Ep. 144: Pickleball Player and Coach, Simone Jardim

Simone Jardim.JPG

FOLLOW HEALTH GIG:

Learn more about BB&R and Achieving Optimal Health Conference by visiting BBRconsulting.us


Show Notes

[02:25] By six years old, I fell in love with tennis and that was what got me into playing tournaments. By the age of eight, my brothers were already playing all over the country in Brazil, playing tennis and playing national tournaments.

[03:12] I played the international championships representing my country, now 16 at that time. And after that, I started getting a bunch of letters from colleges in America offering scholarships to come here to play, to be able to pursue my studies.

[14:30] It was a great, great way to just get exercise. And for my mental health, it was so, so crucial because I believe that I had seasonal depression in every year and that winter in Michigan. 

[19:07] We kind of created a job for ourselves. And at first, people are like, how can you do a pickleball academy?

[19:36] So we started that pretty much by September. We were working, teaching pickleball at East Naples Community Park where the US Open is. And it exploded. When I first started, I was teaching about six hours a day. I think by the end of the season you couldn't get a spot with me.

[21:31] There is a Professional Pickleball Association now, the PPA, that runs tournaments. I'm about to go on the road for three weeks straight.

[26:16]. You lost, you go to the losers bracket. The thing about pickleball is that you get a second chance. So you still can come back and win gold even if you lost.

[26:33] I think that's what a lot of people love about pickleball tournaments is that you sign up and you travel somewhere. And then if you go out and you lose in the first match and you just go home, that would be terrible.

[27:35] If you lose and you go in the back in the losers bracket, you could play like eight, nine matches in one day.

[30:07] I think that that's where being in the frame of mind that I am there to help my partner excel because if my partner excels, I excel as well.

[32:08] I just believe that the game in person is much faster and so much more athletic than what you see on TV or on your computer.

[34:46] The really great news that just actually just happened hot off the press is that PPA has now signed a contract with Fox Sports. So that's a game-changer

[40:09] People will say, oh, learn how to do a third shot drop, learn to hit swinging volleys, topspin volleys. But if your footwork is not good, those shots are very hard to master because you need to develop that.

[41:43] As you get better, you also need to think that when I talk about a kitchen strategy, you have to think as a chess match. You're trying to move your ball around to create an opportunity to attack. 

[42:21] So when you get to the kitchen line, you need to have a plan in place to create that opportunity. So moving your opponent around that kitchen is crucial for your improvement, and that's how you become a better player.

Thank you for joining us on Health Gig. We loved having you with us. We hope you'll tune in again next week. In the meantime, be sure to like and subscribe to this podcast, and follow us on healthgigpod.com.

Quotes

“You could see this random guy sitting in the stands, I had never seen him, never met him. So he comes up to me after practice and he says ‘you are coming to play pickleball with us’, and I was like ‘Uh, who are you?’” - Simone Jardim

“I’ve been involved in athletics for so long, and what I see here is an opportunity.” - Simone Jardim

“Mental toughness is something that you can’t really teach. It’s something that through life you acquire.” - Simone Jardim

Keywords

#SimoneJardim #Pickleball #Sports #Active #Exercise #Compete #Grow #Florida #Cardio #Television #Injury #Athlete #Workout #Routine #Travel #Tournament #Sacrifice #Professional #Health #Wellness #HealthGig #Pandemic #COVID19 #DoroBushKoch #TriciaReillyKoch