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4 Biggest Technical Lessons from 2025

Hello, all my Pickleball Joy Riders! I promised I would release the 4 biggest technical lessons I learned last year, so here it goes, and I really hope they help you as much as they helped me:


Lesson #1: Get your head (eyes) under the ball

I "suffer" from a syndrome along with 15% of Americans: being tall. I'm 5'9" (but with my orthotics + shoes at least 5'10" lol). There is no cure but there is one therapy:


ATG therapy. AKA "Ass to the Grass"


No matter your height, you can really benefit from feeling like on every single shot, try to get your head under the level of the net (or ball).


When dinking, make your very first move be DOWN (bend your knees like you're trying to touch your butt to your heels), and try to make contact with the ball feeling like your head is literally underneath it.




You should feel this way on your drops, too. My forehand drop went from zero to hero when I "hunched" over and really tried to get my head under the ball. It feels ridiculous tbh (which is how you know you're doing it right).


Here are the benefits of ATG therapy:


1.) At the net, everything starts to look like a speed-up.

2.) You almost totally eliminate dinking into the net.

3.) You almost totally eliminate driving and dropping into the net.

4.) Your glutes look great after a week of this therapy.



Lesson #2: Proper sequencing wins



The biggest improvement in my game in 2025 was my right side play, specifically my dinking. This is 100% attributable to fixating on a four-step "proper" movement sequence. I call this: LEGS, PAUSE, PADDLE (L-P-P).


  1. Move your legs to the ball (not paddle first)

  2. Pause your entire body (feel a good SET before you swing)

  3. Drop paddle (tip down)

  4. Swing (and stay in the shot until you finish, like someone is taking a photo of you)


The most important part of the sequence is the "pause". Most players move their paddle first, then their body, then they swing - without ever finding the stop or the stillness before contact. Their paddle acts like a "crutch" for poor footwork/mechanics.


Mastering this sequence doesn't require you to be fast or have some special talents--it just requires some time, sweat equity, and self-kindness while you figure it out. If you're nailing this sequence, you're nailing your footwork, too!



Lesson #3: Dance On and OFF the line


Most of us get to the line, and we do one of two things:

  1. We glue ourselves to it, only backing up when forced by a good dink or a lob, so we end up over-reaching for balls & breaking our posture.

  2. We constantly get pushed off and backwards from the line, so we feel super uncomfortable there, "on ice skates", totally reactive.


You can tell a 6.0+ player by how often they move forwards and backwards of their own volition during a rally (I call this "dancing" at the line). They aren't glued to it or being pushed off. But how do we know when to move up or back?


You need to "Gamble"(as my friend, Scott Fliegelman, likes to say) before your opponent has made contact with the ball. Most of us WAIT until after the opponent hits to decide if we should back up, move

forward, attack, or reset. But instead of waiting, we need to be predicting.


As soon as the ball has left your paddle, you need to decide whether to: A.) move forward and start to close/attack, B.) stay where you are, or C.) back up and get ready to defend/counter? What are the benefits of "dancing"?


  1. You will be mentally engaged in a proactive way you have never felt before.

  2. You won't feel flat-footed, caught off-guard, or like you're Bambi on ice.

  3. You will be in a far superior position to close and attack, reset, defend, or counter.

  4. Your footwork will start to fire up.


You can start practicing "dancing" by simply asking yourself right after you make contact with a ball: Did I hit a good shot? Then CLOSE/GET FORWARD. Did I hit a bad shot? Then take two steps back, put your paddle up, and get ready for a counter or reset.


In 2026 let's dance, baby, dance! 💃


Lesson #4: Stop trying to hit perfect drops



The most liberating and impactful lesson of my year may have been coming to the realization that you are almost never going to get the ball to bounce on a third shot drop. I have 6'2" dudes leaning in on their fourths taking the ball in the air with suped up paddles just waiting to punish anything less than perfect!


So instead of practicing perfection, I decided to do something radical: I gave up. I decided to focus on Point B. What's Point B?


If Zone A is behind the baseline and Zone B is just past the "zone of death" five feet into the court (some people call this No-Man's Land, some call it Transition Zone), and Zone C is the kitchen (see photo above)--just try to hit something good enough to get to Zone B. From there, trust your transition game to get you to C.


All of a sudden, this huge weight was lifted off my shoulders, and the craziest thing happened-- my drops did start to naturally improve once I took the pressure off trying to hit them perfectly. The game slowed down, and everything felt easier, less rushed.


You know what I always say: don't let perfect be the enemy of good.


In 2026 let's focus on Zone B.


Honorable technical mentions: Extension wins


  1. Extension wins: In a hands-battle, see if you can find extension at contact, like you're trying to hit ten balls in a row. Extension during a hands-battle can make up for lack of clean contact. Eliminate your backswing, find extension on your follow through.

  2. Never miss another return: "Pose": Hold your finish as absolutely high as you can and run to the line holding the pose over your neck (game changing--literally game changing). If it feels ridiculous you know you're doing it right.

  3. Lob. Lob. Lob. It was the shot of 2025, and its importance is only increasing into 2026. Practice your lob, love your lob, make it your favorite shot. It's going to change your entire game if you're not already using it. How to get better at it? Stop thinking of it as a technical shot and just focus on choosing the right time for it (when opponents are leaning in or when you can get it in the air).

Scott Fliegelman Joins Baja Camp!


I am so excited to announce that Top-10 Senior Pro & world-class instructor Scott Fliegelman (AKA "Fliegs") is joining our Baja Camp! Scott is a 5.9 DUPR, 3x Captain of the NPL Denver Iconics Team (with the most match wins of any player since the league began), and co-owner of Boulder Pickleball Club in Colorado. A former D1 tennis player and pro, Scott also has experience coaching skiing, snowboarding, running, cycling, and triathlon (he’s completed 5 Ironmans!). He has more than two dozen pro podium appearances in the past three years, including a Silver and a Bronze at USAP Nationals in Men’s Senior Pro Doubles. Fliegs is my favorite Split Age Pro Mixed partner, a dear friend, an incredible instructor, and I cannot wait to have my students learn from him in Baja, MX this year! This camp sold out last year by July and is already on track to sell out by May--if you are considering joining, I do recommend you sign up for this one sooner rather than later. 



Props to my current & former Junior Elite Academy students!


Shout out to my Elite Juniors taking home some hardware from the PPA Masters in January:

  • Madalena F. - Silver Women's Singles U18 (as a 13-year-old!), Bronze in Mixed U14

  • Nick V. - Gold Men's Doubles U16 & Silver in Men's Singles U16

  • Diane H. - Silver in Singles U16 (as a 13-year-old!)

  • Rocky G. & Logan F. - Silver Men's Doubles U16

  • Willa P. - Silver in Women's Doubles U14

  • Bennett M.- Bronze in Singles U14

  • Jing R. - Bronze in Singles U16


Have a question for Jilly B? Email us at jillybcamps@gmail.com


Xoxo,

Jilly B

 
 
 

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