There's a story--maybe true--about Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle, going back to when they first played on the All Star team together. Both were supremely gifted "naturals". As a batter, Mantle had the advantage of being a great hitter from either side of the plate. Williams' advantage was that he was not only a gifted natural, but a serious student of the art of hitting. (I lived in DC when he managed the old Senators, and he turned a couple weak-hitting infielders into much better hitters.) It's also interesting to note--contrasting the two--that Williams' lifetime batting average was close to 50 points better than Mantle's, and that's with having lost the equivalent of about 4 seasons--in his prime--to military service.
Anyhow, the story goes that Williams asked Mantle a lot of questions about his batting technique--which Mantle hadn't really thought about in the same way Williams thought about those things. The result was, post-All Star game, Mantle went into a slump. Yogi Berra helped Mantle end it after a few games by telling him: "Mick, stop thinking. Just hit!" Likewise, it's possible to overthink shooting too--at least while you're doing it.
Some great shooters are more like Mantle, others more like Williams. But all are pretty much like one or the other. The rest of us, less gifted naturally, need all the advantages we can get.
Last edited by L. Brown; 06/30/12 04:57 PM.
