An Evening with Andre
A typical evening, Moesk and Nate are taking in a Dodger game from the couch. Vin Scully’s voice fills the room as Andre Ethier comes to the plate. He turned on a belt high fastball over the center of the plate and drives it deep into right field bull pin for a three run home run.
Suddenly, Nate breaks Vin’s spell by blurting out, “How do that?”
“Do what?”, Moesk asks without really thinking about the question.
“How he hit the ball far”, Nate explains,”hit over fence.”, now louder and slower so that Moesk would know exactly what he meant.
“Opened his hips.”, Moesk responds as he sits up and reaches for the remote.
Using the rewind feature, Moesk replays Andre’s home run frame by frame, explaining the steps involved. Andre starts with a balanced stance. As the pitch approaches, he moves his lead foot toward the pitcher. This allows Andre to rotate open his hip so that now his pelvis is facing the pitcher but his shoulders are still parallel to the plate. Now as the ball enters the zone, he extends his arms and allows his body to uncoil as he hits the ball.
Nate has been sitting quietly taking it all in. All he needs now is practice and an opportunity. He stands up in front of the TV, holding his phantom bat in a perfect stance. He imagines the pitch, lifts his left foot, opens his hips and takes a full swing. His eyes are following the trajectory of the ball. He seems satisfied that he understands all the steps. He hits another five or six home runs while Moesk lies back down on the couch to watch the Dodgers lose.
As it turns out, Nate’s opportunity came two days later in the final game of his little league season. As he walked to the plate, the crowd could see the concentration on his face. Only Moesk knew that Nate was still visualizing his home run swing. Nate took a few warm up swings and stepped into the batters box.
The first pitch was over Nate’s head and he fouled it into the visiting dug out. The next pitch was the same, but Nate laid off knowing the results. The third pitch was shoulder high. This was his chance. He stepped forward, opened his hips, extended his arms and let it fly. He hit the ball dead center, over all the outfielders.
Even though he did not hit it over the fence, Nate had achieved his goal. He followed his plan and hit the ball further than he had ever done before. There are obvious life lessens here about setting goals, following a plan, and eliminating self-doubt.
However, Moesk’s lesson learned was different. He has realized that he needs to be selective about what he watches on TV. Imagine that after watching an episode of ER, Nate will want to learn to use deliberators. That could be a shocking experience.
Suddenly, Nate breaks Vin’s spell by blurting out, “How do that?”
“Do what?”, Moesk asks without really thinking about the question.
“How he hit the ball far”, Nate explains,”hit over fence.”, now louder and slower so that Moesk would know exactly what he meant.
“Opened his hips.”, Moesk responds as he sits up and reaches for the remote.
Using the rewind feature, Moesk replays Andre’s home run frame by frame, explaining the steps involved. Andre starts with a balanced stance. As the pitch approaches, he moves his lead foot toward the pitcher. This allows Andre to rotate open his hip so that now his pelvis is facing the pitcher but his shoulders are still parallel to the plate. Now as the ball enters the zone, he extends his arms and allows his body to uncoil as he hits the ball.
Nate has been sitting quietly taking it all in. All he needs now is practice and an opportunity. He stands up in front of the TV, holding his phantom bat in a perfect stance. He imagines the pitch, lifts his left foot, opens his hips and takes a full swing. His eyes are following the trajectory of the ball. He seems satisfied that he understands all the steps. He hits another five or six home runs while Moesk lies back down on the couch to watch the Dodgers lose.
As it turns out, Nate’s opportunity came two days later in the final game of his little league season. As he walked to the plate, the crowd could see the concentration on his face. Only Moesk knew that Nate was still visualizing his home run swing. Nate took a few warm up swings and stepped into the batters box.
The first pitch was over Nate’s head and he fouled it into the visiting dug out. The next pitch was the same, but Nate laid off knowing the results. The third pitch was shoulder high. This was his chance. He stepped forward, opened his hips, extended his arms and let it fly. He hit the ball dead center, over all the outfielders.
Even though he did not hit it over the fence, Nate had achieved his goal. He followed his plan and hit the ball further than he had ever done before. There are obvious life lessens here about setting goals, following a plan, and eliminating self-doubt.
However, Moesk’s lesson learned was different. He has realized that he needs to be selective about what he watches on TV. Imagine that after watching an episode of ER, Nate will want to learn to use deliberators. That could be a shocking experience.
posted by Moeski at 12:30 PM
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