Practise

Posted by Rich Crowley in Personal Improvement, Training

Baseball great Pete Rose was once asked what part of his game preparation set him apart from other players. His response was that he practiced much different than other players. He observed that good hitters tended to practice hitting more than other elements of their game. Good outfielders liked to have fly balls hit to them for long periods so they could hone their abilities taking fungos off the wall. He viewed this as flawed because these were the skills these players were already good at. Improving on those only provided marginal extra value to them as players and to their teams.

Rose’s approach to practice was to focus on his weaknesses and not strengths. Since Rose was a good hitter, he spent a much higher proportion of this time on fielding. He was always an asset at the plate but being stronger in the field, even if being stronger didn’t necessarily elevate him to be among the best in that area, was a higher value add to him and his team.

And of course, he didn’t become known as Charlie Hustle for nothing. With his trademark run to first base in those at-bats where he drew a walk, he also re-enforced that wonderfully simple, life lesson that so few of us consistently take advantage of – there’s no substitute for hard work.

What are you good at? Do you gravitate to this type of work? To put a twist on one of Abraham Maslow’s insights, is this particular skill of yours the hammer in your toolbox that makes every problem you see into a nail? If you want to invest in some personal growth, ask yourself what areas you are neglecting and go spend some time practising those.