This past weekend I got to see a Wii for the first time – and yes, I’m aware I may be the last person on the planet to play with it. I had been wanting to play with one for quite a while, and was curious about carryover to real-life activities.

My brother and I played with the bowling, tennis, golf, and then the Wii Fit. My first really tough lesson is that there is tennis, and then there is Wii tennis – which pretty well answered the question about real-life activities. I was playing Wii tennis like I’d play tennis, and I was getting SPANKED by my brother. After three humiliating games, I had to step back and revise my approach. Once I figured out that it was all about the wrist, and that was it, I quickly dominated, and beat my brother in eight straight games (much to his chagrin). Did I mention I’m also fiercely competitive – particularly when it comes to my brother?!?!?

I did learn one thing from the Wii that answered some questions I had in real life activities. In both real-life bowling and golf, I have a serious slice. Turns out that I do in Wii world as well – and it’s because I internally rotate my wrist at the end of my stroke. Once I learned to straighten that out, both Wii games got much better – and I’m willing to bet that that will translate to the real world.