A Learning Experience

The other day I played with the same four people for three and a half hours.  We mixed up partnerships, but for five games the players were fixed.

There were a couple of things that came out of this.  It was possible to adjust to the shot speed of the game.  The propensities of the players became better known.  There was enough repetition in the point patterns that I could improve my consistency and also I could change my shot selections.  

One of my faults is in swinging at the ball instead of blocking or pushing it.  This shot comes up when at the kitchen  line and you get a drive or medium speed shot from the baseline or middle court.  Swinging at it is ok, but if the timing is a bit off then a net ball or out ball is common.  A block or push provides more control and results in a shorter shot.  

Shorter, softer shots have their own appeal.  Good opponents are used to fast balls, ones where they have to move their feet and generate their own power can cause them problems.  And, of course, a shot that lands in the court is highly preferable to one that misses.

After a lot of play, it morphed into some cat and mouse play.  If you did the same thing every time, or you were expected to do the same thing every time, defenses were created and it became essential to vary shots.

And finally there was a fair amount of dinking and soft play, which I enjoy and don't see much of usually.  

One of the joys of this game is finding compatible levels and playing for an extended time.  It's a different game.

I've been thinking about what happens when all the new courts come on line in Livermore and other local towns.  Will certain levels move to May Nissan and others remain at Downs?  Another scenario is that the drop in games dry up as the people scatter.  Then getting a game up might be a task to arrange and schedule four players.  It's not clear what will happen and I'm curious.  And how long could a group of four have a court?  One game, an hour, a morning?  

But whatever happens it should cut down on waiting for a court.  But it might change to waiting for a player to show up.  

That is the tradeoff; as it is now, you can always find a game to play in, but the competition might not be perfect and there may be some waiting.  I'm very happy with how it works now, with the waiting being the main problem.  Mixing of skill levels is less of an issue.  I see playing with newer players as an investment in future players, so I'm willing to spend some of my playing time doing it.  The pickleball players are wonderful regardless of ability and it's been a joy to know and play with this community.