--- title: "Only Swing at Pitches in Your Sweet Spot" author: "Shawn Jiang" lang: en date: 2026-10-28 canonical: https://tplog.dev/en/essay/only-swing-at-the-sweet-spot/ translations: ja: https://tplog.dev/ja/essay/only-swing-at-the-sweet-spot/ zh: https://tplog.dev/zh/essay/only-swing-at-the-sweet-spot/ --- # Only Swing at Pitches in Your Sweet Spot A well-designed app, a post about a side business, or a newly released AI tool can all prompt the same thought: I could probably build this too. That feeling is tempting. Especially now, the distance between having an idea and making something usable is shrinking, and many things we could once only look at and think about are now things we can actually try building. But once you have built it, the work has often just begun. If people use it, you have to handle feedback; if no one does, you have to figure out how to find users; if you are not satisfied with the features, you want to keep revising them. If you start a project every time something tempts you, you will soon find several more things in your life that are always waiting for your attention. There is a line I have liked a lot recently: “Use the giant snake strategy, and only swing at pitches in your sweet spot.” It made me start wondering how many of those promising-looking opportunities I should actually keep. To “only swing at pitches in your sweet spot” means that even when opportunities come right to you, you do not have to take every one of them. Some pitches are barely within reach and take great effort to hit; others fall into a familiar zone where you can read them and put real force into your swing. Choosing the latter does not mean the work will be easy. A project can still be difficult, yet its hardest part happens to be where you have already paid for the lessons and built up experience. Anyone else stepping in would have to go through that whole process again from scratch. The hardest opportunities to pass up are often the ones that are genuinely good. Others are doing well with them, and it is not as if you have no chance yourself. That makes it hard to find a respectable enough reason not to do them, as though you must first prove the idea cannot work before you can walk away with peace of mind. In fact, you can acknowledge that an opportunity has value while also acknowledging that your time belongs elsewhere. Every commitment you take on claims time that could have been left for something else. Some losses only become visible once you get busy: a product people are already using could have been polished a bit more; a skill you were just becoming proficient at could have been practiced further. But passing up the opportunities in front of you does not mean staying put and waiting idly. In *Leap* (*跃迁*), Gu Dian describes the “giant snake strategy”: a snake first finds a place where prey often passes, lies low, lets go of small opportunities that are not worth moving for, and waits for a target worth catching. If all you remember is “wait patiently,” it is easy to read this story as mere consolation; but if there is no prey where you are staying, no amount of patience will help. So before the waiting even begins, an important choice has already been made: where am I more likely to come across opportunities that fit me? We often spend our energy trying to fix our weaknesses, yet rarely pause to look at where the abilities we already have are needed more. For example, someone who understands technology and is also good at communicating with clients may never get to put that second ability to use in a role that evaluates him solely by code output; if he moves to a position that requires turning vague requirements into deliverable solutions, both abilities have a chance to work together. Such a position may not be the most popular, and it may not even have an impressive title, but there will be specific people willing to pay for the problems you can solve. When it comes to a role at work, you also have to see whether that place is willing to offer matching authority and rewards; otherwise, even if nothing can move forward without you, it may only be because no one else wants to take on that work. Once you have chosen your position, there is also work to do while waiting. Keep practicing, and put what you have already made out where people who might need it can see it. Then, when the next opportunity appears, you will be better able to judge it and better prepared to take it on. Still, neither a position that fits you nor your sweet spot will draw itself in front of you automatically. Without trying things, it is hard to know where your strengths lie. Especially when you first enter a field, if you only touch what you are already sure about, you may end up without even the experience needed to judge an opportunity. That is why I like to separate “trying something out” from “doing it long term.” Building a small prototype, talking to people who actually face the problem, or taking on a one-off task with a clear scope can all help you see where you stand. After trying, you can stop, or you can switch directions. Wait until there is a real response before considering putting in more time; you do not need to add a long-term obligation to your life just because you have already made a start. As for that well-designed app you saw today: if you like it, take a look at how its interactions are built; if you want to get your hands dirty, you can reproduce just a single button. Enjoy that small pleasure first, without rushing to decide whether to start a company.