Running to First.
Eli is in coach-pitch baseball this year.
It is so fun to watch him and his team as they learn the mechanics of the game. They are starting to actually make plays that get someone out instead of just playing in the dirt while the other team is at bat. At 8 and 9 years old, the kids are trying harder to play the whole game instead of just focusing on hitting the ball or who brought the post-game snack. When the kids were in t-ball and first years of coach-pitch nobody really had to worry about getting out. If you were lucky enough to hit the ball, nobody was skilled enough to actually catch it or do anything with it once they got it in their glove. Now, the game has changed. Catching, throwing, and running are just as important as hitting. Watching Eli's baseball games is getting more and more exciting!
I sat near first base yesterday at Eli's game the other day which provided the perfect opportunity to hear the first base coach. He repeated the same few phrases over and over:
"run as fast as you can"
"run run run"
"run it out, don't stop"
He often took a minute to chat with the kids once they safely made it to the bag. He praised them for running and explained some tidbits about first base. He talked about how you can over-run first base - so stopping never needs to enter their mind. He also told them to run their hardest and never to give up, even if it looks like they are going to be out.
In baseball, once you hit the ball, your only job is to run to first. Everyone is yelling at you to run. You don't have to think about anything else but running as if your life depended on it. You don't need to worry about how you will get from third base to home or if the next person at bat will hit it far enough for you to make it to second. You just have to run to first base. Once you get there, you can plot your path to second, but you have to get on the bag at first.
First base lessons are so applicable to life.
Run even when it looks like you won't make it.
Run like a rabid dog is chasing you.
Run with no plans of stopping.
Just run.
So often we are faced with challenges in life that are too overwhelming to view in its entirety. But if we focus on just running to first base, with everything we have inside of us, then we can wait there for a moment, collect ourselves and one by one eventually make it safely home.
It is so fun to watch him and his team as they learn the mechanics of the game. They are starting to actually make plays that get someone out instead of just playing in the dirt while the other team is at bat. At 8 and 9 years old, the kids are trying harder to play the whole game instead of just focusing on hitting the ball or who brought the post-game snack. When the kids were in t-ball and first years of coach-pitch nobody really had to worry about getting out. If you were lucky enough to hit the ball, nobody was skilled enough to actually catch it or do anything with it once they got it in their glove. Now, the game has changed. Catching, throwing, and running are just as important as hitting. Watching Eli's baseball games is getting more and more exciting!
I sat near first base yesterday at Eli's game the other day which provided the perfect opportunity to hear the first base coach. He repeated the same few phrases over and over:
"run as fast as you can"
"run run run"
"run it out, don't stop"
He often took a minute to chat with the kids once they safely made it to the bag. He praised them for running and explained some tidbits about first base. He talked about how you can over-run first base - so stopping never needs to enter their mind. He also told them to run their hardest and never to give up, even if it looks like they are going to be out.
In baseball, once you hit the ball, your only job is to run to first. Everyone is yelling at you to run. You don't have to think about anything else but running as if your life depended on it. You don't need to worry about how you will get from third base to home or if the next person at bat will hit it far enough for you to make it to second. You just have to run to first base. Once you get there, you can plot your path to second, but you have to get on the bag at first.
First base lessons are so applicable to life.
Run even when it looks like you won't make it.
Run like a rabid dog is chasing you.
Run with no plans of stopping.
Just run.
So often we are faced with challenges in life that are too overwhelming to view in its entirety. But if we focus on just running to first base, with everything we have inside of us, then we can wait there for a moment, collect ourselves and one by one eventually make it safely home.
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