How to score! At almost everything

Men's Fitness, Sept, 2004 by Lindsey Allen, Lauren Barack, Matt Coppa, Alec Ferrell, Brian Good, Sean Hyson, Rob Johnson, Rob Medich, Greg Melville, David Scott

Julius "Dr. J" Erving perfected the slam-dunk, a move that helped make him one of basketball's all-time greats. Danny Moder, a movie cameraman, is worth zillions because he met and married Julia Roberts. And designer Kenneth Cole, who once sold his shoes out of a film-production trailer, now rules a fashion empire estimated at $400 million. As different as those people and their tales are from each other, they all have one thing in common: They knew how to score. Big. In sex, sports, career, freebies--you name it--everyone wants to win large. The question is, how do you do it? We've got the answers--25 of them, in fact.

SPORTS

Snag swag from the pros

Want a personal memento from your favorite player? Simply find out where he's staying for the night. The Baseball Blue Book lists likely team lodgings, so you can hang out in the hotel bar or lobby for a close encounter and beg for a freebie. (Do it during the regular season--don't stalk the poor guy during his vacation.)

Catch a Major League baseball

It's not whether your team wins or loses --it's can you dive across the bleachers before that 8-year-old punk catches the pop fly missed by a guy named Jeter? But you don't have to dive--just grab a corner seat in the lower sections of either the left- or right-field lines, where most foul balls go, advises Joshua Pahigian, co-author of The Ultimate Baseball Road-Trip. That or show up early for batting practice. You may find a ball in the stands or coax a player to toss one your way.

Hit a bull's-eye

If anybody knows darts, it's the straight shooters at Cyberdarts.com. They recommend that you don't lean over the line--closer is not better. You need the stability of an even stance for accuracy. And no need to chuck it. The dart will fly straight without lunging or throwing with your shoulder. Hold the dart level, aim at the board, and release your fingers and thumb in unison. Follow through. And concentrate--you don't need a wrongful-injury lawsuit on your hands because you stabbed someone by accident.

Bowl a strike

Your mind--not your ball--belongs in the gutter. To bowl a strike, Chris Barnes, 1998 Professional Bowlers Association Rookie of the Year, says aim for the head pin and the 3 (the 2 pin for lefties). Take the traditional four-step approach, extending the ball out on the first, down on the second, and shoulder-height on the third. On step four, slide forward with the left foot, bend your knees, and release the ball gently, targeting the arrow to the immediate right (left for lefties) of the center arrow. Wait for lane thunder.

Serve an ace in tennis

Looking to launch a Roddick rocket? Aim for the corner in the service box you want to hit. Then face your serving palm downward as your racquet arches over the ball, says Tyler Gibson, the University of Hartford men's tennis head coach.

CAREER

Get a raise--fast

Don't ask--insist, says Stamford, Conn., career coach Julie Jansen. When just an "Attaboy, Murphy" isn't enough anymore (your name isn't even Murphy), tell your boss what salary the competition offers for your position and give a decisive presentation. You're telling them you deserve more respect, represented by money.

Earn a promotion--faster

Do a corporate takeover on a personal level, says Jansen. Start doing the job you want without being asked. If a higher-up in your section has been promoted, let the boss see you answering the phone at that desk and filling the void.

Command the most power

Expand your authority by becoming one. Be the person whose opinion everyone else in the office wants, says California workplace strategist David Thiermann. Become Mr. Know-It-All about tasks outside your orbit. And volunteer for every committee in sight, especially those handling politically sensitive issues such as ethics and diversity.

Make a name for yourself in your field

Be a self-promoter by persuading professional groups to invite you to speak, advises career counselor Michael W. Reed. Also, suggest throwing a party for the media in order to raise the company profile, then get yourself appointed host. Some lazy journalists (not us) will surely show up for the free food and booze, then realize they'll need a story to justify their schmoozing. That's your chance to pimp your special skills and make the story about you.

Bust your workplace archenemy

Get cozy with your cutthroat colleague, suggests consultant Thiermann. Ask the boss to team you with a rival on a big project, then give a party to celebrate its success and make a little speech to fellow workers where you toast him. You're the one who will be remembered.

SEX

Duck boyfriend duties

Want to dodge shoe-shopping trips, Meg Ryan movies, and "quality time"? Be "nice" and grant her a girls' night out. Suggest that she might find hitting the mall or a chick flick more fulfilling with her girlfriends than with you, say online manners gurus the Etiquette Grrls (etiquettegrrlstyle.com).

Pick up a "get out of jail free" card

Think like a woman: Silently keep track of all your girl's bad behavior. Then, the next time you come home from a night out, "go in with guns blazing before she even has a chance to say a word" and throw those mistakes back in her face, says MF sexpert Sarah Hedley. Add the icing by telling her, "I'm much too upset with you to talk right now," and storm off.