Practice makes perfect -- sometimes

My quest to toss the shot put in a seniors track meet by my 60th birthday in October took a positive turn today. I got some real coaching for once, and it made a huge difference. My session today reminded me of the saying, "Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect."

The idea is that if you practice all wrong, you aren't going to get any better. Well, my self-training was all wrong. I was practicing bad habits and I was getting proficient at those habits.

But I got some help from James McEwen. That name may sound familiar to Fresno Bee readers. James is the brother of Bee Metro columnist Bill McEwen. But better than being Bill's brother, James is the head track and field coach at Rio Vista Middle School. Yes! I finally added some expertise to my training.

We met up at the Fresno State track and James offered suggestions for training and conditioning, and then worked on my technique -- without the shot put. I even learned about "slapping the giant and elbowing the midget." It's a saying to keep your free hand in the proper position to help your entire body work together during the toss.

He offered many other tips and when we finally got to the shot put pit, I knew I was making progress. Afterwards, James emailed me a review of the practice and suggestions on things I should work on.

As I write this, I admit to be being very tired and sore. But in a good way. We finished about 6:30 p.m. and I was dragging after about 90 minutes of practicing.

This was a good life lesson. I knew I needed training help, but I didn't know how much until James started working with me. In so many things, we don't know what we don't know. And you don't have to turn 60 to understand that bit of wisdom.