Week 5 of the Ladder League: the last week before the playoffs off in March: I lost all my 3 sets.
w/ Candi 6-15
w/ Lori 12-15
w/ Eoin 13-15
We started on Court #2 and moved to Crout #8 after the first set.
The 2nd set, Candi called my good shot to her left, out, and we lost 12-15.
This is the first time I used bouncing serve and did well: made every serve. However, I did poorly elsewhere, came in last with 31 points.
… in play
… the new serve
Today is the Chinese New Year: the year of the horse.
Week 4 of the Ladder League pickleball: I won two sets, with 41 points, came in second in the group (Candi has 42 pts). We played on Court #7:
w/ Candi, 15-6
w/ Michelle, 15-11
w/ Sandra, 11-15
Set with Candi is straighforward.
Set 2 is interesting: my partner Michelle only got 1 serve in; but she’s good elsewhere, and we managed to win. I served the last few points, coming from behind.
… and in the last set, Michelle suddenly serving well and won a few point off her serve. Oh well -:)
We never changed side in the prveious weeks. Tonight, our oppenonts asked to do so in the first set, saying it’s too noisy. It is! Court 7 is especially noisy. But I was able to block it out: I hear it, but I don’t.
Afterward, John came to me and said, bounce the ball will improve your serve. I tried and it is. So, bouncing it is for the last match!
Happy new year
Another league won [调皮]
春节快乐哦
🥟吃了 整了个简单小饼啥的 也好吃
晚上去打比赛 第四星期. 赢了42分. 下星期是最后一场 我会回到第一梯[调皮] 小开心
赛前练了发球 主要是想给左手找点事儿做
赛后一哥们儿建议我不要直接发: 试了一下 感觉不错 👍 下星期就是它了
㊗️🧧大家马到成功 [愉快]
不八了
明天还要赶早场
做牛做马的命[Lol]
A total win for week #3 of the Ladder League.
~ the forehand of pickleball ~
To pay for last week‘s disaster, the penalty or punishment is moving down a rung to #3, which is played on Court #6.
I started out in #1 for week 1, moved down to Rung #2 for week 2.
The 3 sets:
1️⃣ w/ Yan 15-13
2️⃣ w/ Robyn 15-12
3️⃣ w/ Candi, 15-4
I tighten my game by using ground stroke more, and drop less which worked well.
Gloria (?) was very kind and offered me two pointers: don’t step on the line when serving, and don’t swoosh when serving. I thought I consciously stayed away from the service line (baseline), but apparently, I sometimes don’t. It’s a good point to note: what I think I’m doing is NOT exactly what I do.
I made a close call to the right. It looked out. When I asked Robyn for confirmation, she said,
“It’s your call, baby.”
I didn’t realize that I don’t utilize my left arm, which looks useless in this video. According to this video, it should be played like a tennis forehand: the takeback, coil with the help of the left arm.
This coach uses 4 steps:
Week 2 of the Ladder League, I’m moving down to the second group this week, which is played on Court #7.
I don’t play this bad often, but unfortunately tonight is one of them, totally 24 pints out of 45:
w/ Yan: 4-15
w/ Sandra: 5-15
w/ Smolek: 15-7
The elder man won big. During the first set, Sandra called a clearily good serve out and her partner Smolek said nothing. It’s not cool.
Another tourney is going on, using King of the Court format: top 2 finishers in each Rung move up, bottom two move down.
At the end of week five, players on the top rung of each ladder will compete in a playoff: each level will hold its own playoff.
Three placement groups, red, white, and blue; each has 20 players. I’m #4 in the blue group, which means I start in Rung 1.
Today is Week 1. I drew Court 8, with group mates Yan, Lori and Michelle:
1️⃣ w/ Yan: 12-15
2️⃣ w/ Lori: 15-13
3️⃣ w/ Michelle: 15-14
Although I won 2 out of 3 sets, pointwise, I came in #3: it’s a very competitive match.
I haven’t played since the last tourney Skorts & Shorts last November.
At 7:15, the temperature is only 47. My ex-Rally Cats captain lent me his jacket to keep me from freezing.
In the first set with Yan, we were trailing. I don’t know if Yan had played before, but she’s really good. I committed no apparent errors: no serve fault, no two-bounce rule fault. Michelle called on herself when she hit my return out of the air.
Moving on to the second set with Lori, it was easy because I have a lot of confidence in her. Lori served a ball that landed on the line but mostly on the other side of the court. Yan called it out. As the set progressed, we were leading but let the opponents catch up by a decent margin before we took the set.
The third set with Michelle was the toughest one. We were trailing 1-7 when the other four courts were completed. I have two faults: one serve and one two-bounce rule. Interestingly, one of Michelle’s serves also landed on the middle lane, mostly on the other side of the court. Yan hesitated for a moment and called it good. The last point at 14-14: Oppenonet’s return was high, I yelled “bounce,” Michelle called it ‘out,’ and I confirmed it.
My spin is working ok, about 70%. It’s very effective against Lori. Forehand spin worked better than backhand. I missed a few balls altogether, as if I didn’t see them: I rarely play at night.
About a dozen neighbors stayed till the end; some were on a duty call – recording the scores. Regardless, thank you all. And thanks for organizing it.
On a related note, the following morning, my aging body aches, which is why I don’t play pickleball often!
Another pickleball tournament features 32 players with fixed pairs in two tiers. My upgrade to level 2 is to stay.
The rules are 10-minute timed play. At buzzer time, complete the point; if tied at the buzzer, play continues till the server wins by 1 point.
Nick is my partner, with whom I have never played. Actually, I don’t even know that he plays. Luckily, we managed to win 4 out of 7 games:
I’m pretty tied at the end.
A fun evening with pickleball!
No scoring.
Someone reminded me: no lob, no smackdown. But many do lob and smack down: at our level, we play by instinct more than skill becasue we just don’t have the control.
The evening moon at the swimming pool
The second pickleball tourney of the year.
The format: 8 players a group, round robin, playing 7 matches; rally scoring to 15, win by 1 point.
The top four players with the highest points, go to play off: round robin, 3 matches, rally scoring to 11, win by 1 point. The score points decides #1, #2 and #3.
I won 3, lost 4 matches, finished 7th in total points: coach put me in Tier 2 – I’m at Tier 3 level – who kept saying don’t think about tennis … think pickleball -:)
八人一组 轮流 打7场
共四层次, 俺是第三层次
教练硬是把俺升到第二层… 然后俺的得分倒数第二 [Lol]
就没有然后了
哪层次都无所谓
只是俺从来都不练球
怎么和高手打呀？
教练一直说 忘记网球 想皮卡球 [偷笑]
the winning team
We won the final of our 2025 MLP at 9:5 over the 2nd place team Linda’s Dinkers Anonymous. All seven teams (4As, 3Bs) play at the same time 6:30. Bracket A is a tie at 4:4 and Bracket B won 5:1.
The third place is Hell’s Kitchen, 4th is Gherkins 2.0 (Sally & John A and their lineup; I played my first playoff with John in 2023), and the last is Dinkers & Drivers who failed to make the playoff.
A little pat on the shoulder: we B bracket won all our matches: 4 regular weeks and two playoffs. It’s not an easy task but we managed.
Today, my partner and I won both games for the B bracket:
Since it’s rally scoring and I’m on the right hand side, so I served out both matches. The first match was a forced error and the second match I ended it with an overhead.
Kim‘s birthday
The second match when we were at 24, I missed four points, including a serve: what was going on with me???
One good thing about this tourney is I learned a lot, from my partners and from spectators, who are just more critical, which is good.
Mixing it up: as I was going to warm up in the pool, I saw my ex partner and mistaken her as my current. She said, “Irene, we’re not playing together.”
Me, “Yes we’re.”
She, “No, we’re not.” then showing me the lineup, did then I realize she isn’t Inez. Irene, get a grip, will you?
I, “oh well, all the white girls are look alike.” … to cover my embarrassment.
A few players picked on my serve, often. So I practiced it on the tennis court before the match.
Was I nuts? Yes I was … both captains Linda and Ed told me “just forget about it” and go to play as I normally do. “There’s a player who goes into kitchen all the time and no one said anything …” But I’d rather to change my serve because I want to win fair and square. AND I did, which is more satisfying.
Both opponents are very nice. I called their ball good when I wasn’t sure, early on, which is what I always do: 99% out is still 100% IN. It was probably out because my partner asked about it. Then it was Donna who gave us a close baseline call. At the second game, Diane called an out ball good. I’m generous on line calls but I won’t contradict a call during a competition – the cardinal rule.
My partner has experience and is awesome. During many long rallies – that is what Irene does who knows not much, Inez would come in and put it away. The practiced we’ve yesterday helps.
If there is one thing that I take away from this tourney is how much I learnt from everyone, my teammates, my partners and spectators: thank you all. Some are more critical than others but I benefit from it nevertheless.
In the second match, I returned the ball without bouncing – feeling utterly dumb and inadequate. My partner said that she does that too: a great partner who’s supporting you however they can. Kim is forever complimentary, which gives me confidence.
All in all, thanks to the organizers, my captain, teammates and the spectators: it was a great run.
For the final, I’m teaming up with Inez, which is the first for us.
My serve needs improvement.
We play well together, don’t we?
