My son’s Little League baseball game was rained out last night. Too bad. We worked hard Sunday on his throwing arm, getting him to throw more overhand and less sidearm.
But he said something to me Sunday worth discussing here. After telling him that it was important to focus on making every throw the right way because how you practice is how you play, he said, “But dad, it’s only during the games when you gotta be serious.”
What do you say to something like that?
Here’s what I told him…
You’ve got that backwards. The time to be serious is practice. The time to work hard and give your absolute best effort is practice. The time to focus your strongest is practice. Practice is where you create the good habits that carry through to the games so when the game begins you can have fun.
How you practice is how you play.
I think some of it stuck. His throws got better, his focus improved, and he really worked hard. I was looking forward to seeing how it carried through to the game. Darn weather!
How well do you practice? How much emphasis do you put on training? How seriously do you take it?
If you feel like your trainings and meetings are ineffective at best, and simply an excuse to slack off, check out this eBook – Staff Meetings Everyone Wants to Attend and the accompanying worksheet.
How you practice is how you play. The good news is it doesn’t take much to make the game more fun!
-Phil
Amazes me how folks think they can do something wrong or weak or whatever, up until it goes live, and then somehow they'll miraculously get it right. From kids, I sort of expect it. From working adults, not so much 😉
"How you practice is how you play." Thanks for giving me the words for it.
Yeah, Joel, it's funny how many people think they can just "turn it on" when they want. I gotta thank my high school swim coach for hammering home that point every day for four years. He also used the quotes "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity." and "The harder you practice, the luckier you get." Never will forget that lesson.