Smile and Swing

November 4, 2021

My friend Ed, who had his eye on a career in baseball before being sidelined by injuries, has coached his sons' Little League baseball teams on and off for years. His kids got lucky with both father and coach: Ed is firmly of the opinion that it's a baseball game, not baseball work, and that what kids should do is play.

"When you smile, you hit better" is true not only of Little League baseball but anytime, for anyone setting any goal: If you set out to make it fun, you win, regardless of whether you hit a home run or strike out. Think of it this way:
 

Options 1, 2, or 3 are wins: Only Option 4 is a loss.

Teaching kids to have this perspective early means they get to start winning right away. We can't control how fast the ball is coming at us, but we can 100% control our attitude toward it, which means we can increase our chances of winning to 100% by guaranteeing we land on Options 1 or 2. And if Ed's right—that we actually hit better when we're smiling—then our chances of landing on Option 1 are even higher, which propels us to sign on for the next challenge.

We're all our kids' coaches—even if not in a formal sense like Ed—and kids learn by watching as well as doing. So the next time you find yourself in front of a plate, smile before you swing. Everyone will win.

—Deb