Genius dad teaches his son baseball from a chair using a fishing rod: ‘That invention is next level’

Parents, as much as they want to match the energy with their kids, the years that have gone by make it quite impossible to live up to it. Back pain and exhaustion from work often force them to find clever methods to spend time with their children, all while squeezing in some rest. As the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures. One dad, Derek Radley (@derekradley), recently went viral for his ingenious hack that makes parenting even a tad bit easier. He coached his son to hit a baseball using a fishing rod while comfortably sitting on a chair, and people are impressed. 

The post with 228,000 views, the father of two, sat on a foldable chair and held a fishing rod with a ball attached to the line. His elder son prepared to hit the ball with his plastic baseball bat while the younger son waited patiently for the moment. As he hit the ball with all his might, it flew up in the air and fell a distance on the road they were playing in. Without having to run after the ball and pick it up, the father casually pulled it back to his chair by recoiling the line. Meanwhile, the younger son cheered in support of his brother, enjoying the fun family moment. 

The parenting hack resonated with too many people on the internet, and they admired the genius dad’s smart work. He managed to hit two birds with one stone, and fellow dads took note. In the caption, Radley expressed awe about his dad hack going viral. “How come no one thought of that before? You are a genius,” quipped @leilanisarelle while @jahfus said, “Lil’ bro hit that like a pro. Pops a legend for this.” The dad hack reached a wide audience when popular sports TV channel, ESPN (@espn), reshared the snippet on their TikTok handle. 

The reshared post received nearly a million hearts and massive support from viewers. “Genius” was the common word among all. “That invention is next-level!” exclaimed @emilyrzumrg, and @rayhinojosa5384 noted, “Nothing makes a person more motivated to create a new way of doing something than wanting to do as little as possible.”

The viral video is more than just a parenting hack, and also evokes a sense of fatherhood in new dads. According to a 2020 study published in the journal Developmental Review, academics from the University of Cambridge and LEGO Foundation highlighted the importance of playtime with fathers. Children who play with their dads from a young age foster better emotional regulation and behavior in adulthood. 

The researchers found a correlation between a child’s ability to control their emotions better and playtime with their fathers. “It does seem that children who get a reasonable amount of playtime with their father benefit as a group,” Paul Ramchandani, professor of play in education, development, and learning at the university, told Science Daily in a press release. 

You can follow @derekradley on Instagram and @espn on TikTok for more videos.