What is an amateur athlete to do when they can’t train as much as they like in their chosen sport or activity due to a variety of reasons? One option is to find another activity to help develop the skills used in one’s chose activity. I found myself in this situation earlier this year when my wife became ill. While I could not take the blocks of time required to go to the range, I could get creative and work on my eye / hand coordination at home with the help of my Wife and trusty dog Tessa.
I have always been a dog lover having a variety of dogs over the years from poodles, to a cocker spaniel, to two very lovable golden retrievers. However, my life changed dramatically four years ago when my wife brought home “Tessa”:
My wife had grown up with German Shepherds. I had little experience with the breed. Little did I know that not only were we getting a supreme guard dog (the amazon guy approaches our front stoop shaking with fear…), but also a coordinator of all of household activities and timelines… I thought I was the master of my house – no more. Tessa has taken complete control.
One activity that she invites Ann and I to participate in is a nightly (precisely after dinner each evening) game of “dog-in-the-middle”. The set-up and rules are quite simple. Ann sits at one end of the kitchen (in the laundry room) while I take up position in the family room at the other end of the kitchen. We then throw balls back and forth during which time Tessa attempts to intercept them.
When we first started playing the game, I often found it difficult to get the ball past Tessa, and thru the narrow three foot entrance into the laundry room where Ann was stationed. To improve on my accuracy, I started throwing bounce passes where I would pick a specific small spot on the vinyl floor (made easier by the pattern in the vinyl) and attempt to throw to that spot. Low and behold, my accuracy improved dramatically! Sounds a little familiar huh? Pick a small spot on the sporting clay and focus on that? So, not only was I able to fulfill Tessa’s requirement for some physical activity and bonding time, but I was able to practice my eye-hand coordination as well! This later expanded into also trying to throw the ball at other balls that were in the field of play – even moving ones by picking small spots on the other “targets” and launching the ball! Great fun! Kind of like shooting marbles during recess in elementary school!
Another off-line activity I like to do to work on eye-hand coordination also involves Tessa. When I am walking her and a car passes us, I use it as an opportunity to practice “hard focus” by looking first at the license plate of the car, and then a character on the plate, and then at a corner of the character – really trying to dial in the focus like a mag-lite flashlight!
How about you? What kind of off-line activities can you try to improve performance in your chosen sport?