With baseball season just around the corner, I sent an email to my team asking parents to have a catch with their kid 3 times a week, for about 15 minutes. The impact of this minuscule, simple practice would be substantial for our first practice. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure that not one person will do it.
Not because they don’t have time, but because you can’t get your head around the fact that 15 minutes is worth anything. They will talk themselves out of it by saying, “We’ll have a catch for an hour on Saturday.” But they won’t ever get around to it. Saturday will get busy and giving up a whole hour is hard.
My youngest practices his batting swing for me several times a day. No bat involved. He does it when he walks through the kitchen or waiting for his brother to get off the bus. He pauses and says, “Dad, how does this look?” He puts his hands together, gets in his stance, and shows me his best swing, no bat necessary.
He does the same thing with his pitching form.
When he’s bored, he’ll grab a ball and throw it into the air and catch it.
Before you think I’m nuts, this is how HE is with everything. He is always practicing. Even when he is playing, he is practicing something.
At just 8 years old, he plays on the 10U travel baseball team. He’s the only second grader on a mostly fourth grade baseball team.
Everyone thinks he’s a “gifted” athlete. Nobody sees the 15 minutes he puts in two or three times a day, every day.
15 -20 minutes stacks up pretty quick. That gives him on average an hour per day of practicing baseball.
He may be a “gifted” athlete, or he may practice 7 hours a week more than anyone else.
And the best part is that he doesn’t even know he’s doing it.
Have I convinced you?
If you want to squeeze in 5-10 minutes of “extra” studying per day that won’t feel like work, get a copy of the The Final Step.
Brian Wallace
