He’s 5′ 7″ tall, was told “he would never play in the Major Leagues” now he makes $4.5 Million as a Major Leaguer! These are his quotes…

“Some baseball people said I’d never play in the Major Leagues. Some even said it to my face. I’ve been the shortest player on the field at 5 feet 7 inches, some Little Leaguers are taller than me. This meant I had to set goals for myself and continually work to improve my skills. As a result, I did become a Major Leaguer and I continue to set new goals and work hard.”

Some said I didn’t have all five tools scouts seek – hitting for average, hitting with power, speed, fielding, and arm strength. I never gave up, and I never lost heart. I knew I had to be the best at every level.

He did not have a college scholarship his first year, he now makes $4.5 million in the Major Leagues and was the 2006 World Series MVP. His name… David Eckstein. [read more] Quotes published in the book “Have Heart” by David Eckstein with Greg Brown <!–more–>

If this doesn’t inspire you I don’t think anything will. If you are thinking “okay but he is one of the few,” you are right. But why is he one of the few? He had not only the heart, determination and commitment to be the best at every level, but he also had guidance and direction to help him become a Major Leaguer.

In my opinion, anything is possible and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You just have to believe in yourself and don’t listen to anyone who tells you “can’t” because you can!. I can’t promise you will become a Major Leaguer because there are other factors which can determine your outcome and If your goal isn’t to become a Major Leaguer, that’s okay to. All I am trying to say is if you want to be the best, give it everything you have, day in and day out, then you can become the best you can be. And one last thing, working hard isn’t good enough, working hard with a purpose and having a plan for what you are trying to accomplish is key to your future success.

There are players at all levels that have proven to beat the odds or accomplish goals they or others thought were unattainable. I may not know you personally but I do know this about every hitter including you, you wants to hit the ball with more power and for higher average.

Am I right? Do you aspire to become a better hitter? If so I can help you like the many other players I have trained from amateurs, professionals, #1 draft picks and National Team members to mention a few. Many players I have trained over the years have proven others wrong. Why? I gave them the direction and tools they needed to take their game to the next level.

Next level Performance can help you become a better hitter if “you” put your mind to it. Are you ready for the challenge?

For those of you who are ready for the challenge, take a look at our test study which has proven 100% of the hitters tested, increased their bat control and solid contact, the highest being 217% in only four weeks. The lowest improvement was a 30% increase. Even if you only improve a fraction of this every four weeks, can you imagine the results you can achieve in a year![read more]

How much does a young gymnast who is training to become and Olympic athlete challenge themselves and fail? Every single day they fall, but they get up and try it again, then they fall again get up and try again and again and again! We learn from our mistakes… don’t we! Yes the more advanced stages may be harder at first but lets not be afraid to challenge our hitters at a young age.

Players might not even be ready for the next level but I don’t think there is anything wrong with challenging them or preparing them for the next level. There needs to be a balance between challenging them to where they fail and building their self confidence so they feel good about their performance.

Remember hitting is the only thing in life where if you fail 70% of the time you are considered successful (.300 average). Making it hard so they fail is perfectly okay as long as you don’t go overboard, it teaches them how to handle adversity and how to be strong and become determined to get better or excel as a hitter.

We also need to improve their confidence so I recommend you start off with the basics which should be fairly easy, challenge in the middle and then finish off were they are feeling good about themselves at the end of the day even though it won’t always turn out this way. Why? So they feel good and want to come back and do it again. I also recommend you do whatever you can on a game day to get them as confident as possible!

Players typically like to work more on the things they are good at. We want them to work on their weaknesses and challenge themselves to become better hitters, however they should continue to maintain or improve their strengths. They need to understand this is not about looking good and only hitting pitches that they are good at; it’s about getting better as a hitter and continually working towards becoming more consistent on all pitch locations on a daily basis. The bigger a hitter can expand their hitting zone, in other words, if they can drive more pitches successfully in a bigger area (zone), the better the hitter they can become.

There is a good chance the scores will vary slightly, however if you see big declines in their score it is likely they are either not doing their work or when they are working they are not focused on doing it properly. In other words, they are just swinging and have no purpose to what they are trying to accomplish. This is exactly what we want to avoid and why the PSPHS was designed, to prevent poor practice habits!

A “well hit” ball is a hard hit ball with backspin or a slight carve in the ball, sharp one or two hop through the infield or a line drive. Fly balls and weak ground balls are not well hit. This includes deep fly balls because more often than not at the higher levels, they become outs. Keep in mind “well hits” will vary from hitter to hitter and will be determined by each hitters physical strength.

If you are wondering why I don’t credit a player for a well hit ball with “top spin,” (which is perfectly okay in a game) it’s simply because we want to raise your bar and strive towards excellence. It’s kind of like a gymnast that wants to be the best. Who is more polished, the one who lands and wobbles back and forth or the one sticks the landing every time? Once again, in a game “top spin” is perfectly okay however the ball is stationary on the batting tee and if you hit 8 of 10 well hits with top spin that means your bat is starting to come up at the point of contact and we want you to finish through the ball longer which will create back spin and more cary (distance) to the well hit ball.

There is a saying in professional baseball: “Learn how to be a good hitter first (hit for high batting average) and let power take care of itself as you develop physically.” 

You may hit the odd long ball with a better bat, but you need to ask yourself, do you want to hit the odd long ball or be a more consistent hitter with a higher average? A hitter who drives in more runs, is a player you want to see at the plate in the big game with runners on base. These are hitters every coach is looking for.

By all means feel free to purchase that expensive bat when you become a better hitter.