Life Lessons Learned Through Baseball/Softball

Life Lessons Learned Through Baseball

I was asked the other day what life lessons I have learned through playing baseball?

The simple straightforward answer is lots. Most of the way I think and act has been a result of?Mom, family and baseball. Probably like most everybody else for parents and family. But baseball, I think drills into you some very hardy life lessons. More so than any other sport I’ve played or been around. Truth is, baseball has always been my passion. I liked almost all sports as we use to play whatever sport happened to be in season. But Baseball, the difficulty, the all around athleticism, the mental, the team aspect is just very attractive. Almost intoxicating.

I started playing baseball when I was 7 years old, and along the way, I learned several life lessons that have impacted how I think, my personality and my perception of the world and life in general. And now I coach baseball and softball because when I step on the field, I still get the energetic feeling.?I wanna play catch. I sincerely get the kid feeling. That may be one of the best life lessons to pass along. The kid feeling that one gets when simply standing on the field. I’m lucky enough to pass these lessons on to the next generation. I really don’t think of it like that, passing life lessons. I think about getting better. How to help these players improve? What mechanic, what activity, what drill and how I, you can accomplish the goal? Improve and get better. The people responsible for the athletes still want me there too, so hey, lucky me.

?And I think you’ll also find them useful in business too.

?So, let’s step up to the plate…

?1.?“practice makes perfect” is incorrect. Practice makes permanent. “Perfect practice makes perfect”. I remember hearing the 1st quote early in life and didn’t learn “perfect practice makes permanent” until I started coaching.

?Have you ever noticed that the more you practice, the better you get?

?And the better you get at an activity like baseball, the more you want to practice!

?When you like an activity and you are relatively good at it, the more fun you have. The more fun you have, the more you want to practice, and the better you get at that activity.

?You see the circular notion here?

?Fun, practice, proficiency and desire to do more of the activity create a positive feedback loop.

?So to coin a new phrase, “perfect practice will be fun”! Maybe Not??

?2. Be Prepared, Be ready to hit. I’ve always liked this saying.

When a pitcher releases the ball, be in a ready position

If you get your favorite pitch on the 1st pitch and you’re chewing your bubblegum and haven’t quite got to the best part yet. You just let your pitch go by. Darn it. Be thinking. Be ready for your pitch. Have a plan. Look for your pitch in your spot. Visualize getting that pitch, putting your perfect swing and connecting. See your perfect pitch, and perfect swing and visualize where the ball ends up. Have this image, moving in your mind.

3. To have a mentor or coach is very valuable, whether you know it or not at the time.

?My first baseball coach was one of my best coaches, including NCAA D1. Mr McNinch. Clyde Frazier and Les Clark. We were the Cardinals in Taft, Ca and I was drafted onto the Major League team as an 8 yr old. They had not lost a single game in 1 ? years. Mac taught us how to be balanced when throwing the ball.

?4. Go for it!

Barbara Denesha taught me lots of things but one thing she said when I was young. “God hates a Coward”. Truth is, God loves everybody. The point was that when presented with a challenge, embrace the moment.

?Don’t reel, or not want that moment.

?5. Baseball is a game of controlled aggression. The pitcher is trying to get you out. There is Bravado going on here, whether admittedly, or not. The hitter is trying to get on base. There are 9 people trying to get one hitter out. The pitcher and his defensive team act together in trying to get 3 outs per half inning.

6. The Team concept. Not trying to do everything oneself is another wonderful concept to embrace.

?If a pitcher were to strike everybody out, this places excessive wear and attrition on the pitcher. It takes more pitches, and more effort to strike a batter out.

If the pitcher were to allow weak contact and involve his defense, this preserves the pitcher's energy and allows him to pitch more innings.

Being unselfish and acting for the betterment of the team builds success. Would you rather get 4 hits in a game and lose, OR have 0 hits and win?

The goal of the baseball game is simply to score at least one more run than your opponent.

?Create a synergy around the entire team. Both on/off the field, to win.

7. Barrel it up. I believe a batter is successful when hitting the ball hard. Barrel it up. Now, the batter may hit it toward a defensive player and he makes a good/great play and you are out. To me, that is ok. Remember the goal. Barrel it up and hit it solid.

8. Perception and reality. I think you get lessons in perception and how one chooses to view a certain situation. Depending on your position, and your unique outlook on life.

?Focus on what you can control. One can control oneself, one's activity, one’s practice. Practice elements that will result in better technique, thus resulting in better results. Trust the process.

?9. Winning and losing. I want our teams to be humble when winning. Be a good winner. Be appreciative of the team’s effort. Be congratulatory. Treat the other team the way you would like to be treated if you had lost that day.?Do not celebrate excessively when in public. Now, we had this rule, once you were at home, you could do your happy dance. Do your celebratory dance and yuck it up a little.

?I also want my team to understand how to act when we lose. Head up, hope that you tried your hardest, and know that you need to practice more and get better. Know their team was better that day, but not absolutely better than our team. If the team that is higher in the standing and has wonderful practices 2 times per week, my assertion is that we would need to practice at least 3 times per week. In addition, we would need to have a better practice session.

10. Use Metrics and Math to Challenge the Status-Quo

Baseball was invented in 1876. The game has evolved. Some people would say that the game has been played the same way for 146 years, why change? Well, there have been a lot of smart people analyzing tendencies and applying them both offensively and defensively.

Now, there are times when playing it safe, is the smart play. When the risk of being slightly off, is larger than the reward. Ok, but the analysis, the math should be done and then the best decision almost always presents itself.

?Question why you have done this a certain way so far, and ask why wouldn’t you try something new?

I’m known for my Denesha-isms and I will be sharing some of them with you over the next few weeks.

?Keep your eye on the ball!