SPORTS October 4, 2004 Issue

Accentuate the positive

By Mark Swinney

During the last few years , in addition to my regular job, I've enjoyed being a volunteer baseball coach. Working year-round with junior high schoolers has taught me a lesson—an important one—that applies to all sports, and extends into many other areas of life. Whether it's been baseball, football, skiing, or cricket, I've noticed that players improve most quickly when they keep track not of what they are doing wrong, but of what they are doing right.

I know that's not always so easy to do. In most sports there's a lot of emphasis today on mistakes and failures. You may have noticed how, during the Summer Olympics, in many of the judged sports—such as gymnastics, equestrian events, or diving—the main concern was with deductions for faults. And if you go to a baseball game, you'II notice that the slot on the scoreboard for "errors" is just as large as the slots for good things like "hits" and "runs."

For both players and coaches, it takes a strong commitment and a disciplined effort to turn from that old habit of looking for what goes wrong, to what goes right. But after a few weeks, the benefits are so obvious that no one wants to turn back.

About the author

Mark Swinney is a Christian Science practitioner and teacher. He spends several hours a week coaching young baseball players in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he lives.

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