The 3 Biggest Technical Tweaks I'm Making Right Now & How They Can Help YOU
- Jill Braverman
- Jun 9
- 7 min read
Hello, Pickleball Joy Riders!
I've been playing for almost a decade, full-time for three years, have a 5.92 DUPR and I still believe there is a new level to unlock. I don't just believe it, I know it. And you should know by now that as I tinker in my game I love to share what I learn directly with you. Here are the 3 technical changes elevating my game right now:
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1.) Is Wider the New Lower? Spread 'Em!
The past two months I've gone on a quest to find out why some days my fourths are perfect, my dropshots land like butterflies with sore feet, and my 1-2 combos feel easy...yet other days they feel totally off. Could all three be connected? 100% the answer is yes.
That connective tissue is: my lower body, specifically the space between my legs.
This photo of my wide base makes me laugh so hard. My sister is always like, "get your fat ass out of my way". We have an interesting love language.
I'm tall, so bending down is tough. We've all heard "get low", but have you ever thought about getting WIDE? It's way easier to get wide than it is to "get low". And when you get wide, you bend using your legs versus your back ("breaking your posture"). A humongous reason we miss dinks and speed-ups is trying to bend to the ball by breaking our posture instead of using our legs.
When I played tennis at Pepperdine I used to think about getting wide because it was physically easier than getting "low". But why had I forgotten that in pickleball until the past few months?! Bad Jilly!
Ever since getting wider I feel like the game has gotten easier, specifically:
Every shot looks like it could be a speed up. (Because my head is under the ball)
The erne comes to me unforced.
The drop shot is always available. (Not a drop. A dropshot)
Fourths find the corners, outside of poach range.
So I started to look at other players and noticed Christian Alshon (above). I mean, LOOK AT HIM! It hurts just to IMAGINE being this low, much less putting yourself there. Truthfully, he is not my favorite human being in the world, but let's admire him for his awesome wide base (often, he's even lower than Hayden but is +/- 6 inches taller than him).
2.) Tension is the enemy of Speed
The theme of our sold-out May Newport Beach Camp was "How to become the predator, not the prey." A huge component of that is TENSION. Because smooth is fast and fast is smooth. There is a Chinese proverb, "Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are."
During the camp warm-up, I went from court-to-court and shook hands with every single player (24 players!) (don't worry I passed around the hand sanitizer after, true story lol). I wanted to feel the tension in everyone's hand, forearm, and shoulder. Results? 4 out of 24 players had what I would call the "proper" amount of tension. FOUR! Everyone else had wayyy too much tension. You know I don't do public math, so what percentage is that!?
I want you to ask yourself, what shot is ailing you right now? Third shot drops? Drives? Dinks? What just kills you in your game right now? Now, I want you to go out and hit that shot with zero tension.
You may be wondering...what is the right amount of tension? How do you systematically remove it from your game? Is it physical or more mental or a combination of both?
I don't want to say too much about this right now, because I'm working on something really special for you. A way to share every single one of my camp themes, drills, and videos - regardless of if you could be there in person with me or not-- with my whole pickleball joyrider community. Stay tuned because something BIG is in the works.
3.) There is a New Kitchen-Line- STOP PLAYING GLUED TO THE LINE LIKE IT'S 2024
A common theme I hear from my repeat students is, "after I took your camp and went back home to my local club/coach they were skeptical of what you told me. Then, like clock-work, 3-4 months later they are teaching the same thing and the concept has started to become more known."
This is why I say that my camps are not just instruction; they are INTEL from the frontlines of a very rapidly evolving sport. Remember, for something to be considered truth it must go through 3 stages: First it is ridiculed, then it is violently opposed, finally, it is accepted as self-evident. I'm never scared to tell you what I believe is the truth, even if that means 4-6 months later I am revising it due to new information and/or doubling down on it like I am now. Remember in my end-of-the-year Monday Minute the concept of "dancing" back and forth off the line? Well, it's more important now than ever before to GET OFF THE LINE. Why?
Because every shot you hit in pickleball you want your weight to be able to go forward. And if you are superglued to the kitchen line, you literally have nowhere to go. Pros can pull it off because they have exceptional footwork. If the ball bounces, they can spring like bunnies backwards. AKA they go backwards to go forwards.
Let that sink in. They go backwards to go forwards. If you want to go forward, then you can't be glued to the line like it's 2024.
For everyone reading this who does not have professional-grade footwork, you can cheat code and hack exceptional footwork by simply starting a little more off of the line. You bypass the need to back up, because you've pre-set yourself into the perfect position. You've given yourself room to move forward.
I call the space 2-3 feet behind the kitchen line"The Modern Kitchen." Here are the key benefits from starting in this area:
1.) Massively improved fourths (the most important shot in pickleball): We've all been there before--we hit a weak return and sprint to the line, knowing deep down we are never going to get there. We're still moving when the opponent drives at us, so we miss the fourth into the net. Or they hit a great drop and we have to reverse our momentum and end up hitting a desperate fourth from our backfoot. But if you stop looking at the line, and start to imagine the Modern Kitchen as your split step target, you will be guaranteed to split step in time, you will be better equipped to defend a poor 4th, and you will have somewhere to go (forward) to close if their 3rd is high.
2.) Better speed-ups and counters: The more you can get off of the line while at the kitchen, the more you can successfully bounce speed up (because your weight has somewhere to go--FORWARD!). Also, the less likely someone is to attack you.
3.) Better position/preparation for getting lobbed. If you're already off the line when you're lobbed, you can more easily hit the overhead or run it down off the bounce. Senior pros are the masters of this.
APP SACRAMENTO RECAP & CINCY THIS WEEK
I'm writing this from my dear friend Sally's beautiful home on the Cincinnati River. She is hosting me and Kdubs for the week! Jack Munro and I are doing a 4.0+ Partner Camp at the Pickle Lodge Lunkin Landing today. This week I am also playing with Jack Munro (a dream come true to finally play with a lefty!!! And for it to be Jack is just so exciting. Please don't tell him but I'm kind of nervous?! lolllll) Also, this will be my last pro tournament this year not playing with my sister. Emilia Schmidt and I continue from our Silver in Seattle, Silver in the Invitational in Sacramento...can we break through this week? We shall see!
I promise you the podcast is coming back...+ something even bigger
Kristin and I moved again for the 2nd time in under a year. We've also run 9 sold-out camps, including our first Destination Hawaii Camp. We've produced more instructional long-form YT content than ever before. Are you hearing these excuses?! Truly, we are finally in a good spot to Pod again and to release something BIG I've been working on behind the scenes. A way to continue the conversation with you after you've come to a camp or watched a video. I can't say too much! Stay tuned...
Camp Update! All SoCal Camps sold out, but we are adding courts!
It's a strange thing to be in June knowing that all of our SoCal camps for the year are now sold out -- the only camps we have space left in are Baja & Grand Cayman. So I called the Big Boss (Gina) from TTC Newporter and asked if we could add two courts and I think she said yes! Stay tuned for when we update the website with the added space!
COLORADO HERE WE COME...
We are excited to be heading back to Colorado in July!
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Xoxo,
Jilly B
Thanks for the great advice
This information is so valuable!! Great advice! I’ve been to your camp and learned a lot!! You’re awesome!!