Hitting legend Ted Williams swung a bat about 1000 times per day during his formative years prior to making a major-league roster. He swung at pitched baseballs thrown by anyone able, and when no pitcher was available he swung at imaginary pitches. He hit a baseball until it fell apart at the seams, then he taped it as best he could and hit it until it disintegrated. If he had no baseball, he hit dirt and berries and rocks and nuts.
Williams swung and hit all the time. It didn’t matter to him. Sun-up to sun-down, 7 days a week, cold, hot, wet, dry, windy, dark, bright. Morning, noon and night. He hit when blood from broken callouses and fresh blisters ran in rivers of crimson down his thin arms and stained his clothes. He never stopped swinging, and he never stopped hitting.
Are you willing to devote as much time and effort and blood and sweat at being a hitter? Unless the answer is a firm and resounding “yes,” then you will never maximize your potential, as did Williams. There’s a reason many call him “The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived,” and that reason is his hours upon hours of focused, specific, obsessive practice.
Williams didn’t enjoy every second of practice – he was human and got sore and tired and sick just like anyone else. But his devotion to his end result, of being the greatest hitter, allowed him to overlook the pain of the present and to foresee the glory of the future. He had a mission, and he was not denied. Practice with the intent of being your greatest. You can’t be Williams, so be you. And be great.
From October 2010, http://raisingahitter.wordpress.com
Williams swung and hit all the time. It didn’t matter to him. Sun-up to sun-down, 7 days a week, cold, hot, wet, dry, windy, dark, bright. Morning, noon and night. He hit when blood from broken callouses and fresh blisters ran in rivers of crimson down his thin arms and stained his clothes. He never stopped swinging, and he never stopped hitting.
Are you willing to devote as much time and effort and blood and sweat at being a hitter? Unless the answer is a firm and resounding “yes,” then you will never maximize your potential, as did Williams. There’s a reason many call him “The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived,” and that reason is his hours upon hours of focused, specific, obsessive practice.
Williams didn’t enjoy every second of practice – he was human and got sore and tired and sick just like anyone else. But his devotion to his end result, of being the greatest hitter, allowed him to overlook the pain of the present and to foresee the glory of the future. He had a mission, and he was not denied. Practice with the intent of being your greatest. You can’t be Williams, so be you. And be great.
From October 2010, http://raisingahitter.wordpress.com
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