Yogi Berra was right...you can't think and hit at the same time. Which is not to say that thinking has no part in the art of hitting, whether it be hitting a baseball - Yogi's specialty - or hitting a softball, which is our particular area of concern.

But even though this Yogiism is considered an axiom among big league baseball players, surprisingly little attention is paid by amateurs to the psychological aspects of the game. Former Atlanta Brave Dale Murphy, in describing the contents of an excellent book entitled The Mental Game of Baseball, said, "The subject of this book is something that's always talked about among players - more so than physical mechanics." Yet when it comes to softball, the mental side of the sport is all but ignored. We spen hundreds - if not thousands - of dollars each year hoping the latest advancement in aluminum alloys or bat construction (witness the DeMarini double-wall, the TPS triple-wall, the Power Forged Rawlings...) will somehow turn us into more powerful hitters. We spend countless hours discussing which weight training techniques will enhance our bat speed, what subtle changes in swing mechanics will give us more lift on the ball, which pitches can be hit out of the park, which ones cannot. And these are all necessary considerations, yet we forget the most important tool there is in hitting: the human mind. Concentration, confidence, focus, and relaxation...these are mental applications to what has previously been considered a purely physical endeavor - clobbering a softball. And while it's true that you can't beat size when it comes to hitting the ball deep - Major and Super Major players tend to be BIG people - it is equally true that it's the mental edge that distinguishes among players at every level of play.

So what we hope to accomplish on this page is to bring a new understanding to this part of our game. While we accept the importance of physical training, of the need to spend those long, grueling hours inthe gym, of using the best equipment money can buy, we likewise believe that mental preparation is important, too. Nor is it ignored by the so-called softball gods; Danny Williams, recently of the Steele's Hitmen, once described his pre-at-bat ritual: "I like to work myself into a psychotic frenzy."

Why? Because he believes it makes him a better hitter! And in softball, as in every aspect of life, your belief in yourself is ultimately what will determine what you are...and what you might become.

What you will find, then, in the coming weeks and months, is a series of short articles, or "tips", gleaned from years of experience and study - twenty years in the game of softball, a lifetime devoted to fine-tuning the inner game. The wisdom, if we can call it that, is as old as the oldest Eastern thought, though by no means do we consider oourselves experts in such fields. What we are striving for is to make the mind-body connection - the absolute key to functioning in the optimum performance zone - as easy and as accessible as possible. Practice these techniques and refine them as you would a new hitting stroke, and you will find your peak hitting experiences the rule rather than the exception.