It’s not Conditioning It’s Training, as long as…

It’s not conditioning it’s training, and not even training, if we are not teaching. Conditioning is Pavlovian. That is, every time I do this, they do that. That’s not training. It’s brain-washing, manipulating, mechanizing, automacizing. Is that what we are … Continue reading

The Most Powerful Advice I Ever Received: “Just because it failed doesn’t mean you’re a failure”

Just because it failed, doesn’t mean you’re a failure. I heard this for the first time when I was in my early 20’s. Having completed an arduous laboratory experiment which required many repetitions over weeks of work, I could draw … Continue reading

Give the Gift Kids Will ‘Die’ For (adult supervision discouraged)

The force is strong in these two! The force of fun, that is. You want to know their secret? NO adults told them to do it. I took this very same die (in gender-neutral lime green) into the fourth grade … Continue reading

Bringing Out Their Best: motivation as art and story

Once upon a time there was a little girl. She could really catch and really throw, but the thing she could do best was hit. Every time up, she swung that bat and sent the ball way into the outfield. … Continue reading

Deep Practice: The Secret Weapon the Caterpillar Teaches

Everyone who has ever played the game well remembers the day it felt effortless. Smooth on the club, crisp in the hands, the timing is perfect, the loft just right, the backspin just so: swoosh, woosh, bam, pop. Even the sound … Continue reading