My Journey as a Hitter

Sometimes some of the best teachers in our lives are the trials, tribulations, and experiences we have to overcome. "Experience is the best teacher", "Fall seven times, get up eight", "Tough times don't last, tough people do" are all phrases I am sure many of us have heard. Sometimes people want to know that the person they're learning from has "been through it" themselves. I can vouch for that personally as a hitter.

As a high school player, every at bat my goal was to put the ball in play before I was in a position where I could strike out. I hated striking out, but not in the traditional way most people did. I hated it because of how it made me feel as a hitter. It wasn't just that I made an out. The pitcher embarrassed me by making me swing and miss. This led to my "approach" as a young hitter being very aggressive and contact-heavy. I was an above average high school athlete, so I got away with "just putting it in play" a lot at that point in my career. My senior year I remember that I only struck out in 2 games all season (both of those pitchers ended up being elite, so I guess that lessened the sting a little).

I got to Parkland College my freshman year and it was a whirlwind as a hitter. As many high level players can attest, we all believe we are the best players on the field. The problem was that I thought I was, but I was surrounded with guys who could play. I got a handful of at bats as a freshman, and competed like I did in high school. But I came to a crossing point in my life. Do I go back and fight for another year, knowing that I needed to transfer the following year anyways? Or do I just go ahead and jump start that process of transferring? I chose the second option.

When I arrived at Huntington University, I once again wasn't aware of the situation that I was entering. I joined a team that had several Division 1 transfer hitters (at a time when that was much less common), and they were good. So once again, I found myself trying to figure out what I needed to do to earn a chance to get on the field. That chance came the following year when I took my "contact first, swing early" approach as a junior in college. I had a really successful hitting season, so most people would have probably not changed their swings/approach.

But the fall of my senior season, our hitting coach pulled me off to the side during batting practice and said, "What are you doing in there? What are you trying to accomplish?" My response was simple, "Coach I am just trying to hit the ball." My mindset was defensive even during batting practice. He goes, "Have you ever tried to hit a home run before?" He was implying for me to have the intent to hit home runs during practice. I had never even imagined doing that before.

I had a million negative thoughts at first. "What if I try and just look awful during batting practice and lose my spot." "What if I swing and miss during batting practice?!" He could see my doubt in my eyes and goes, "Just try it." I can't remember the exact number of home runs I hit that day in batting practice, but it was more than zero. A weight lifted off my shoulders. It allowed me to play free, easy, and relaxed again like I did when I was a little kid. My senior season I didn't get as many hits, have as high of a batting average, or strike out as like I did the season before. But I impacted the game more that season as a hitter. I hit for more power, I got walked more often (I wasn't scared to take close pitches), and hit in the middle of the order for the team. And to cap it off, I hit a home run in my last career game as a player!

I share all of this with you all because not everyone's journey is linear. It has peaks and valleys, just like mine. I had to go through it to come out on the other side of it. Sometimes it is easy to give advice to people about stuff when it is just an idea or concept you have dreamed up. When you had to make those exact changes in your career, it helps you to know how the person not just the athlete is feeling in those moments. I hope you enjoyed this short bit about my journey as a hitter. Let me know if this stirred anything inside any of your brains about hitting.