Anyone who has followed softball guru Ray DeMarini is familiar with his mantra, "You gotta practice." Not just hitting home runs, but every aspect of hitting. Practice going to right, practice hitting up the middle, practice pulling the ball. Practice hitting line drives, practice hitting BOMBS. What is frequently left unsaid, however, is the mental preparation necessary for hitting. What frame of mind are you in when you step into the box? What kind of day did you have at work? How does your wife - or husband - feel about you being there tonight, or gone for the weekend? These are all distractions from your purpose of the moment, which is hitting. And as a good friend - and fine ballplayer - once said, "If you don't bring it with you when you come, you aren't gonna find it when you get there." Physically, mentally, or spiritually. If you aren't prepared beforehand, you aren't suddenly going to find yourself ready to participate once the game begins.

The key to playing in the zone is to play in the moment, to ignore the distractions, to focus so intently on what you are doing, that nothing else in the world exists. Baseball players often describe hitting streaks as times when the ball looks as big as a watermelon as it wafts slowly to the plate. Time slows perceptibly, the ball appears larger than normal. And the reason is simple. Their focus is so fine, so pinpoint, that the object of their attention seems literally to grow. They immerse themselves in the object - the baseball - so much that they cease to hear the clamoring crowd, to onsider defensive alignment, to be aware, even, of exactly what the pitcher is trying to do. Because it doesn't matter. All that matters is seeing the ball.

Similarly in softball, we all have these moments, standing on deck, or out in the field waiting for our next at-bat, when we know without question that when we step into the box something good will come of it. We'll get the big base hit - or, physical attributes allowing, the home run - and there is nothing the pitcher or the defense can do about it. And frankly, it doesn't necessarily require that we get the perfect pitch. Whatever junk he throws at us, we'll hit. In fact, we are going to crush the ball. Because we are absolutely focused on what we are doing.

And that focus can be practiced. When swinging in batting cages, assess the quality of what you are doing. Are you simply throwing tokens into the machine and working up a sweat? Or do you have a purpose in mind? No, you CAN'T think and hit at the same time. And thinking about hitting is not the same as focusing on hitting. Neither is concentrating on concentrating. You have to focus on the ball, or better yet, at a point on the ball. All consideration of swing mechanics, of weather conditions, of physical discomfort must be left outside the cage, or outside the batter's box.

One practice technique that is particularly effective is to waste a round when it's your turn to take some cuts. Slip the token into the slot, take your stance, and watch the pitches go by. Do not swing the bat. Practice seeing the ball from its point of release to its location in the strike zone. Judge the quality of your concentration. Did you, in fact, see the ball all the way to the backstop, or did your eyes or your mind wander? If you can't follow the ball in practice, how do you expect to do it in a game?

Likewise, in game situations, feel free to take a pitch, even if it's a strike, even if it's perfect. Use that pitch as you would a practice swing on-deck. Let your eyes see the pitch from the pitcher's release point, from his particular delivery. You've got three strikes to play with, why not use them wisely? even in a league that starts hitters with a one-and-one count, the pitcher still has to throw two strikes to get you out. And one of them is free.

Preparing yourself to hit requires much more than loosening the muscles; be fully prepared each time you set yourself to hit. As the old saying goes: See the ball, Hit the ball. It's no more complicated than that.