Monday Minute 6/9/2025
- Jill Braverman
- Jun 9
- 4 min read
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!
On my mind…how do you define winning?
In my teaching...The single statistic holding YOU back from getting to 4.0+
On my mind…how do you define winning?
It’s been a whirlwind month: women’s finals of the US Open, gold and bronze in Cincy, and bronze in NY. Every week the competition gets stronger, each event gets tougher. Kristin and I are in Aspen for 2.5 weeks seeing her family and “resetting” before the July 4 APP. I’ve been doing a lot of reading and thought you may enjoy these quotes:
“Winning is sleeping better.” - Jodie Foster. What this means to me? You can’t win everything, despite how much you want to or are expected to. Try and remember that your family, friends, and life still look the exact same at the end of the day…even if the color medal around your neck doesn’t.
“The cold water doesn't get warmer if you jump late" - Unknown.
What this means to me? It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes, “you can’t climb a mountain you pretend isn’t there.”
If we know we have to make the climb, or jump in the cold water, let’s just do it. You’ll feel a lot better taking action now rather than tomorrow—as hard as that it is to swallow it’s the (un)fortunate truth.
“Go the extra mile…it’s never crowded.” - Dr. Wayne Dyer. My personal translation? Speaks for itself. God I love this and live this. So few people will ever, ever go one inch into that extra mile. As Jannick Sinner just said after losing in a 5 hour 29 min. marathon in the Roland Garros finals to Carlos Alcaraz, “It’s just about suffering. Who is willing to suffer more.” I’m here for the suffering. Are you?
"You don't rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training.” - Navy SEALS & greek philosopher Archilochus (from Rob Nunnery's NL—fellow APP pro player with a GREAT blog). What this means to me? In tennis I used to step onto the court knowing there was no way the opponent had trained harder than me, and that gave me this inner belief that there was just zero chance she could beat me. Now, almost 15 years later, I still never step on the court simply hoping and praying for "blessings from the net cord lords" or the "pickleball gods" to win the match. I train for my worst day to be good enough to beat you at your best. You should, too.
In my ears…this APP player thinks he could win a PPA Doubles tournament “for sure”
Coming tomorrow 6/10/2025 is a not-to-be-missed TPL episode with APP World #2 player, Jack Munro, aka “Junior Mint” (aka don’t call him that!) joins the pod. Learn how he manages being left and right handed on the court, what new shots he’s cooking up in his pickleball lab, and why he said “NO!” to a PPA contract.
On my body…New partner announcement coming soon! Any guesses?
In my teaching...4.0 players successfully arrive to the kitchen ONLY 30% of the time
It's simple. If you want to be better than a 4.0 player, you have to master the first four shots. This statistic proves that in the pursuit of winning the point within the first four shots, the players are actively willing to lose the point in the first four shots.
You have to survive before you can thrive. Check out Tanner Tomassi doing an excellent explanation of this fascinating statistic. Kristin and I filmed a video on this exact topic from our clinic in Boulder last week and we'll post it to my YouTube for you to check out next week.
Start filming your matches! You need to start tracking your success rate for kitchen arrival if you want to get better. (And if you want to be 5.0 then it's the fifth shot that you should be obsessed with mastering).
Only 4 more spots in my Mexico Camp!
If you want to take your game to the next level in the world’s most beautiful pickleball setting, surrounded by like-minded and like-skilled students and coached by MLP Coach of the Year, Scott Crandall, and yours truly, Jilly B, then do not miss out on this camp! October 25-29, 2025.
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That's it for the Monday Minute. I love feedback and if you have any for me please tweet me @jillybpb or find me on Threads, too (@jillybpickleball). You can always email us at jillybcamps@gmail.com.
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