4. Lunches on site and dinners off site: Off sites create an opportunity to get to know your cohort and to ask Jordan questions about your game and any other pickleball questions. Other camps kind of do this informally, but it should be set up formally like Jordan does.

5. The Action Plan: After the camp is over, Jordan emails out a detailed Action Plan that goes into specifics about what areas of your game need work. This is a major differentiator compared to the other camps and is really, really valuable. 

6. Slow motion video analysis: After the camp Jordan sends out a detailed email with links of Slow motion videos of your serve and drive with his analysis commentary. This is really helpful.

7. Follow up call: There is a follow-up zoom call 3-4 weeks after the 2DI to check in with group and see what progress we are making and if we have any questions.

8. Jordan is the coach: Other camp instructors are nowhere near as knowledgeable about Pickleball as Jordan is. Jordan is really a student of the game and has analytically thought through how to be successful at playing pickleball. Moreover, he has incorporated best coaching practices and techniques helping students to improve their game. This is really important. Compared to the other camps, the main instructor at other camps is usually very qualified, but may not be your coach for long since there are 7 other coaches and they rotate through each group. The ratio is usually 1 coach to 8 students. You may only get that main coach for a short amount of time and get almost no 1 on 1 time. 

Cost

The 2DI is much better than other pickleball camps for the reasons just stated above. For me, it was an 11 hour drive from SF Bay Area, California to Gilbert, Arizona with 4 stops to recharge my car. Electricity was only $200 round trip for 1600 miles. The AirBnb was $600 for the week I stayed there. The 2DI was $2000 and the private lesson $300 so I ended up spending about $3100. 

The reader may be thinking that they can take 3 other camps for the price of the Briones 2DI. True, but from the 3 other $650 camps I took, not one of the coaches pointed out the three areas of my game that really need correction and improvement to advance. For me, the value was definitely there, but it depends on how important improving your game is and how much it is worth to you.

The Venue:

The Pickleball Backyard in Gilbert, Arizona. The place is only a year old and the courts have permanent nets. Court 1 has enough room on the sides for an ATP or Ernie but the other courts not so much. We were on Court 1. It’s so much better playing indoors, no worries about the wind, sun, or high temperatures.

Gilbert, Arizona - Definitely need a car since the town is really spread out. Mesa was the closest supercharger and prices after 8pm were like 0.20 a Kwh! Best place to eat that I found is Mekong Plaza in Mesa, AZ. The Thai place was outstanding. I am definitely going back there to eat.

Rec play - If you are staying in town after the 2DI, I recommend Gilbert Regional where the courts are dedicated Pickleball courts and not converted tennis courts. Players were 3.0-4.5 so you should be able to find a good game. The facility is only 5 years old and set up well so you don’t have to walk across someones courts to get to your court. It can get windy there though. Ask Jordan about other places to play rec.

Bring 

1. A portable chair.

2. Lots of fluids. It was in the 90s outside, temps inside were in the 70s.

3. Energy bars.

4. Goals. You should have clear goals in mind what you want to get out of your 2DI. My goal was simple. I wanted Jordan to point out the areas of my game that needed correcting or improvement. I take video of my games and review them, but I didn't spot two major mistakes I was consistently making that Jordan pointed out.

Reviewing the videos I learned a lot about my game and my cohort:

1. Unforced errors were the main reason for losing a game. Unforced errors were caused by:

   • Taking eyes off the ball before contact

   • Having poor footwork and making contact when off balance off the back foot or too far to the side

   • Having poor footwork and over stretching to get a ball instead of taking another half or full step.

   • Hitting balls out due to aiming to close to the sideline. Give yourself a larger margin for error.

   • Speeding up balls that are too low in the Yellow Zone. Roll or let them bounce.

   • Speeding up balls but Punching them down with no top spin. Should punch straight out.

   • Speeding up balls but Punching instead of Rolling.

   • Hitting a forehand when the contact point demands a backhand.

2. Miss long and or high on a dink or drop since at least it will go over and then deal with the next shot. Many players can't or don't attack balls in the yellow zone since they don't have a strong backhand roll volley so miss high and or long, then start lowering the shot and pulling it back. Don't miss short...

3. Leave a large 12"-24" margin for error if going down the line. 

4. Footwork is so important and an overlooked part of the game. Create space and get the ball into your ideal hitting zone, wait for the apex, then make contact. 

5. Hit the ball at the apex. I realized why I don't do this. In tennis the apex is often too high for us to make a good contact, so we hit the ball on the rise or when it is falling into our hitting zone. Since pickleball balls don't bounce high, we have to hit at the apex for best results.

6. The middle is a great target in doubles! Players often don't slide over or back with their partners leaving a large gap.

7. Weak backhands. In general, work on your opponents backhand since you can eventually generate an unforced error.

8. Roll volleys - Especially the backhand side and below the net, going left, straight ahead, or right with top spin is a weapon every 4.0+ should have.

Fun

The funnest part of the 2DI by far is playing with Jordan. I think I can speak for the vast majority of the 2DI students, that Jordan is the best player we have ever played with or against. Since his arsenal is so vast, he can pull off shots we’ve never seen before. Since his footwork is so sound and his foot speed is so fast, he can get to balls that none of our player cohort back home can even come close to. I did notice he intentionally avoided beating us with pace and power, but opted for placement and spin. This shows us that we need to be fundamentally sound with our footwork and court positioning. The volley at 0:21 below would be a winner back home, but Jordan half volleyed it like it was nothing. 

I strongly recommend taking a 2 hour private lesson with Jordan right after the 2DI. This way, you can go over your questions and start right in on your action plan. Have specific goals in mind. I knew I wanted to work on the 2 handed backhand topspin Dink shot and have Jordan point out weak spots in my game. Two hours goes by fast. Make sure to schedule it for a Mon or Tue right after the Thur and Fri 2DI.

In summation, the 2DI was exactly what I hoped for. I really wanted the action plan. Jordan identified numerous areas of my game that need work to get to the next level. I have a few bad habits that I need to break and change to good habits: split stepping, keeping my eye on the ball, leaving margin for error, attacking only when on balance and stable, putting more topspin on my forehand, moving quickly to the ball and getting it into my hitting zone. None of the other coaches I've had identified these areas so to me the 2DI was well worth it. I also have a few new shots that I need to work on.

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From the podcasts, one conversation in particular made an impact on me. When Jordan asked Caden what percentage of his time was spent drilling versus playing, and he said something like 80:20 so he only plays games 20% of the time he's on the court. This changed up my whole routine and now I focus on drilling and see much more consistency in my game.

Paid videos are also recommended. There are dozens of short, but very focused videos structured to address a specific topic of pickleball. The first series is called Max Attack Pickleball teaching us how to attack from the NVZ line. I thought it was really worth the money and I hope he expands this series of paid videos.