Most of the normal group was back in town for Monday play. I was a little bit sore and achy but I had a lot of fun today. Sadly, I was still a little flustered from the weekend. I felt like I was overthinking stuff and trying to analyze what I had done before I finished doing it and it doesn’t really make any sense to me why I would be that insecure.
I tried to shake that and just play and eventually I got there. My drops were a little high but I could probably attribute that to being tired. I didn’t really try to drive a whole lot but when I did and tried to follow it up with more drives the bang-bang end result was chaotic and unsuccessful. I think that only works against people who don’t play against me very much. At this point in the winter I’ve played with the same people so often that they are ready for it. The shock factor of me pulling that move is gone and they have faster hands than me. So it’s just stupid to do it.
I had a lot of opportunities for my most consistent mistake and I consistently made it. It’s almost always the same shot, just a variation of it. It’s the forehand put away. That thing has gotten so far away from me I have to call long distance to get in touch with it. Whether it is a poach, a dink set up, or an accidental popup opportunity, I’m flubbing it. I’m starting to not take the shot for fear of missing it which is what I used to do a year ago. Talk about moving backwards. I know from experience that not taking the shot – even if I take an extra shot to set my partner up to put it away – ticks off my partner. I want to get it done but if I’m not confident I will, I’ll keep going. But if it’s a poach, I’m all in and go for it. It’s really frustrating to miss every variation of the shot.
Fortunately for me, I got a tip after I played to help me fix some of those misses. I was told that the poach variation of the shot is a good one to take (thank goodness) but that I’m running through it. I need to plant myself before I hit it so I’m not off balance. I feel like I went through this exact realization during one of my drill sessions earlier in the month but it was a different kind of shot. I was running to it, hitting it, but not planting before I swung, leading to failure.
I’m really happy for the advice I got today because I was convinced I was catching it too far back or I was swinging too big. I thought for sure I was doing something wrong with my paddle. Turns out it was footwork. I’m not sure I ever would have figured that out. I can work on that with the ball machine and get it corrected as soon as possible.
I did get to play with just about everybody so I think the rotation must have been pretty good. I am still debating my focus areas. I want to keep pushing myself to increase my stamina but I’m concerned about the sacrifice I’m making to my game by trying to double up. When I played basketball it was absolutely imperative to shoot free throws at the end of a practice. Being able to make those when I was tired was a necessity. But those were free throws; routine, technical shots I could make with my eyes closed. Pickleball is a game. I’m letting other people down if I play tired. I’m getting frustrated when I miss shots because I may not see those shots over and over, like a free throw at the end of practice. So it’s a tough thing to decide.
I haven’t talked paddles for a little bit so I’ll give an update. The V2 of the Diadem Icon comes out in a few weeks and I’ve ordered it. I’m skeptical that I will like it which probably means I won’t. I do have 1 more new V1 of the Icon, in addition to the 2 in my bag (and 3 on my wall) but I’m not sure what should be my next go-to paddle. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to load up on more of the V1 Icons so if I don’t like the V2 I’ll have to do some work to find what will work next.
