Ms. Medal Chasers

02/13/2026

MENTAL FITNESS FRIDAY 🏓🧠

You don’t need more things to focus on, you actually need to carry less onto the court.

Focus LESS on:
✨ Your mechanics.
✨ What others think.
✨ Whether you win every game.

Shift a calm Focus to:
✔️ Your energy.
✔️ Your attitude between points.
✔️ Recovering quickly after mistakes.
✔️ Being steady for your partner.
✔️ Playing one ball at a time.

Your job isn’t to be perfect, your job is to stay present.

Play simply.
Compete with courage and grit.
Breathe deeply.

You are building mental fitness every single rally — not just when you win.

01/16/2026

💪🧠Mental Fitness Friday 🏅

On the court, we are always thinking about what we can do better physically, but often the most powerful shifts are what we do mentally.

We work on developing good skills and habits, but here’s a HABIT WE NEED TO BREAK: Over-apologizing.

“Sorry” often slips out after middle balls, poaches (I mostly say, “Thank you” here if I am slow getting up to the net) and speedups or pop-ups that get our partner clobbered.

🙋‍♀️I have uttered a thousand “Sorry”s. But now I am trying to stop.
We apologize to be thoughtful, but in reality it quietly disrupts rhythm, pulls focus inward, and places unnecessary emotional weight on your partner.
Let’s be honest. Most women were conditioned to keep the peace. Be nice. Be agreeable. Don’t make anyone uncomfortable. On the pickleball court, that shows up as apologizing for everything. Not just real mistakes, but for taking space, making a call, or daring to try an aggressive shot that doesn’t work.
Beneath that reflex is a familiar thought: “Please don’t be annoyed with me. I don’t want to disappoint you.”
🐅But on the court, we are allowing ourselves to be assertive and somewhat aggressive. This is why we love this sport. It’s allowed-accepted-mandated. We can let our inner lion ROAR.
We know when we make an error. We don’t need to sit on the couch and have a coffee talk about it. When you stop acknowledging on-court mistakes, you create space for trust, flow, and better chemistry under pressure.
Mistakes happen, but constant apologies pull attention backward, break momentum, and subtly signal hesitation. Over time, that erodes confidence and partnership trust.
Doubles chemistry isn’t built by being perfect—it’s built by working together and constantly communicating to get better.
🔑Instead of apologizing, try communication that actually helps:
• “Mine” or “Yours” Clear ownership. Prevents confusion. Shows confidence before the ball becomes a problem.

• “Switch” Short, tactical, and necessary when positioning changes. This is information, not emotion.

• “Good idea / Good try” Keeps aggression alive. Reinforces effort and decision-making without assigning blame.
• “Lock in” signifies we can do this. Together.
If something truly needs to be owned, a quick “my bad” works. Neutral. Brief. Then move on. The difference is intention. You’re not shrinking yourself to keep the peace. You’re keeping the team moving forward.
Non-verbal cues matter too. Paddle taps, nods, eye contact. Sometimes acknowledgment without commentary is the most efficient reset.
Your partner doesn’t need “sorry.”
They need someone focused on the next shot.

— with Kat Blanco

11/07/2025

🚨WARNING: Four-letter word post: DUPR

I read something this morning that saved me a little bit and I wanted to share it.

As we all consider selling a non-essential body part to raise our DUPRs, we need to get this thing in check.

The dupr algorithm is more difficult to maneuver than my menopausal mood swings and while some of us play the same match on the same side of the net, our ratings move inconsistently.

It feels impossible to raise it and it's scary to enter something where it might possibly go down.

This. is. bananas.

THIS IS WHAT I READ: "Four years ago's 4.5 is now a 3.5." That hit me in the face like a bucket of ice water. I'm no 4.5 but things have indeed changed. It was a lot easier years ago to get and maintain a higher rating. I have heard it said by Kasandra Gehrke at a clinic I did and Josh Jenkins-my RPO certification instructor, too.

Now it's a tooth and nail gang fight to go up .10.

Kat Blanco and I will argue this until we are blue in the face: it is a SUBJECTIVE number. This is why we look at play and tournament history to try to give everyone a successful and enjoyable experience in our leagues and clinics.

Trust me when I tell you we understand the DUPR struggle. I feel dragged down by my rating. Judged. Deemed unworthy. Isn't that ridiculous? Yes. But it's out there and we have to rise above it.

We want you all to be safe and encouraged as we help you increase your skills, your Pickelball IQ and your court confidence. Because THIS is there the magic is. 🔑

DUPR does not define our worth, ladies. And we are all in this messy algorithm together, until we can find a better way.

10/28/2025

Have you ever felt not chosen or rejected?
💊It's a hard pill to swallow sometimes, but, I want to let you in on a little secret:
🌅Rejection from something is almost always God's protection for something better.

When you put some distance on your ick, you will look back and get some perspectacles that cleary show you this truth.

I was excluded from groups in pickleball because I wasn't good enough, or they wanted to just play with their equals for friends.

💫Is this a pity party invitation? Nope, it's the For Good Story of how two BFFs took that rejection and used it to create, build and serve a group of 275 women who felt the same things in their journeys, and are now forming their own friendships, squads and possees.🧚‍♂️

If we hadn’t been rejected, this club wouldn’t be here. 🤯

So...don't waste time in the rejection, rise up in the protection and find the good. It's totally waiting for you.

09/08/2025

Maybe how far you go isn't about your Dupr.

Or how many medals are on your "She believed she could so she did" medal rack.

Or what group or court you play on.

Maybe it's about getting to the place where youcan release caring what people think about you, or not letting them make you feel small.

Or working hard to break your own limits and outgrowing your past self to live your best life.

This is your reminder to stop giving creds to people who have no part in your destiny, or even your three months from now.

Keep on rising up. You can't hear the low stuff from the top of the mountain.

09/04/2025

💡This has been a big one for me lately and why I am loving doing my favorite thing (playing pickleball of course) where no one knows me.
✋But I need to STOP doing these things and maybe you do, too:
-Worrying if people think I am "good enough."
-Wondering if people think I should be "better."

🟢and START:
-Meeting myself where I am.
-Being grateful in spite of health setbacks that I can still play and kind of keep up with my peers.

🛎️BECAUSE LISTEN TO ME:
If you aren’t progressing as fast as someone else, that’s none of your business. Your own progress is your business.
You need to ignore what everyone else is doing and achieving.

YOUR LIFE is about BREAKING YOUR OWN LIMITS and outgrowing yourself to live your best life.
You are NOT in COMPETITION with anyone else. Plan to outdo your past, NOT OTHER PEOPLE.

If people judge us or target us because that is all they have, or don't want to invite us, WE ARE OKAY with that.

🚫We aren't giving clout to the people who don't live in our head or our heart.

We will keep doing the things we love without needing approval.
Rejection is protection, Dear Ones, and when you don't quit, you will always find your place. I promise.💗

08/16/2025

Tournaments make our hearts race and our palms sweat...all in the name of a good time! It's exhilarating and exhausting, challenging and motivating, uplifting and bewidering.

Why do we do this to ourselves? Because it makes us feel ALIVE!

We love them, we do. We just to prepare our Mindset and our Court Confidence before we shout zero-zero-two!

Read more....

We get ourselves into a certifiable tizzy before a tournament. We love to compete in them because we feel alive and we are goal-oriented people and we like prizes and fun outfits, too.But, WOW, do we put the pressure on ourselves before these things. Am I right?Let's check ourselves so we remember o...

08/13/2025

August 8 is National Pickleball Day!!!
Now if I hear, “Pickleball is just a game,” one more time…here…hold my pickle paddle earrings!
Kidding because we are civilized, but while yes, pickleball is, by definition “a game,” me and about a million other court cruising gal pals will quite emphatically tell you, there is no “just” about it.
Why is it such a big dill?
Pull up a chair, honey and lean in.
Now, we realize that on the surface, Pickleball is a wildly fun, ridiculously addictive, legal opportunity to hit balls and scream loudly.
But underneath the pricey paddles and the cute outfits, there is something so much deeper going on…

Pickleball is a:

Chance to compete again.

Place where ride or die friendships are made.

Path to health when other stuff wasn’t working.

Bridge to a longer life.

New lease after a transplant.

Rescue from loneliness.

Freedom from addiction.

Something and people to belong to.

Vehicle to turn setbacks into stepping stones.

Medium to build emotional intelligence, empathy and self-confidence.

Way to check yourself on how you’re doing in a bigger picture- the inner game.

SO, if you hear someone say that pickleball is “just a game,” we need to give them some grace. It’s not really their fault. They “just” haven’t had their life changed by it yet.

Pickle on, dear ones!

08/13/2025

When we level up, we need to remember we are working on harder skills, playing with better people, and getting out of our comfort zone.

Hard days and self doubt will be part of the process. It's no all sunshine and roses in the land of Get better. Mistakes and losses make you rise up and we cannot get better without them.