My Ping Pong Edge

Once upon a time I was a very good ping pong player.  I could spin, slice, top spin, put

English on the ball and slam one over on my opponent.  I was pretty good.

Notice I said “was”. 

A friend of mine was at one time one of the better saxophone players I’ve ever known.  He could hold his own with the best of the best, but he quit playing.

You see, regardless of how sharp, how proficient, how great we might presently be, we grow stale, we grow dull, and we lose our sharp edge in any activity unless we keep at it.

The concept of “number of touches” is at play here.  How many times a day do the greats touch their game of choice – and I’m not talking just about music.  This applies to sports, architecture, typing, writing, singing and on and on.  The lesson here is this … the more you increase the number of touches in your major skill, the more you increase the chances of continuing to hone your edge. 

A soccer specialists encouraged young soccer players to practice in a small room all by themselves.  They increased their number of touches on the ball by one-hundred fold.  And that is the beginning of skill improvement.

I played a game of ping pong a few months ago.  My aim was slightly off.  I kept knocking the ball a bit beyond my opponent’s edge of the table.  And my serves had lost a bit of their spin and pizazz.

If possible, touch your skill every day – EVERY DAY!  Carry your drum sticks around.  Show up at the keyboard every day.  Play a few notes on your clarinet every day.  Swing your golf club or baseball bat every day.

Keep your edge.

Increase your number of touches.

P Michael Biggs

Words of Encouragement

Words of Inspiration

Pretend to be Your Hero

Who is your hero?  Who do you like to emulate?

As a young drummer I studied Gene Krupa's and Joe Morello's (Dave Brubeck’s drummer) drum licks.  Forty years later I watched Joe Morello on YouTube and it suddenly hit me how much his drumming style had influenced my own.

Your hero can teach you a lot.  Learn from him/her.  Copy what they do.  Paint like them.  Speak like them.  Sing like them.  Sooner than soon you’ll take their style, put your own spin on it and evolve into your own style and personality.

Nobody is an original.  We all borrow from others.  We borrow until we make it our own

Pretend still works

P Michael Biggs

Words of Encouragement

Words of Inspiration

Get Better

Whether you play golf, build buildings, perform surgery, write, sing, speak or sew, you have one job. 

Only one job!

If you continue to do that, then one fine day you just may end up on top, if that’s important to you.  At least, you’ll be better than yesterday.

P Michael Biggs

Words of Encouragement

Words of Inspiration

Unstoppable People Ask for Help

You’re an up-and-coming work in progress.  You have your dream and goal firmly in mind.  You have a strong skill set and you already have many of the tools you’ll ever need to achieve your goal.

What’s left?

Ask for help!  It’s that simple. 

To whom can you turn for some added insight, some tip or trick that you can add to your tool box to help complete your quest?

My reliable source is a host of books and a few websites that I visit frequently.  And my wife Carolyn is my best ally and helper.  She totally gets what I’m trying to do in my writing and she is an excellent sounding board. 

The best element is this - I can agree or disagree with her with complete confidence that our personal relationship stands on its own.

She has been the source of countless ideas, subtle suggestions, blog ideas and editorial corrections, and most important of all – she allows me ample time to pursue my craft.

Whose help have your sought recently?

Now is a dandy time to do just that.

P Michael Biggs

Words of Encouragement

Words of Inspiration