Danny ChaiI don’t get what gmail counts as a conversation and what it doesn’t. Seems semi random to me.
So I played softball two Sundays ago for the first time in a year. It’s a sign of my unconditioned state that any time I play sports, which is pretty rare, the day after, random body parts are sore. This time, my sides are sore. Huh? What an utterly random body part to get sore. How odd. After basketball my butt is frequently sore. It’s odd.
My problem with pretty much all sports is that I was never taught proper form, and form is critical in sports. I’m hacking away with all my might and barely hitting the ball 10 feet past 2nd base. Meanwhile Chris, who’s got a similar build to me, maybe skinnier, is effortlessly hitting balls deep into the outfield. It’s all about form.
So like, I never in my life learned to keep my feet still, to shift my weight from back foot to front foot, to keep my arms up before I swing. I was so bad that Dong ran in urgently from the outfield to give me tips. I can make contact, but my form is so bad my swing is fighting itself and I have no power.
Same is true in basketball. Never taught form so my shot is all over the place. Also swimming. I took intermediate swimming at Stanford and some of them are effortless gliding with just a few long strokes. I’m flailing like a madman and going half as fast. Actually another reason I was slower was because I was stubborn and the only guy in the class not wearing Speedos, but a trunk style swimsuit. That’s just a bridge I am not yet ready to cross.
Also volleyball. To let you in on an embarrassing secret, I have never in my entire life successfully served a volleyball. Ever. I last stopped trying in elementary school. Sometimes people play and I bow out for the reason of protecting my pianist hands but that’s B.S., the true reason is deep seated shame.
So yeah, that’s why I suck at sports, I know no form. And form is critical. With proper form, it’s feels almost effortless. With bad form, doesn’t matter how hard you try, you will not do well.
Is there a life principle in there? Probably not. Just a realization why I’m not very good at sports.