Category: Pickleball (Page 291 of 327)

Sunday, December 24, 2017 (Court Day #104)

Last Thursday, December 21

I quickly changed into shorts and hopping back in the car to head to Scotts Valley after work. The car thermometer read 45°F. Chilly, but I’d warm up. I pulled into the courts at 6:33 and found, unusually, that there were a few parking spots empty. But cold probably frightened some people off. Uh, oh. There were no people nor action at the far end of the courts past the tennis players. Not good. I figured I’d wait a few minutes and see if things would get started. Rolando pulled up. We hung out for about 10 minutes talking pickleball then called it a night. I got Rolando’s cell number in case we wanted to meet up and play soemtime. I texted Eric—I had mentioned in an email mid-afternoon that I’d be playing in Scotts Valley—in case he was planning to show up. About 10 p.m., Eric emailed me, “Dude, you need to get on Sharyl’s email list.” He’d also included her email message from that morning saying they were canceling! Rats. I dropped Sharyl a message asking to be put on the list and she got back to me saying she would.

Battle of the Sexes

YouTube suggested a video for me. Scott Moore and Steve Dawson versus Simone Jardim and Corrine Carr-Siebenschein. The women are the top doubles team and the men are 55 and 56 senior players who weren’t regular partners. It’s interesting to watch the strategies and the amazing skill during volley rallies and resetting the point after a slam.

Tournament Research

With the Livermore tournament coming up, I asked Jerry Louis and Beth Black their feelings on what level Eric and I should sign up for: 3.0 or 3.5?

Jerry said we are “solid 3.5” players and should sign up as such. He said, “you wouldn’t get any satisfaction from success beating up weaker [true 3.0] players.”

Beth, however, felt the grades are getting tougher and she’s seen some really good 3.0 players. Given that, she recommended signing up as 3.0 and have a “positive experience” where we might medal.

Boy. Two different opinions. So I emailed the Longs to see what Terry and Karen had to say.

Karen suggested, “If the draw is large in Livermore, I’d vote for you to start at 3.0 because you’d have a good chance at running across high level 3.0’s. If it’s a small draw you may be better off starting off at 3.5 to get the competition you want.”

Terry offered, “How about you start at 3.0 in Livermore and see how you do. If you dominate then move up to 3.5 at Paso.”

After taking to Eric, we opted to sign up for 3.0. That’s where we will start.

An Hour To Kill

With work open from 11-3:30, I figured I had just enough time to get an hour of pickleball in. I told John P. last night I could open the courts after all, but he’d still have to lock up. He said he’d be there at 8:30 regardless.

The car thermometer read 49°. Chilly but no breeze. John and I walked up to the courts from opposite directions as the same time, 8:35. We set up the nets and got things ready. Visor Tom was the first arriver. Then Rolando who would be my partner against John and Tom. I was thinking, “I’m a strong player. I’ll be in a tournament in two months.” Not so much. Rolando and I lost 11-0.

Dialing in the hard ball distance was difficult for me. What I need to do, for early games, is not try to win points but instead to try not to lose them. What does that mean? Hitting more toward the center of the court. Not necessarily at the center, but away from the edges.

I played a game with Mike against Ray and—boy, I can’t recall. Anyway, in that game I made my share of mistakes, but Mike paid me several compliments, like “That’s a really hard shot to make.”

My last game before dashing off a few minutes after 10 a.m. was with Tom against Kim and Robin. It was my best game of the day. There were some great rallies: rally, lob, back to the net, volley battle, etc. Nice.

Beep. Beep. Beep. John P.’s watch was going off. “Time for you to go to work!” He’d set it for me. I finished up my game and a few minutes after 10 a.m., I was off.

Number of days on a court: 104
Number of total hours: 292.5

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

Sunday, December 17, 2017 (Court Day #103)

It was crazy windy last night. When I got to the courts I was expecting a big mess. There were twigs and leaves strewn across the courts, but not too bad. Rolando appeared as I was finishing blowing.

Nearly all of my games today were played with a hard ball. I was disgusted with my initial play. My first few games were frustrating.

Looking Up

As the morning continued, my play gradually improved until I was playing very well.

My drop shots are continuing to come along. I make them far more of them than I miss. While playing with Beth, she said, “That was a great dropshot. I think you are better at them than you think.” (She had asked before the game what I wanted to work on. It would have taken too long to explain about not slamming popped up balls into the net—plus you might not see more than one or two of those in a game.) Beth also paid me a compliment after a rally at the net, “You have quick hands.” Nice to hear.

It turned into a beautiful day. “Another day in paradise”, someone said. Indeed, it was pretty amazing. Sunny, mild breeze. In the 60s. Mid-December. Wow.

There was a woman newbie there today, Nancy. She said she played a few times three years ago, but a golf social group got in the way, but she’s back to it now. I took her as my partner against Janet and Tom S. Nancy is pretty green but got it over the net most of the time. Not a game to write home about, but court time is court time. Nancy was very nice.

The last game was John P. and me against Eric and Oleg. It was a great back and forth game. Janet and Olga were watching from the bench and clapped at the end. John and I lost 11-9. Eric provided the weaker play for his team, John on ours, but there was no bad play. It was a good game.

Mexican Lunch

Eric and I headed to Mexican food and Oleg and Olga tagged along. Afterward, I talked to Eric about tournaments. When I told him, he wasn’t aware of the one in Livermore in February. He suggested that we ask Jerry about his throughts about that tournament and also what level we should register as. 3.0? 3.5? Eric doesn’t want to sandbag. And I don’t either. But given that we’ve never entered a real tournament (just that weird racquetball court one), I’m thinking 3.0, but we’ll see what Jerry says.

I told Eric, “We’re pretty close in skill level, though I’d give you the edge.” “I don’t know…” “I think you are more consistent. I’m more up and down.”

“I may still need some convincing, but let’s say yes for now.” I’ll take that!

Shoes

I had shifting insoles again with my new shoes. I’ve been debating buying third-party insoles. The frugal part of me is offended by paying 2 to 3 times the cost of the shoes for fancy insoles. But the Costco/Kirkland insoles did deteriorate—and before the rubber soles were worn down. I wore right through the heel and through parts of the front as well.

I opted to take a trip to the fabric store and purchase a couple of denim iron-on patches. I traced the insoles and cut the patches to shape.

And ironed them on. Here’s the result.

I’ll glue them in and see how the hold up.

Going Forward

Now, let’s see if I can reach 300 hours of court play for 2017.

Bonus

An interesting video by Deb Harrison that may require some study and experimentation.

Number of days on a court: 103
Number of total hours: 291.5

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

Thursday, December 14, 2017 (Court Day #102)

Looking back at Tuesday

On Tuesday evening (December 12), a sizable group of us pickleball people gathered at a wine bar on the wharf to celebrate the release of Kevin Kearney’s new book. Countdown to Z-Day. It was great fun to see players in street clothes. One or two, I didn’t even recognize at first! (Such as Kevin’s wife Bev!) Tim was telling me that Kevin’s book falls into the “comedic thriller” genre . . . a genre I didn’t even know existed!

I bought a copy and Kevin inscribed it. We sometimes get confused for each other—dark hair, similar build, similar height—hence the reference to “Bizarro Kevin”. I think I started the “Bizarro Kevin/Bizarro Andrew” thing, but I can’t remember for certain. It’s been a few months now. Kevin is a good guy.

Thursday Night (Court Day)

I arrived in Scotts Valley about 6:40 pm. The lot was full, so I parked on the dim street that dead ends at the courts. “Hellllo, Andrew!” came a happy voice. It was Rolando.

It was a chilly evening, in the low 50s. I would have been wearing my sweatshirt but in my haste at home after work, I didn’t grab one. But I was warm enough in no time. I played an assortment of games. Kris and me against Terry (Laura’s husband) and someone. Janet and me against Mel and Maria. Depending on the game and my partner, I sometimes notice that the ball doesn’t come to me as often.

Kris came up with a nickname for me she said. The Velvet Hammer. LOL! Maybe “nice but look out for the slams”? I do smack it hard if I’m given a popup ball.

Somewhere along the line, my right glute muscle started nagging me a bit. Nothing serious, just a touch uncomfortable.

Best of Three

Three games near the end were Olga and me against Oleg and Jeanne. They were relatively balanced games and we played three in a row. Oleg and Jeanne won the first. Olga and I had been ahead until Oleg insisted on switching from a soft Pure 2 ball to a hard ball. Olga and I won the second game. And Oleg and Jeanne won the third. Boy, Oleg is a competitor! He can get intense! He does not like to be on a losing team! But he’s a nice guy and a good challenge on the court. My challenge on those games was switching from the soft ball to the hard ball. It’s a different game. I returned a number of serves too deep (out) and some points where I expected them to be over instead bounced high enough to allow the opponent to return the ball over the net—and sometimes even high enough to drive a shot over the net, not just dink!

Last Game

Rolando and Olga and Jeanne and me started a game. Clouds of misty breath in the cold night air was an obvious sight. But we found out that Kris held the responsibility of being the “closer” for the evening. (Mark Dettle didn’t come tonight and Cheryl had already left.) But Kris—being nice—said we could play to 6, so we did. By the time our opponents rolled to a 5-0 lead, I figured it was going to be a quick game! Rolando said, “If we can win this point, we’ll get a shutout and I can brag tomorrow!” But, with service back and forth, Jeanne and I put up a battle and clawed back into the game. Then we tied it up at 5-5. Then pulled ahead at 6-5 and finally won at 7-5. Sorry, Rolando. Not this time! “Serves me right for talking about a shutout!”, he laughed. Pickleball is like that. It ain’t over until it’s over!

We wrapped things up about 9:15. Walking back to our cars, I asked Rolando if he ever thought about entering tournaments. “Nah. I have too much to learn.” But, when I asked him, he admitted that it’d be fun when the time is right. So . . . a possible partner down the road!

I was in my car pulling out at 9:34. Late. But fun!

Club Christmas Party!

The Santa Cruz Pickleball Club hosted it’s annual Christmas party on Friday night, December 15. They had over 70 RSVP and even more showed up. The food was very good, desserts were aplenty, and spirits were high. It’s astonishing how different a lot of the women look all dressed up! Makeup, dresses, and hair down versus ponytails, sunglasses and T-shirts.

I saw Mike midway through the evening:

“Hey Mike! Boy, you look way different . . . ”

“A lot of us do,” Mike interjected.

” . . . wearing makeup!”, he heard me finish my sentence while he was talking. I got a few chuckles from that one!

Eric was there with his wife Ellen. I got a surprise. Eric said, “I need to talk to you about Paso Robles.” “I’m ready!” “You get first dibs.” Paso Robles is the site of pickleball tournaments. Wow. Maybe Eric is interested in playing in a tournament after all! The next one there is in April. Though there’s also a tournament in Livermore in February. Paso Robles is a 2 hour drive. Livermore is about an hour.

One nice compliment came during one of those standing circle chats. John P., Eric, his wife Ellen, Cathy (hang with Kim), Oleg, Olga. Cathy was asking how often we play. I said, “Last night was number 102 since January. What is that? Every three days?” Cathy surprised, responded, “No wonder your drop shots are so good!” Though one has to consider, while we played together a couple weeks ago,  that’s the only time she’s played with me once in the last few months!

Number of days on a court: 102
Number of total hours: 287.5

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