As many of you know, I have two boys–ages 7 and 5. The older one, Kyle, plays Little League, Minor A division which is one step up from T-Ball. Kyle has a fantastic coach who is as supportive and encouraging to the worst player on the team as he is to the best.
Last night, our team played another and I noticed how the pitchers on the other team were not anywhere close in ability to the pitchers on the 10 or so other teams we’ve played. The kids often couldn’t get the ball to reach the plate, or they were way high or inside or outside. Since the kids had “tryouts” at the beginning of the season and were divided into teams of roughly equal ability, I found this quite puzzling.
After several innings, the coaches pitch to the kids on their team. So when the other team’s coach stepped up to the pitchers mound, he walked past it and about 6 feet closer to home plate. Then the coach’s pitches were as off-target as the kids’. The balls often bounced before they hit home plate or they were so low that the kids that could hit the ball looked like they were swinging a golf club instead of a baseball bat.
That’s when my bewilderment cleared. The kids on the other team were pitching exactly like their coach. Of course! Why wouldn’t they??
So what can we learn from a team of 7 and 8 year olds? If you’re trying to learn from someone who equals your ability in an area, you are wasting your time. To improve, you need to seek out those who have greater talent and success than you and learn from them.
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