I'm a long time lurker on seddit and i've never really posted anything on here but today something just came to me when i started evaluating my progress in pick up.

I started to relate pickup to basketball in some odd way. Where each shot is like an approach. If you're a beginner, you won't make very many shots but you may get lucky a few times. The key is practice. The more you go out there and approach the better your skills will be. Just like basketball. Sure you can sit and read about how to maneuver your hands a certain way to shoot the ball, but until you go out there and practice it isn't going to make a difference. So go out there, practice, take shots and don't be so dependent on the outcome, just do it for practice and know without a doubt that you are getting better with each shot you take. Because each shot missed or made your skills improve and you become better. As Wayne Gretzky says "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take".