Recently I was at a scout game at ASU that my son Jordan was playing in. Sitting next to me was Mark Verstegen, elite sports trainer to many local amateur athletes in the valley as well as numerous professional athletes such as Nomar Garciaparra, Roberto Alomar, Lou Merloni, Jason Veritek, and Mary Pierce, just to name a few. Mark had come to see Jordan and a few other players on this scout team that he works out.

Although playing in this scout league has many benefits, one of the drawbacks is the fact that they don't have umpires. The catcher calls balls and strikes. In this particular game, in Jordan's first at bat, the catcher called an unbelievably high and away pitch a strike, strike 3 for that matter. Jordan, being the type A personality that he is, was not happy, although to his credit, he did control his emotions. His next at bat the same thing happened. Knowing that he couldn't get thrown out of the game, Jordan drew a line in the dirt informing the catcher where the proper strike zone is. His next at bat he turned around and hit right handed. This time he had a terrible at bat. His balance was off, his effort level was sky rocketing, he was swinging at 110% of his max and you guessed it, he struck out. Rita sarcastically asked Mark, since he works with so many baseball players, if he could suggest any professional hitting instruction for her son.

After that at bat, Jordan went to the dugout and motioned for me to go down and see him. I asked him, "Jordan, what is your confidence in? You take great bp, you hit rockets left and right (literally and figuratively), you look great in the cage and on the field during practice. What are you doing in these games? You are a totally different hitter. Why do you practice so hard if you aren't going to take your practice into the games? Be yourself, relax and let all your hard work pay off by believing in yourself and not trying to do too much. You have to have the confidence to know that what you practice day in and day out will be carried over into the game." His next two at bats were quality at bats hitting hard line drives up the middle, one from the right side, one from the left. He made the adjustment.

When I returned to my seat, Mark then asked me what I thought were common denominators shared by great hitters. I told him that once a player has sound mechanics as a given, ( being able to repeat their swing) along with excellent hand eye coordination, there are certain critical aspects which set great hitters apart from the rest:

• Work ethic
• Ability to make adjustments
• Not being afraid to fail
• Becoming a student of the game

© 2001 MasterPlan Sports, Inc. All Rights Reserved.