52 Things Sons Need from Their Dads by Jay Payleitner

Author:Jay Payleitner
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780736957816
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.

TAKEAWAY

The goal is for your son to begin life trusting you and grow into a relationship in which he trusts God.

“We’re never so vulnerable than when we trust someone—but paradoxically, if we cannot trust, neither can we find love or joy.”

—WALTER ANDERSON (1944–)

Need #28

A SON NEEDS HIS DAD…

To Help Him Not Choke in the Clutch

My baseball career peaked the summer I turned ten. For some reason, our park district had nine- and ten-year-old boys playing with a ten-inch softball. Pitchers threw underhand windmill-style. My baseball savvy, jetlike speed, and fearless composure at the plate made me the best dang player on the Tigers. My dad coached and I often played short center. I made at least a half dozen unassisted double plays by catching short fly balls and stepping on second base when a less competent runner forgot to tag up. It was a blast.

The following year, I moved up to the next level, which meant facing hardballs pitched overhand by boys who couldn’t always find the plate. My belief in myself was shaken. From the start, the new coach was not impressed. So the summer I turned 11, I rode the bench and got a total of one hit. The next year my dad conveniently forgot to sign me up for baseball. Thinking back, I’m pretty sure he didn’t want to go through the agony of watching his son fail.

The next few summers of my fading youth, my brother and I played hours and hours of pickup games with neighborhood boys in the field next door. A row of bicycles served as a backstop. Carpet squares were bases. It reignited my love for the sport. But I never wore a baseball uniform again. And somewhere along the way, I lost a little confidence in my athletic ability.

In most of my sports endeavors after that, it seemed like when the game didn’t matter or we were just playing for fun, I held my own. I stayed loose and made the plays. But in big games or late innings, I’d tense up and start thinking way too much about mechanics and strategy. In men’s slow pitch, that big old softball would float down through the strike zone and I’d hit a pop-up to second. On the golf course, just playing for fun, I showed a little potential. But trying to keep up with experienced golfers, my game got embarrassing. Even in high-school wrestling, I would do pretty well during the season, but misfire during tournaments.

In other words, when I felt pressure to step it up a notch, I got worse. Do they still call that “choking in the clutch”?

Well, all of that came as an unwelcome and slightly painful realization. Which honestly I did not want my boys to suffer. So I began brainwashing them. (Or maybe a better term is suggesting an improved course of action.) I’m not sure it worked, but their athletic careers all surpassed mine. So maybe my strategy is worth passing on to you, father to father.

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