keep me from pickleball.

The USAPA sent out a notice that phase 2 of their new rating system was complete so that more accurate skill ratings were now available. My rating dropped from over 3.5 to 3.336. Eric was raised to 3.352. John P. was lowered to 3.52. Well, I still don’t think they are accurate, but they are closer. John is a good player, but I still believe most of the club would pick Eric or me over John as a partner. Though it is safe to say that John outplayed me on Tuesday night. I was just playing rotten.

Skypark

I arrived at scotts valley at 6:38 p.m. I left work just after closing but my wife insisted I remove a dead rat from a trap in our backyard before leaving. Beth Black had texted yesterday about drilling and we decided to do some at SV along with some games.

We did some third shot drop drills, then she and Kris took on me and Terry (Laura’s husband). It was a fun game. I played ok.

Beth and I played as partners against some good opponents and kept winning, I was playing very well. Not perfect, but well.

Dan and Sarah were playing along with their friend Dillon. I only played with and against Sarah. She’s getting better—as you’d expect. She’ll be formidable in time.

Tonight, I feel a bit better. I had my dumb shots, but I had some great shots and some very good rallies.

9:18 and we were done.

Number of days on a court: 186
Number of total hours: 515

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Tuesday, August 21, 2018 (Court Day #185)

I arranged some evening pickleball. Eric, Brennan, John P. and myself. I left straight from work and arrived at 6:38 p.m. for the 6:30 gathering. (Leaving work can sometimes be a challenge.)

Eric and Brennan warming up as I arrived.

The first game was Brennan and me against Eric and John. We lost. Then Eric and I played against Brennan and John. We lost. Then John and I played against Brennan and Eric. We lost. Then we went back to Brennan and me against Eric and John. We lost. I was playing poorly. I lost every game that I played. Some were close, but still. Crap. Recently, I wrote about being frustrated with the lack of challenge. This time, it was frustration at my lack of ball control. It wasn’t that I was hitting to the wrong place (generally), it was that I was not executing. Balls too high or shots hitting the white tape of the net.

At about 7:50, John was done. It was dusk. I asked Brennan if he wanted to play singles. He was game. I went out to a 5-0 lead, but it was getting dark. My 50-something eyes were having a hard time. Brennan’s 30-something eyes were having a better go, I think. I ended up losing 13-11. It was fun, but not being able to track the ball was  real challenge! I can honestly say that I would have played better with more light.

We left the courts about 8:10. Brennan was saying his local construction project is coming to a close and he may be moving away. Pleasanton, he said, was the location of the next job. But he said he loves the weather in Santa Cruz and wants to settle in one place and stop moving around before too long. I hope he can manage to stick around. He’s a good one to play against.

Thus evening, my play was depressing. Did I saw depressing? Depressing.

Number of days on a court: 185
Number of total hours: 512.5

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