Why Small Hands Won't Hold You Back ...

Dear Friend,

Back in 1996, the Cincinnati Bengals football team had a huge reunion celebration. All the old players came back and got together which was very meaningful for the city as there was a very real possibility that the Bengals could be heading out of town if a certain tax bill didn't pass. (It eventually did.)

Bob Johnson, the very first Bengals draft choice, was one of the speakers at this reunion. He chose to speak about what it was like playing for legendary coach Paul Brown.

On September 6, 1968, the Bengals played their very first game. It took place in Nippert Stadium at the University of Cincinnati and was against the San Diego Chargers. It was a miserable game and the Bengals ended up losing 13-29.

Bob said that he will never forget what happened in the locker room after that game.

Understand, Paul Brown, who pretty much helped invent the game of football, had an understanding of the game like no one else. He understood the fundamentals of every single aspect of the game and knew exactly how it all fit together . He demanded perfection from his players, and got it.

In that locker room, all of the players expected Coach Brown to be madder than a hornet at the team's performance and when he walked in the locker room you could hear a pin drop. Instead of ripping everyone to shreds, like the players all thought he would, ... PB said this:

"Men, that wasn't bad. We'll build from there."

To hear Bob tell that story was a magical thing. That story has stuck with me too ever since I heard it.

Lately, we have been getting a lot of emails from folks who are saying things like " My hands are so small, I don't see how I'll ever have a strong grip" or "I just don't have the genetics to be strong."

Honestly, it doesn't matter how big you are, how big your hands are, how big your wrist are, ...remember that no matter where you are right now, you can ALWAYS improve and that is true when it comes to grip strength and everything else too.

The most important thing is to begin.

Without action, nothing changes. You have to start somewhere and there are just some things that you can't change. Don't ever worry about the things you can't do anything about ... after all, you can't change em'!

Instead, focus on the things that you do have control over, and hit those with everything you've got!

On the football field, no amount of preparation can account for a football that takes a bad bounce.

Paul Brown understood this, which is why he always had his players practice the fundamentals of the game until they had mastered them. You can't always count on "luck" but if your team can do a few simple things better than the other team play after play and game after game,, you'll always come out on top.

This is a big reason why Paul Brown's bust is sitting in the Pro-Football Hall of Fame in Canton.

When it comes to grip training forget about hand size and anything else you have no control over. Work hard, stay consistent, focus on improvement every time you train and master the fundamentals of what you are trying to accomplish.

It then becomes just a matter of time.

If you always keep these in mind, you will go farther than you ever thought you could and that's all that really matters ...

Train hard,

John Wood signature

John Wood

P.S. Dennis Rogers never let the "I can't" mindset hold him back. Heck, as a freshman in High school he was 4'11" tall and weighed 79 pounds. Today, he is one of the strongest men in the world. You can check out his awesome new nail driving DVD here