As hard as you can

My oldest son plays baseball, and he occasionally works with a batting coach. The coach focuses on teaching the segmented fundamentals of a good swing. Once that’s ingrained, a full swing can be practiced.

Here’s one notable part of the coach’s teaching: during practice (following warm-up) he advocates for a 100 percent swing, every time. As hard as you can swing the bat while maintaining proper technique.

Not 90 percent. Not 95 percent. Always 100 percent.

What I’ve observed is that my son needs occasional reminders. Even knowing the objective and thinking about 100 percent, he will drift to somewhere below that mark.

And every so often, amidst the “Good,” and “That’s it!” I’ll hear the coach ask, “Was that as hard as you can go? Can you swing harder?”

Most often, the answer is yes.

Here’s the lesson: even with the best intentions, we occasionally need to ask the question, “Was that my best?” or “Am I giving 100 percent?”

Our auto-pilot runs somewhere less than 100 percent. To be our very best, we need to be conscious and intentional, and to periodically check: Is that as hard as I can go? Can I swing harder?

Many times, the answer is yes.