Due to the recent surging demand for Pickleball courts in the US, here I do a feasibility study of a private Pickleball court service. If anyone has an interest or can support me, please let me know!!
Service
Hourly pickleball courts
Simple, but good surface, with tables and chairs for players to mingle
Value
Players can have tournaments here
Players can play rec games here without interference
Players can have lessons here (in public courts, paid lessons are generally prohibited)
Corporates can have events here
Players can have training with Mosh (-3.5 player)
From foreign countries, tourists can enjoy playing Pickleball here (=Pickleball tour)
Venue
North California
30-60 minutes from San Fransisco (= near wine counties)
このアイデアがいいなぁと感じたのは、たとえば私が所属するパロアルトのピックルボールクラブでも、平均年齢がそこそこ高く、50歳付近（全米での愛好者の平均年齢は38歳程度）で、メンバーを見たり直接喋っていると場所柄もあり、かなりテック企業勤務の方が多く、それもシニアマネジメントの方々もそこそこいるので、口コミ、word of mouthがかなりきくだろうな、と思ったのと、
上記の程度の初期必要資金でしたら、何とか自己資金で出来るかも知れませんが、「仲間を作る」（繰り返しですが、ピックルボール業界というのは何かにつけてフレンドリーですし、Major League Pickleballに数々のセレブが出資したりと、新しいことが起こることに対する高揚感がすごくある）という観点から、ピックルボール好きのエンジェル投資家（←言うは易し、どうやって探すのか！？）、クラウドファンディング（ピックルボール好きは、年齢層が高いということもあり、Facebookグループで見つけやすいのでクラファンプロジェクトをターゲティングして投稿するのがすごく簡単）を少額で$100-200Kくらいやるものいいかもしれません。
In (very rare) case you broke your wrist, this could be a reference while you plan your recovery and do rehab
There are so many patterns of wrist injury and it would be very serious one, but if you keep your head up
You can feel some sentiment of person who got injured and doing rehab. The process is not only painful, but the inflexibility after starting playing Pickleball take a toll on players mind, and it takes some time
At this age, I am becoming so forgettable that I just wanted to keep record of the process 😉 It may sound weird, but I’m glad that I could experience large hospital with serious injury in US, including going through general anesthesia, INSURANCE AND PAYMENT etc.
The situation is described in a reverse chronological order so that you don’t get bored with the old story.
9/26/2022 (6 weeks after the injury)at hospital
Healing nicely. I could see an operation surgery for the first time since the surgery. But basically there is an another doctor who takes care the casting and healing processes. This time, at Sutter Health in Mountain View (at the intersection of 82 and 85), the doctor is super nice lady who I really appreciate from the bottom of my heart.
I did great rehab. The goal was 40 degree bending for flexion and extension (I remember they called them “flex/reflex”), but I achieved 40 and 55 respectively. Flexion side rehab was more painful… so that I sabotage a bit and I didn’t see a lot of progress. Hard (and painful) work matters here..
I have to wait 4 more weeks to be able to play Pickleball (which I have already started actually…) The reason is that when I grip the paddle firmly for long time, my wrist gets swollen and it would inflate tissues -> For this matter, I would take “balanced approaches” in which I cool down my wrist after playing games, I massage it well in bath, drilling dinking rather than banging etc…. -> And the doctor told me to wait for THREE MONTHS three weeks ago. Their advices have been so inconsistent… (I assume there are too much variance for the recovery and it’s very hard to say what is “full recovery”)
So, in short, my bone is fine now. The issue here is increasing and recovering the range of movement of wrist. It’s rather tendon and muscle issue.
I might take out the plate from my arm, so that it won’t hinder movements of wrist and especially thumb I have to wait to playing Pickleball for two weeks after the surgery… And because my radius (=a long bone on thumb side) will have “holes”, it would be never safe to play games as falling down can break the bone around the holes!!
Doctor told me that I no longer have to wear a wrist brace anymore!
9/19/2022 (right after the hospital) at Pickleball court in Mitchell Park
Sorry Doc that I’m not obedient enough!
Below is right hand base descriptions:
Actually now I can hit put away/smash, but: – the wrist is a bit slow than what my brain thinks so the ball tends to go high – fast put-away was painful and the pain is lingering on the wrist and it is swelling – backhand put-away is worse
Still forehand -> backhand shift is slow, as it is a combination of wrist extension and rotation. Slightly painful too.
Can’t hit lob shots well… painful, fearful and not enough muscle power
Serve, return, drive shots and dinking are no problem
9/19/2022 week (5 weeks after the injury)at Pickleball drilling wall site
As I have practiced left hand so much and started to play with my right hand a little by little, I found out my backhand & double hand shots (right hand base) are so much better than before!
Pickleball God was with me, all the time!!
9/5/2022 at Pickleball court in Mitchell Park
Won a doubles rec game tournament with 8 players left-handed! It was more like rec games and anyway left hand was tentative, however, I thought “how Pickleball is fun with other friends and players!“
Our club, Palo Alto Pickleball Club (PAPC) is nothing but awesome community!!
8/30/2022 (2 weeks after the injury) at hospital
It was my first time to know what the doctor did to my arm actually. On the day of surgery, after waking up from coma, since the hospital was too busy, I was pushed out with my wife who have (forced to be) waited there for four hours while I was carried on a wheel chair very quickly.
After taking X-ray, I was like:
Hey, Doc, you told me you would put “a pin or a plate” but for me actually it looks like a “wrench” or “spanner” in a toolbox!! It a was a bit shocking but somewhat funny to me.
There was a “cast room” dedicated for giving casts and braces to patients which I assume we don’t have in Japan. In US, a lot of things are specialized which makes quality of medical treatment so good, but makes things expensive. Pros and cons.
I told them “I want the cast to match my Selkirk paddle color!” and they did it for me. They are pro-Pickleball.
Aside from the joke, shocking thing was the rehab doctor told me that I have to WAIT THREE MONTH BEFORE PLAYING PICKLEBALL. I was devastated.
8/25/2022 at Pickleball Tournaments website
Applied for a tournament of mixed doubles where I play left-handed. A life should be a series of new challenges.
I couldn’t find meaning of doing it, but I wanted to avoid mental depression and the drilling eased my concerns
8/16/2022 at hospital
Completed surgery successfully
8/13/2022 (The day I was injured) at Mitchell Park
During a rec game, I saw a low rob shot coming straight to me
Always I turn my body 90 or 180 degree to chase a lob shot, but this time it was low and a kind of fast
I felt I was falling down!
During the fall, I remembered at instance that I had an experience of hitting the back of my head badly, so I threw away the paddle and put my right hand behind me so that I can protect my head
My hand was swollen as hell, skewed a bit and very painful…
Glad that our court and club has icing packs!
Went to ER driving my Tesla by myself
Saw the top of my radius (bone) was so much cracked and shattered… at hospital (You can see a “zigzag” there in X-ray picture..)
So I got a cast
Doctor told me it would take 6-8 weeks to be able to play Pickleball again Mentally, it was devastating for me as I had played Pickleball literally 7 days a week to see improvement What shall I do…..
