In today’s consumer culture, we are drowned in advertising for products and services that are guaranteed to give you the life you’ve always dreamed of almost instantly. Want more money? Just buy this program and you’ll be drowning in financial success! Want a better body? Take this pill once a day and you’re on the fast track to a six pack! Want more fastball velocity? Just go to this pitching guru and he’ll share mechanical secrets to get you lighting up radar guns in less than two weeks!
While no sole person or company is the culprit of this movement, I believe a multitude of factors have created what people have coined “The Quick Fix Myth”. Quick fixes are essentially synonyms for shortcuts. It is the expectation that the least amount of work should yield the greatest results. People who seek quick fixes just don’t have the time, energy, or motivation to get things done like the rest of us. They want the gold at the end of the rainbow, but the trail to get there is just not worth their time.
In terms of training, these athletes are the ones who are always looking for that one thing that’ll transform them into the player they crave to become. Examples of these could be a mechanical breakthrough, a specific drill, or a cunning training program that is guaranteed to add 5-10 mph to their exit speed. If it’ll make them a better player, they want it – just without any real effort or hard work. Oh, and they want it now.
Swing feels a little off? Nothing a quick 30-minute lesson can’t fix. I mean, who has the time to actually hit three to four times per week? Having issues with your command? Just get to your balance point and you’ll be painting corners in no time! It can’t and be because you barely touch a baseball outside practice.
Sure – making small mechanical tweaks can be a difference maker for athletes at times, but is it the entire picture? Is showing up for a half hour lesson once a month really going to do anything to help make significant long term changes? Is your back elbow really the culprit for lack of success at the plate, or is it because you’re not hitting at all outside of games? Is searching for that perfect supplement really going to help take your workouts to the next level? Or is actually working out?
In life, there are no shortcuts to success. Quick fixes don’t exist. John Wooden didn’t win his first national championship at UCLA until his sixteenth year as head coach. Steve Jobs had to get fired from his own company before he was able to take Apple to unprecedented heights. Milton Hershey ran three different candy companies into the ground before eventually building one that stayed afloat (I don’t think I need to tell you what it’s called). What is the common denominator in all of these stories? It’s simple: These guys showed up every day, embraced the challenges before them, and worked.
As you can see from above, putting in work isn’t always going to get you the immediate results you want. Thirty minutes of cage time isn’t going to transform you from the nine batter in your lineup to the three hole – but thirty minutes three times per week over the course of twelve months might. Progress requires consistent, deliberate hard work over a long period of time. Those who are willing to invest the necessary time, attack weaknesses, and constantly find ways to improve will eventually be rewarded for their efforts. Those who want the glory without the blood, sweat, and tears will always seek the shortcuts – and hard work always beats shortcuts. Quick fixes may help you feel good now, but they will never be a substitute for hard work.
This is one of the sole reasons why Carmen created a year-round training program for baseball and softball athletes in central PA. Maintaining and refining your craft requires much more than just a ten lesson package. Through the year plan, we are able to offer kids an incredible deal where they can train and receive professional level information up to seven days per week over the course of an entire year!
If you’re serious about your development as a player, get in contact with us and we can get you scheduled for your free assessment. We understand what it takes to become the player you want to be, and we’re willing to create every opportunity for you to make it happen.
If you want to work hard, crush goals, and take your skills to levels you’ve never seen, we can help you. If you’re looking for a quick fix for the reasons why you can’t get it done, you’ve found the wrong place.
Until then, keep working, learning, and growing.