Fall is definitely arriving. As I left work at 6:45 p.m., the clouds on the eastern horizon were already pink and the sky towards the sun was a bit yellow. It’s getting darker earlier and earlier. I’d have no need for the sunglasses packed this morning.
Yesterday, I picked up my daughter at the airport. She’s visiting for a few days before heading back to her medical school studies. I invited her to come play.
Tennis Elbow Strap
This afternoon, I redid the Jerry-rigged customization to my forearm tennis elbow strap—my extra padding has gotten a bit nasty and flattened over the last few years—but then promptly left it on my desk at work. Oh, well! (I added thin strip of foam running parallel to my forearm on the inside of the top of the Band-It strap. This applies more pressure right where it is needed.)
The back of my right hand is still nagging me a little bit, primarily just with certain motions.
Skypark
The evening temperature was very comfortable, it had been a warm day.
There were two cars which parked on the street in a fashion which took up two spots each. Grrrr. Come on people!
With giving my hand a rest and schedule conflicts, it had been two weeks since I’d been at Skypark evening play.
I arrived at Skypark and the first time in as long as I can remember, not all the nets are set up at this late of a time. It was already just before 7 p.m. There was only one person waiting, and that was Marquis wearing what looked like a blanket over his shoulders. I kidded that he was ready to “leap over tall buildings” with his “cape.” He said he was cold. It didn’t seem cool to me, but he said that he got all sweaty and then when he stopped moving around, he got cold. It was sunset, after all.
There weren’t any games tonight for me which were truly challenging, but I had an entertaining time in all of them.
Games with Charlotte
Around 7:30 p.m. or so, my daughter Charlotte and her boyfriend Aidan arrived. They waited for me to finish the game that I was in and then Charlotte and I got into a game with Scott and a woman who see around now and then who goes by Katie or KK. I took it a little bit easier on KK, but not easy on Scott. Charlotte and I ended up winning the game. Later, Charlotte shared that she’s been playing about once a week in Tucson. Good for her.
Ethan’s Back
When we came off after that game, it turned out Ethan – who is back in town visiting from San Luis Obispo – and Caitlin were waiting to play with me. Ethan said he didn’t think he would have been back so soon.
Aidan had jumped into a different game, so Charlotte and I played against Ethan and Caitlin.
It was fun. Ethan was taking it very easy on my daughter Charlotte and I was taking it very easy on Caitlin. It took a number of sideouts before any points were scored since Ethan and I were both trying to keep the rallies going for the most part. Later in the game, he would occasionally rip a more serious shot. There was one where Ethan had served to me, it was very shallow and angled to the right. It took me everything I had to get to the ball and get it back over the net. I ended up in the fence which was next to our court—though I was able to get back into the rally. After the rally was done, Ethan said, “I thought I had you on that serve.” Charlotte and I “won” that game, but it wasn’t a true battle.
Bench Warmer
I sat out the next game to let Charlotte and Aidan play against Ethan and Caitlin. Charlotte and Aidan are both 26—actually, he might be just under 26—and Caitlin and Ethan are both about 22, having both just graduated from UC Santa Cruz.
I talked to a blonde-haired woman named Chris on the bench for a few minutes while waiting.
Last Game
One of the games broke up and there was still 11 minutes left of lights. I convinced a few to play whatever game we could with the remaining light. I teamed up with lefty Mike against Dr. David and retiring Mike. My partner was the weakest player on the court and retiring Mike was the second best player on the court after me. Our first game went very quickly with my team only scoring a few points. Since it went so fast, we had time to start a second game. We switch sides and the outcome was on a trajectory for the same result when the lights clicked out… I think it was 2–10 with my partner Mike serving. The serve just passed right over the net court when the lights clicked off.
There was no “after party” and everybody took off pretty quickly once the lights went out. I stowed a net bag into the bin and locked it up. Someone has to be responsible, right?
It was nice to see Ethan tonight.
As we walked out; Charlotte said, “It was pretty busy tonight.” I told her that actually this was a pretty light evening. We didn’t need the white board and waits were short.
Saturday, September 28, 2024 (No Play)
The news is circulating the last day or so that youngster Anna Leigh Waters—the reigning #1 women’s player in the world—is on track to make more than $3 million dollars this year, making her the highest-paid pickleball player on the planet. Considering that she won’t even turn 18 until January, she’s doing pretty well!
Anna Leigh Waters
New Permanent Courts
Cabrillo, the local junior college, converted some dual-striped courts to permanent pickleball courts in recent months. I haven’t been out there since it has been done, but I believe it could be as many as 8 permanent courts. You do have to pay for parking and the courts are reserved at certain times during the week for classes, but there’s a fair amount of time for public access.
Currently the classes use the courts at these times: Monday – Thursday: 11:15 a.m. – 12:35 p.m. Tuesday & Thursday: 1:30 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. Monday & Wednesday: 10:00 a.m. – 11:05 a.m.
Number of days on a court: 719 Number of total hours: 2,967.5 Number of paid coaching hours: 75.5
To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.
I had woken up shortly after 6 a.m., but then eventually fallen back asleep. I dreamt it that it was the first serve of a game. My two opponents were chatting with each other for an extended period on their baseline, and when I looked away for a moment, the server served the ball at me as a Nasty Nelson, hitting me. I was mad and though I complained, they switched places took the point anyway. When they were about to serve, I told them I was done playing and simply walked off the court. In the dream, I was angry. It was very odd. I’ve never walked off in the middle of a game. Not once in nearly 8 years. My only time is now in a dream!
This morning, lying in bed, my right knee was bothering me a little bit. And while driving to Brommer I felt a very mild stinging to the inside of my right knee. Also when I tossed something onto a dresser, the back of my right hand had a short twinge of mild pain. But it had been a week since I last played. “I’m playin’!”
Driving
When I left my house it was 57°F and overcast. My wife had said, “It’s not going to be a very sunny day today for your pickleball.“ In fact, as I drove, there were some very light sprinkles on my windshield. It was very light and dried in seconds as I continued on my way.
Brommer
I arrived at Brommer at 9:19 a.m. Parking was easy.
For my first game, I played with Richard—who used to play regularly at Derby Park, but I hadn’t seen in at least a couple of years—against Marilee (I had to ask her name) and Ed. We won 11-2. It was short rallies. I did make one mistake and that was it. I played an extremely clean game.
Cassidy and I played against René and Jordan. It was not Cassidy’s best game. She had some really fast serves, but missed maybe a third of them as well as some other shots. We lost.
I teamed up with JP against Monda and René. This was a stronger all-around game. JP and I were up 8-3, but ended up losing 11-8. Crazy. They went on an 8-0 run! Ouch!
The clouds had burned off and it was getting quite warm. I don’t sweat particularly easily, but a perspiration sheen could be seen on my arms.
Toward the end of my session, Sean Lynch invited me into a game with Danny and Kiko, “Do you have your paddle in the rack yet?” Such a bummer, I really, really wanted to get into that game, but I’d already committed to a group with René and, yes, my paddle was already up. Arg. Ah, well. I was tempted to bail out, but it would leave my group scrambling to try and find a fourth. Next time!
Last Game
My last game was lefty Greg and me against a woman named Deb and a tall man named Alessandro. I’d never met either of them. Deb is a banger. Alessandro is a strong all-around player.
We lost badly. While they were targeting Greg, I did get shots. There was one where I was on the right where they drove a hard shot from the baseline and like against player last Sunday, I knocked the ball off the court for a winner.
There was another, when I was on the right, when Alessandro drove a shot down the right sideline and got me. With our backhands in the middle, I was covering a little more to the center instead of the sideline and he got me. Alessandro can really rip shots.
Deb. One of those players who typically initially get underestimated.
My last game finished up about 2 p.m. I could’ve stayed longer and gotten into some more games, but the mix of players were starting to get questionable. Many of the strongest players were gone. Also, after nearly 5 hours of play, I was getting kind of tired. My right knee was bothering me a bit more and I could feel a muscle in my right forearm. It felt like a very mild charley horse.
I checked my phone when I was about to leave Brommer and I saw that my brother John was asking if there was time for us to play pickleball in the afternoon. Then he called me while I was on my way home. He was thinking that I was going to be in Scotts Valley teaching today, but this weekend was a gap week, with my new classes starting next weekend. Another time.
Shoes
Exactly six years ago tomorrow, Jennifer Lucore, senior pro player, commented on an Instagram photo of the very worn soles of my court shoes saying, “Tip, Work on not having as much wear on you heels. Wear pattern on balls of your feet – great!” I wore the crap out of those shoes! I guess you could say in my defense that those were not high performance court shoes, those were Costco tennis-style shoes.
Anyway. Here is the state of my current shoes, Fila. (I’ve been rotating with a pair of Skechers pickleball shoes too.)
Much more worn on the balls of my feet. Jennifer would be proud!
Monday, September 23, 2024 (No Play)
When I got home for lunch today, I found a box from Selkirk on my front porch.
I opened it and sure enough, it contained four brand new Nexus paddles. The faces are surprisingly gritty. I was expecting something a bit smoother for an entry-level paddle.
Each paddle pre-marked with a $49.99 price tag on the plastic sleeve. Fortunately, I got them for much less than that…
…especially since my upcoming private group coaching gig was canceled this morning!
Last week, I had pointed out by email to my potential client that playing in a backyard court at 7 a.m. could have two possible issues. One, sunrise will be at 7:06 a.m. that day next month. (I checked.) Two, they are in a neighborhood and the neighbors might not be too keen about a group of a dozen or so people cheering each other on that early in the morning.
I like to plan ahead!
Today, sure enough, she emailed and let me know that there is a noise ordinance that would be in effect before 8 a.m. so she had to cancel my coaching services. It would have been fun, but it would have been very early for a night owl like me and extra money would be nice, but it the lack of it won’t put me on the street.
Still, having extra paddles around will be helpful to loan to beginners at my classes who invariably show up with no paddle! I have a couple of wood ones provided by Rec.us, but I’d only wish them on an enemy!
Tuesday, September 24, 2024 (No Play)
This reel popped up on Instagram. At Cupertino Memorial Park, which is a mere 30-40 minutes north of me, has a fancy digital system that they use to alert waiting players that a court is open. (Hey, it is the Silicon Valley after all!)
Each net has a remote on one post that a player presses once the game is done. A sound goes off and a light flashes indicating which court is now open. Fancy.
Paddle Promotion
Gherkin Pickleball has been looking for ways to promote its paddles. They are sending me a paddle to share with my students. They have unique silicone edging available on some of their paddles. I think that’s kind of nifty. But they are revamping this edging so they couldn’t send me one of those paddles, but they are sending me a standard edging paddle.
Based in Utah, a fellow named Scotty reached out to me to help promote their brand of paddes, Erne. I dropped them a note asking if they were still interesting in promoting their paddles and I can share a paddle with students if they are interested. I kind of doubt I’ll hear back, but maybe.
Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder and husband of tennis icon Serena Williams, says that pickleball can’t be a real sport since none of its highlight videos have gone viral.
He’s wrong, of course. Numerous pickleball videos have literally millions upon millions of views.
Nationals? Worlds?
So, the PPA on November 3-10, are holding what they are calling the World Championships. What weird is that Christian Alshon is claiming on Instagram: “Formerly known as Nationals, ‘Worlds’ is coming up in Dallas in less than two months!!” Nationals has always been run by USA Pickleball (formerly called the “USAPA”). Nationals are taking place November 9-17 in Mesa, Arizona this year. It seems that the PPA is continuing to try and go almost head-to-head with the USAP with the tournaments overlapping by two days. Last year, for only one year, USAP and the PPA combined forces and ran Nationals. Apparently, the partnership worked so well, they decided not to do it again. (Yes, that’s sarcasm.) Of course, the PPA has also launched their own pickleball “governing body” to replace the USAP, so there is that small issue.
Number of days on a court: 718 Number of total hours: 2,966 Number of paid coaching hours: 75.5
To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.
I arrived at Brommer Park at 10:10 a.m. It was partly cloudy today and about 70°F with a small breeze. It was a nice day.
It was kind of funny, I had a ‘jacket and tie’ charity function in the morning and I was secretly wearing my pickleball shorts and T-shirt under my formal clothes! Those, I peeled off in the Brommer Park lot, changed my socks and shoes and I was ready without having to spend an extra half hour to go home to change—less time driving, more time playing!
Parking was easy, but the flipside of that was getting into a game was not as easy. There were a couple of empty courts and a lack of players. But once I got into a game, it was nearly nonstop until I left.
First Game
My first game was a great one. I played with a guy I’d never met, John Alden, against Kyle (whom I had forgotten, but he remembered me) and Australian Josh, the spin-master!
This game was a battle.
Josh wound up and a fired a very hard drive from the his baseline while I was across from him at the net. With my backhand, I drove the ball off the court for a winner. I got kudos from our players for that one. My partner jubilantly exclaimed, “What was that?!?”
Another ball was coming to my backhand along the left sideline. Josh ran to the net but crept a little to the middle so I hit a hard backhand passing shot drive for a winner. He was able to make contact with the ball but it flew up wildly into the next court. I don’t think he was expecting a shot like that from a backhand.
After spending a long time at 9-7, John and I won 11-9 against Josh and Kyle. Not bad, considering John and I went into the game cold with no warm-up. That was the game of the day for sure.
Next Game
John and I played another game together, this time against tall lefty Greg and a fellow named Rick. We picked up another win 11-8. I wasn’t playing as sharp in this game. I was missing shots I should’ve made. I definitely had too many balls into the white tape or the net. Even one or two in a game is painful, but more than that is bad.
Eyeballs
I was in a game today when the ball deflected off of one player’s paddle, flew sideways, and hit the player’s partner’s protective glasses. And that’s the thing. The times that I’ve seen a ball hit a player in the face, it’s been off of that player’s own paddle or partner’s paddle, or some ricochet as opposed to a ball coming from an opponent’s paddle. “That’s why I always wear glasses!” Smart man.
David
David Lai arrived—a regular at Skypark—and we played against John A. and Greg. We won 11-5.
William
The last game was William and myself against David L. and a guy I had never met named Eric. The game would’ve been more balanced had Eric played with William and I had played with David, but as it was David and Eric lost 11–3. This was my first time on a court with William. He’s a very strong player. Eric, on the other hand, is probably a 3.0 or barely a 3.5.
I left at 11:45 a.m. I had to walk away from a game partnered with William against Drew and his female friend. Bummer. That would have been a good game.
All the games that I played today were decent as far as the challenge.
Well?
There was only about an hour and a half of play for me today, but it was well worth it.
You know the games are better when you hit a ball that you expect to be a winner, but then the ball comes back. Those are the fun ones.
I got home, had lunch, did some final tweaking of my Intermediate class curriculum, then headed to Scotts Valley to teach my two classes.
Coaching
Today was the last meetings of my two 4-week classes. It was a cooler day, so that was nice. The classes went well and my students were pleased. It was a warm fuzzy feeling when I got a round of applause after my Intermediate class. Usually it’s smiles and “thank you”s and waves. And a number asked about an “Advanced Intermediate” class. That doesn’t exist… yet!
Monday, September 16, 2024 (No Play)
I believe I forgot to share this photo. This is from a Santa Cruz Pickleball Club event the middle of last month. I didn’t attend it—I was working—but Pam shared this photo online. (Click on the image for a higher resolution version.)
Some of the Santa Cruz Pickleball Club.
There are currently over 400 paying members of the club, so the 40 players in the photo are less than one-tenth. I know only about 15 of these people by name. There has been a lot of new players over the last few years!
Tuesday, September 17, 2024 (No Play)
The back of my right hand is bothering me a little, so I’m going to take it easy and not play tonight.
I got a really nice testimonial from one of my students today:
"I was nervous to sign up for the Advance Beginner Pickleball class with Andrew Lenz because I'm new at the sport of Pickleball (took a beginner class a month earlier with a different instructor), and I'm an older gal so I wasn't sure if I could physically and mentally keep up with the class. I didn't want to let others down in the class due to my limited skill level. This let down did not happen!
In fact, I never even mentioned my trepidations because Andrew teaches his class that well. I completely forgot I was a newbie and I just had fun! I gained new skills and confidence and friends, and I even stopped some habits that just weren't working.
Andrew walked around to each participant during the class and was quick to spend time with us on anything he noticed. I truly felt like I was just where I needed to be, and I felt like I was on the inside taking this class because Andrew knows so much and has been teaching in our community for a quite while. For example, I use a drop serve. He was fine with that - in fact, he encouraged it and that made me feel legitimate!
Andrew is also a kind person and a direct person, which is incredibly refreshing that someone can be both. At one point in a drill, he grabbed a ball and whacked it with the paddle aimed right at me. In the drill, I was acting afraid of getting hit by the ball and it was impeding my ability to keep my eyes focused on the ball. The ball hit me square on and it did not hurt. Helpful communication, don't you think? LOL
Andrew spoke about each drill before we did them; explaining fully where we would stand, what the opponent would be trying to do, what we are attempting to do, what things we might focus on, and what additional skills we'd be developing, i.e., fast hands, quicker reaction time, better paddle timing and placement, etc. When I was unable to successfully complete the maneuver, he kindly stepped in and demonstrated so we could get a feel of what was to happen, and what would happen next. Love that!
What I would say I liked most from his class (besides his real-life examples of skills used in tournaments): He teaches class conventionally - with a clipboard of drills and an attendance list. I like this for the obvious reason that drills make us better players. And use of the attendance list was so he could provide a substitute player if someone was going to be absent in the following class. I can't thank him enough for this because I don't want to lose the instructor's attention while he takes the place of an absent classmate. (Thank you Andrew's son, a very competent substitute player!)
And finally, Andrew was always willing and ready to answer our questions. Even questions outside the scope of this class he would take a few minutes to answer. With the internet full of pickleball training videos, his taking the time for answering questions was so helpful to me! I would sometimes not be clear on a strategy or concept and I could ask Andrew and he would always be willing to clarify and offer answers. (Thank you so very much, Andrew!)
I look forward to taking an intermediate class with Andrew Lenz in the very near future!"
Wow. Great to hear. Encouragement from students means a lot.
A couple of days ago, I registered with Selkirk as PPR instructor for their special pricing program. A visiting group reached out to me about giving them a private lesson and they don’t know if the vacation house where they are staying—with a private pickleball court—has paddles and how many. I used to have about half a dozen paddles, but three of them are in the possession of my son and my daughter—one lives out of town and the other out of state—and my wife… who had claimed the paddle that I loaned her but she hasn’t played once since she took a class with me months ago! Anyway, I need a few loaner paddles.
I never received an email from Selkirk saying that my registration went through and the teacher code didn’t work when I went to buy the set of 4 entry-level Nexus paddles for the express purpose of loaning to students.
I called Selkirk today and the nice woman said that my registration was in their system as complete and the code should work. I hung up and tried it. Nope. I called back and had to leave a message. I got a call back about half an hour later from a guy named Dalton and it turns out that the codes from PPR and the code on Selkirk’s own page were last year’s! Dalton took my order over the phone just to be safe and then emailed me the current set of 2024 discount codes.
I should point out that while part of my duties as SCPC Secretary is answering club emails, including inquiries for coaches once in a while. I always provide a list of instructors (with my name last) and/or direct them online where they can look up instructors. It would be unethical for me to say, “Oh, hey, you can hire me!” I don’t do that. I want to be able to sleep at night!
Hand
The back of my right hand was bugging while shaving this morning. Thursday night I have a nonprofit board meeting, so Sunday will likely be my next day of playing. That should give my hand a good break—a full week.
Saratoga is about 40 minutes from me. Another news story about how pickleball noise is affecting neighbors. Saratoga is spending a bunch to add noise barriers and a timer lock to remediate pickleball.
Pickleball rule-breakers and fence climbers at Saratoga courts lead to $100,000 budget resolution:
The story goes that players are bringing their own lights to play after sunset. And a neighbor claims that they climb the fence when the gate is locked so they can play anyway. And it’s noisy. In the article, a USA Pickleball Ambassador is quoted as saying that the planned sound barriers may make it louder inside the courts and damage players’ hearing. I’ve never heard of such a thing, but maybe it’s legitimate.
I haven’t been to those courts at El Quito Park, but fence looks at least 8-9 feet high. I know a few players who might climb it to play, but sure as hell not me! No thanks! I’ll leave that to the 20-something players. (Plus I likely wouldn’t break the rules anyway.)
Weird Pickleball
My brother Matt twisted his ankle so I have him a ride home to my parents’ house after work. While there, my dad said he had what he thought was a pickleball and he went to find it so he could give it to me.
Um, yeah. No, dad. Not a pickleball. I told him I thought it might be a ball for racquetball.
Thursday, September 19, 2024 (No Play)
My brother John texted me this morning while I was out walking the dog:
What’s crazy is my brother has played more than me this week! This week, I’ve only played Sunday. Who would have thunk it.
Selkirk Paddles
I got a email notice that my Selkirk paddle order has shipped and to top it off, they opted to send it FedEx 2-day shipping since they knew I need the order for a coaching session. Their codes—including one on their own website—were outdated so it seems that they are making amends. That’s good customer service!
Hawaii Court Drama
So in Hawaii, some local pickleball players want to convert one of the tennis courts to some additional pickleball courts. As you’d imagine, the tennis players are not thrilled with the idea. Tennis players don’t rotate of their courts nearly as fast as pickleball players do.
Number of days on a court: 717 Number of total hours: 2,961.5 Number of paid coaching hours: 75.5
To start at the beginning of this blog click on “1st Post” in the menu above.
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