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PICKLEBALL JOURNAL - ENTRY 3

Always fun to play with members of my original group. Four of us this time, a fall day, the weather warm for the season. The good weather and everyone’s upbeat mood did nothing to help my abysmal game. I couldn’t seem to find a groove. Not only that, I kept making the same mistakes without being able to correct myself and find my best. Not that my best is anything impressive! Still, though, I wanted to find something within me and make a respectable showing so as not to destroy the momentum of the group, all of whom were going full bore. They wouldn’t complain, have never complained. Even though that is the right attitude, I was determined to wake up my paddle from a long slumber.

Too many lousy serves, I couldn’t land on court. After a few in a row I just looked up at the sky and laughed hard, as if such a release might help. Then, moments later, I screwed up other shots and even swung the paddle and missed the ball at least twice. I also missed two easy shots at the net—a back-hand flick and an overhead—that had me realizing how hard it must be for any player to remain consistent and keep errors to a minimum, even though in my case making them helps me laugh at myself. The best play I made was running down a ball that had landed over the sideline and was moving farther away. Just as it was being called out, channeling the greatness of Ben Johns, James Johnson, and others (yeah, right!), I back-handed it across court and over the net, with pace, and had a clean winner. But it didn’t count! The matches were fun anyway and I’m glad I played with people whose company I enjoy and whose skills I appreciate.