2-15-18 (Thursday) HY: Pickle-Ball + Ab EMS.

2-15-18 (Thursday) HY: Pickle-Ball + Ab EMS.

Happy Pickle-Ball Day!

School is out so we moved Pickle-Ball Day to Thursday.  I was a bit sore from tennis just 12 hours earlier, and my back was still a bit tender, but I did not want to miss playing.  During the warm-up, I was mis-hitting the ball a lot.  I was really worried that those errors were a harbinger of what the session would be like.  Fortunately, they weren't.  Actually, it was like I got all that junk out of my system during the warm-up so I could play a clean match because that is what happened.  Not only for me but for John as well. 

The first game was extremely competitive.  There were a lot of long rallies where it seemed like we both were trying to sculpt a point but could never get just the right opportunity, or the other never made a mistake that could be exploited.  There were rallies that were like rallies we had never had before, like both of us at net volleying for our lives.  That was a lot of fun.  There were a lot of lead changes, and very few long point runs.  We ended up being tied at 12 until I got the last three points to take the first game.  One thing that I did do was follow the strategy I had seen the night before.  I was watching Gregor Dimitrov play a tennis match on TV with my son.  And Dimitrov perfectly executed the wide serve and the cross-court return of the return for a winner.  I did that successfully several times during the first game eventually taking the first game 15-12.

The second game was much like the first.  Very competitive, a lot of strategies, a lot of long rallies, but the one difference is that I got the lead near the beginning and I held it to the end.  There were times when John got close, just one point behind, but the comeback ended there and I would inch forward just out of reach.  I think John was a little tired though because he took a little spill near the middle of the game.  First time in recent or distant memory that he has ever fallen.  He was fine, but I think he was tired.  I ended up taking the second game 15-11.  These two games took a lot longer than any of our previous matches first two games.  These two game lasted almost 50 minutes.  We are usually done with three games, and sometimes four games by that mark.  But two games was unprecedented.  We were saying that it was a testament to our improved skills.  I would tend to agree.

The third game saw a marked drop in our intensity.  There were a lot of net serves, a lot of just weak shots.  Rallies were considerably shorter on the whole.  But again, I came out on top taking the game 15-5.  As I said, I thought John was tired.  This game and his response to it was, for me, proof of it.  After the game, he put the paddle down and said that's it for me.  Usually, if we had time, and sometimes even if we didn't have time, he would be willing to go one more.  Today, we had all the time in the world, but he bowed out.  I didn't push it.  But those three games took longer than our usual 4 games.  I hope he is not feeling despondent about getting swept again for the third time in four matches.  Letting up is something I don't want to do.  But I could alter my tactics and take more risks, go for the lines more, try some different things.  I feel I might be getting into a style rut.  So to push myself to improve, I need the pressure.  We'll see next week.

In the end, I burned 907kcals.  The gym was cold, but because of my back, no, there wasn't any pain, just like last night during tennis, but I think I was minimizing my movement.  I felt like I was being very efficient with my movement and footwork after the match.  Later in the evening after my night class, I got my EMS done.