Monthly Archives: March 2009

A Gift In Its Hands

Posted by on March 16, 2009 No comments

I love coaching youth baseball. I really do enjoy helping kids learn and live up to their potential.

However, watching a team go through it’s cycles of learning can be one of the most challenging things you can imagine as a parent. You just want to protect your kids from all the pain in the world – and that includes all your kids – not just yours but the ones on your team. But sometimes, they have to go through those trials and tribulations to get better.

My oldest son plays on a club baseball team that has steadily improved over the season. They have played in 3 championship games (all tournaments) this season. They have yet to win one. Yet each tournament represents a significant improvement, another step forward.

The first tournament seemed almost like a fluke. They lost a game, tied a game, then won a game and were in the championship. The lesson there was that they can actually play for a championship.

The second time around they lost their two opening games but came back the next day to blow out the two teams they faced and end up in the championship. They ran out of gas in the championship game and ultimately ended up losing by one run. They walked away realizing they needed to play better on opening day to improve their chances on championship day.

This past weekend they had two strong, strong games on opening day of the tournament and then more or less walked into the championship game. There they ran into a team that had to fight their way in through a close game. The sudden rise in competitiveness caught our kids off guard and they lost by a wide margin. Hopefully, the lesson there will be about finishing.

When they are ready, and hungry they are a tough team to beat. As a parent and a fan I wanted them to win every single game, every championship. There is disappointment. However, I think our kids also learned that there are no “easy” games. Some games come easier than others, but in any competitive environment where winners are artificially restricted – every match needs to be treated with respect.

What do I mean by artificially restricted?

Real life provides many, many opportunities for many, many people to win. Today my dad forwarded me a list of the Tech industries top 40 billionaires. Now think about that. the Top 40! In fact, there are over 700 billionaires world wide. Before the economic crises there were over 1,100. And that doesn’t count multi-millionaires, or just plain millionaires. Okay, lets forget money. What about the olympics? Over 300! More if you count all the medals given to teams. My point is that in life there are MANY ways to win, and very often there are many ways to win within the same space. We like to create the notion of being winners or losers, but who wouldn’t consider themselves a winner if they had a billion dollars? How about $100M? Not enough to make any of Forbes list but more than the typical lottery.

Sometimes just getting to play is a form of winning. The experiences we have shape who we are. The choices we make, the lessons we commit to learn I believe help us create our future. That’s one reason I love youth coaching so much. We can shape peoples futures through instruction and encouragement. We can setup challenges that test our young kids and give them the opportunity to learn. But we shouldn’t be suckered into believing that these young artificial limits are real or representative of “real life”. Competition can prepare us to handle difficult situations, challenges and opportunities. But the real gift is the confidence that comes from knowing we can be challenged and not only survive, but thrive.

Scott

A little learning

Posted by on March 14, 2009 No comments

Whenever I sit down to blog I always feel like I need to write something significant or meaningful.  This morning I asked myself, why can’t I just share something interesting?  As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to get a feel for how I learn.  Whenever I approach something hard I take a deep breath and realize that I’m not going to get it all at once.  I know that sounds silly, but in School you kind of have this weird structure that when they teach you something in class you should be able to go home and do the homework.
In short, exposure equals learning.  You’ve seen it, now go do it.  First school very often breaks things into achievable pieces.  The recipe for learning is already laid out.  Just follow the plan.  Well, of course its not that simple however in real life its even more complex.  Often times there is no recipe.  There’s just a pile of information and no clues.
I once tried to learn how to use a piece of software – say a graphics program that supposedly had excellent documentation.  What I found was that all the features of the program were documented but there was absolutely no clue how those features were intended to be used.  In my mind, it was like getting the users manual for your car.  It will tell you about the car but it won’t tell you how to drive.  You need BOTH to successfully take full advantage of the automobile.
A lot of computer software is the same way.  Documentation is written assuming that you already know how to use it.  They just document the features and why those features are so great, or why they made the strange decisions they made.  What you are often missing is the intended purpose of the program or the how to use it.
And in my experience that information takes a while to reveal itself.  The internet has become a fantastic source for documentation and information, but also for a lot of junk and misinformation.  Still, I’ll take it over the old days of only books and documentation included with the software.  But the simple idea that it will take time to reveal itself is what has helped me the most.
In learning how to write applications for the Apple Macintosh I came across this great quote by Aaron Hillegass.  In short he wrote,
While learning something new, many students will think, “Damn, this is hard for me. I wonder if I am stupid.” Because stupidity is such an unthinkably terrible thing in our culture, the students will then spend hours constructing arguments that explain why they are intelligent yet are having difficulties.
The truth is some things are just hard.  But if you persist, you can learn them.  Having a goal in mind, and patience, I have learned that I can learn many things if I focus on what I’m trying to learn and not on my frustration of not getting it right away.
I see this with my youth baseball players all the time.  They see someone throw the ball and they want to be able to throw the ball just as well right away.  But like learning the alphabet, or signing your name, it takes a while to translate the desire for competence into real competence.  Eventually it becomes effortless.  However, in my experience the hardest part of it is the waiting.
In a society where we can do so much in the time we have – waiting to learn just feels… stupid.  And that’s the irony of life in the internet era.  It has never been easier to learn any skill, any piece of software, anything we want really.  Yet because there are so many things we can learn, and they are all so accessible, its very hard to pick one and learn it in depth.  There’s always a desire to rush through it, get it on first exposure and master it immediately.  And when that happens, like Mr. Hillegass points out, instead of learning we start constructing arguments why we’re not stupid.
I know I’m not stupid, and chances are neither are you.  Very few people are stupid.  Something things are just hard and that’s okay.  But if you cultivate an attitude of patience, and allow the answers to reveal themselves, while you persist in your goal – you can learn almost anything.  Well almost anything technical.’
It reminds me of the quote by Sir Ken Robbins.  It’s not a question of “Are you intelligent?” but “How are you intelligent?”

And So It Begins…

Posted by on March 3, 2009 No comments

It’s baseball season again and I’m so excited I can hardly stand it.  I love baseball, but specifically, I really love little league baseball.  Few things are as rewarding as getting out on the diamond and teaching a group of kids how to play baseball.  Probably what drives me to want to be a good coach was my own experience with baseball.  You hear famous people like Jeff Foxworthy talk about how his Dad left when he was really young and he didn’t want to be that Dad when he grew up.  When I was a kid my coaches were TERRIBLE.  They didn’t know the game, or how to teach it, and if you didn’t know  it you were out of luck. 
It wasn’t a lot of fun.  Years later, I would refer to baseball as the cow game, you were just cattle standing around in a field.  Where’s the sport in that?
Today I have a very different perspective.  I’ve been studying the game of baseball for nearly a decade now and a few things have been revealed to me that I just didn’t see when I was younger.  If I can “not be that coach”” – the one who just threw kids into games without teaching them anything – Maybe I can help a few of them learn the same love of the game that has enveloped me.
Basically, my philosophy is, if I can teach the players how to play baseball then baseball can teach them about life.  Okay, maybe it won’t be that profound but if I can teach them some skills, maybe they can have some fun, enjoy the game and make a few wry observations of their own.
Besides, learning can be fun.

Time to Think:
What I really like about baseball is that strange balance between inactivity and action.  Baseball gives the players time to think about what is going to happen. It gives them time to ask themselves, what am I going to do if they hit the ball to me?
Time in the Spot Light:
Another great thing in baseball, is that virtually everyone gets a turn in the spotlight.  Whether it happens when the players come to bat, or in the field, like it or not, everyone will get a chance to be the focus of attention.  Unlike football where only some players can handle the ball, the baseball can be hit to anyone on the diamond – and when that ball is hit to you, the spot light is on.  It’s your chance to perform.  And that’s maybe one of the best life lessons of baseball.  In my experience opportunity does come to everyone eventually, but not all the time, and not always when we expect it.  The question is are we prepared?  Are we paying attention?  Have we already thought about what we’re going to do when the opportunity reaches us?  Did we imagine the play through before hand?  Or are we sitting around kicking the dirt?

Opportunity Knocks:
Because that bouncing, unpredictable ball when it comes our way usually also brings with it attention (wanted or unwanted) and people will judge us on how well we respond to it. And how we respond to a baseball can be very symbolic of how we react to other opportunities in our lives:

  • Do we charge it?  Go out to meet it, scooping it up and turning it into something positive (a put out, or maybe even a double play?) 
  • Do we wait for it, hoping it comes right to where we are standing without deviating or causing us too much grief?
  • Or are we afraid of it, backing away or trying to protect ourselves from getting hurt because we don’t trust our glove or our skill?

Some balls are hit too hard to field.  Sometimes players make mistakes and they misplay a ball, or they try to get a ball meant for someone else.  None of those mistakes matter.  None of them are terribly important.  What really matters is that they try to make the most of the opportunities that come their way.  And I for one think that is a great life lesson. 
It’s what you make of it:
Because while things might go wrong, they can also go very very right.  And a player can not turn a ground ball into an out unless they make a play.  And when they do, when they put it all together, when they charge that ball, step up and throw a line drive to first to get the out, it is one of the most rewarding experiences in a young person (or any persons) life.  People cheer, your team mates give you the high five and then the most amazing thing happens, everyone expects you to do it again.  Your esteem in the world rises.
And that’s just one of the many reasons I love baseball so much.  Over the course of the season I’ll post some notes and links, and maybe even a few tools for how I run baseball teams.  There’s a zillion websites out there talking  baseball but what’s great about the internet is that there’s always room for one more.
Scott