The Rule of the Pitch Back

Just recently I experienced two events that made me think of a piece of baseball equipment and what life has taught me so far. A Pitch Back is a standing net held together with what looks like big metal picture frame. The stand has angles bent into it so that if you throw a baseball at the center of the net it will firmly return to you. This is sort of a way to play catch with yourself and also practice aim when you throw. The Pitch Back is relevent in such a way that I have this beautiful Love/Hate, sort of Kind/Abrasive relationship with both my husband and my oldest son. (How conveniently, they have the same name.) Learning how to throw (pitch) something to them and how to react is really somewhat of a skill that I actually figured out from...the Pitch Back.

The basic rule of the Pitch Back is that you are going to pretty much recieve back what you put into it. This means that the harder you throw, the harder the ball return. The way you toss the ball to the net will undoubtedly influence the return and hence your reaction.

If you have ever had a Pitch Back, you might know how to throw yourself soft fly balls. You also might know that if you throw horribly at the net, the ball will return in a direction so akward that it is nearly impossible to catch.

The lesson to myself is, "Many times, you recieve what you put into it."

What kind of "lessons" did you learn as a child simply from practicing or playing a sport?