Hello all my Pickleball Joy Riders!
Welcome to the Monday Minute, a 60-second list of what I’m exploring and thinking about. Feel free to forward along if the pickleball spirit moves you!
In my practice: "Hold the Ball" Longer
The single best drill to improve every aspect of your pickleball game is to wait longer. Pickleball is a game of hitting the ball on the descent, not the ascent--you cannot wait too long! This allows you to 1.) trick your opponents and 2.) hit more consistent shots. See if you can wait so long that the ball double bounces. Check out the below image from the Dink (yours truly at MLP).
Can you tell where I'm going? If so, I didn't do my job and I didn't "hold the ball" long enough (spoiler alert, I go behind Todd's back - typically a "no-no" cross court/inside out attack but it works because my paddle face is held.) Morgan Evans used to say to me, "Jilly, show me your paddle face. If I can see your face open I can't tell where you're going."
The 2nd greatest drill? Change your mind at the last second where you want to hit the ball. That’s right, when you are committed to going cross court, go down the line. If you're doing the first drill right, this next drill is the "level up".
See if you can trick yourself and change your mind at the last second. Start with doing this for 5 minutes—it should feel really uncomfortable. Then, take a break and do it for 10 minutes. Keep building this “hold” muscle until it becomes second nature to make a decision at the last second. Watch your game improve more than you can imagine.
In My Diet: Focus in a Bottle
I am a huge fan of Ketone IQ and took some just before this podcast with Aaron Reznik from The Pickleball Clinic where I talked everything from AI in pickleball to my background in startups to my first tournament 5.5 years ago, and why fragmentation may actually be good for the sport. Check it out here.
Ketone IQ is clean energy (ketones) that give you a tremendous amount of laser focus - it also oxygenates your blood so you don’t get as hot on the court or need as much water. This pretty much saved my life en route to Gold at the APP Dallas where it was HOT. Check out this link for 30% off your first subscribe and save order.
In My Mind: Mindfulness Matters
Okay I’ve finally done it. I’ve spent two weeks focusing on finding gratitude even in the toughest of moments and now I just see it everywhere. (Google “Red car theory”)… My wife has always had this capacity to take the literal worst situation and find good in it. For 9 years I’ve admired this ability and chalked it up to an “innate” talent of hers. But it turns out gratitude and optimism is a muscle that can be built up based on very small choices we make every day. I’m not a cynic, but I am definitely a skeptic. So this whole “look on the bright side” thing has been tough for me (until it hasn’t been). Here’s to hoping this is my new norm in 2025 because being grateful and optimistic is a lot easier frame of mind (and a happier one) than not.
In my feed: Heated Mattress Pads?!
This will either be a game-changer for my body, or set my house on fire. Well, technically my mother’s house since we moved in with her last month. But you get the gist. My mom turned me onto heated mattress pads saying that they have unlocked knots in her legs. I tried it out for the first time last night and I have to report…it’s pretty freaking great. Granted I’m a cold sleeper (need heat) and we live in a rather cloying/damp part of SoCal by the beach. Now the real question is does the EMFs from the pad negate the grounding sheet underneath it? As I Type these words I realize how much I’m just asking for a fire! Bad Jilly.
__________________________________________________________________________________
FIRST CLINICS OF THE YEAR-- ALMOST SOLD OUT
2/15-2/16 Pasadena Pickleball Breakdown Clinic w/ Scott Crandall.
ONLY ONE (1) SPOT REMAINING
3/6-3/8 Ladies Only Clinic Newport Beach:
ONLY TWO (2) SPOTS REMAINING
_________________________________________________________________________________
That's it for the Monday Minute. Did you like it? Should I keep doing this? As always, I love feedback and if you have any for me please tweet me @jillybpb or find me on Threads, too (@jillybpickleball).
I really appreciate your Monday Minute because I don't do social media anymore. It can be harder to stay in touch or stay informed about things that interest me. Just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to write and publish it. Crazy to think blogs are "old school" but social media is too big of a cesspool right now and it's a lot easier to fill my mind with gratitude and optimism when I'm not trying to ignore or avoid the noise.