The wind. The kick. The pitch.

If you turn on any baseball game, you will hear the announcer say those famous six words.

The best part, though, is when those words are followed by a loud crack. Something that only happens about 20% of the time. If you are good enough to do it 30% of the time, you make history. That right there is the beauty of hitting. 

As a part of the baseball team at Huntley, we practice hitting daily by doing something called live at bats. We get the opportunity to compete against our teammates while also getting better at doing the thing that is widely considered one of the hardest things to do in sports. 

The difficulty in hitting comes from within. Every player has the muscle memory to swing, but the thoughts within are what can create a productive plate appearance.

From personal experience, it is best to just breathe. Easier said than done, but if you just breathe and keep it simple, you are better off.

This past week was our first week back going live off of each other. As much as it is fun to compete, the first few are definitely tough for the hitters.

I remember in my first at bat, I took a first pitch fastball down the middle. This is the worst feeling to have. The best possible pitch. I just watched it go by. The only saving grace was that there were still two more pitches coming. Letting the mental side affect me would have made this at bat a disaster, and I would have had no chance. Fortunately, I was able to stay relaxed and jump on the next pitch. This made it a quality at bat, and everything worked out.

The goal, in the end, is to get 1% better each day. We have just under two weeks before our first game. This preparation is key to meeting the goals we have set for ourselves this season.