We only had 8 players for pickleball today and almost everyone was decked out in green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. I saw a lady in shamrock pants and that made my day. On our court, 1 guy was having a little bit of a hip issue and seemed concerned about going hard. It was visibly causing him some pain initially so he asked another guy from one of the other courts to hop in so he could rest and test where he was physically.
This is one of those weird situations where I’m grateful someone was able to come over and help us continue playing but…he wasn’t quite the same level as our group. I’m sure he was uncomfortable but he gave it his best and it just wasn’t the same.
I had a little bit of a rough start because I was hung up with my gratitude vs. quality of play thoughts and because I pulled out my V2 paddle even though I know I’m not going to use it for a couple of weeks. It’s amazing how many tiny thoughts can add up and affect play.
Once I got my normal paddle in my hand, I started clicking and playing better. I had a few drops that were high and I paid the price for that because one guy is a master at catching those and dropping it in the kitchen at a tough angle.
I played solid most of my games. I didn’t have a lot of shots that really frustrated me. People went after my backhand on the serve and on drives and while I missed a few, I did pretty well with the majority of them. I did get truly burned on one drive down the line but it wasn’t because I missed the backhand. I missed the whole ball because he had an amazing shot.
There were a ton of good battles in the kitchen and a lot of strong hand battles that were super fun. One play we battled back and forth, someone did a lob, we got back up, someone did an angle, got it back, another angle, fight, fight, fight. It was a really awesome point.
I made a big mistake with one of my returns on a drop. The guy hit a really good drop but I decided to block it super low, putting a massive spin on the ball and sinking it in the corner of his side of the kitchen. The angle I hit was tight and as I was watching my work he started hustling up, the ball kicked from the spin I put on it and there he was, in a perfect spot to hit an ATP. I was really happy with my shot but his was better, winning the point.
I asked some of the guys to take a photo with me because they were decked out nicely in green. The group in the photo had a couple of wild and crazy, fun games to end the session. We all attempted Nasty Nelsons, hit good shots and had some good laughs. They’ve all helped me so much over the winter, I can’t believe it’s almost time to start playing outside again. Before you know it we’ll be battling the wind, heat and people for court time.
I went to my favorite local rec center for about an hour of pickleball play this evening. I waited for my friend to arrive and we played 3 games. I was pretty tired and there was a decent little crowd there. When I play there I do feel like I am kind of in an exclusive group or something. I always get fairly solid games and I don’t really have to play with beginners or advanced beginners.
For me, these evenings are mostly just about catching up with friends. I don’t usually work on anything, I’m just staying away from the refrigerator and forcing myself to play after a long break.
Tonight I did try to use the serve I’ve been doing lately because this facility has a wall and bleachers almost directly behind the baseline. I thought it would be a good scenario to test the “deepness” of my serves. I caused several returns to miss by doing that so that is a pretty good feeling.
After catching up on some gossip we watched the last 2 minutes of the Purdue, Fairleigh Dickinson basketball game and I’m happy I got to catch that piece of history.
