Marc Dagenais

Most sports conditioning experts now agree that a good warm-up should mostly be dynamic in nature - NOT sitting around in a circle and stretching passively! That means that it should be comprised of movements that allow us to reach all three goals.

If you're a pitcher, get some feedback from your coaches or even our teammates about what they notice about you when you throw a mistake pitch or when you get frustrated or upset during a game.

Some people think the competitive edge in softball only applies to players on the field. However, what many do not realize is softball coaches need a competitive edge too. After all, they are the leaders of their team and their competitive nature can drive their players to compete at an even higher level.

Can you accept making more outs than you have in the past while you face better pitching? It's easy to say yes while you're sitting at home watching TV or listening to music, but something else entirely when you're walking back to the bench after your second K of the game.

Coaches and parents are in most cases very well-intented. They want to help their kid or their players get better by providing feedback or "shake them up" a little. They usually do that in the team post-game talk or in the car on the way back home.

Some people are simply more athletic than others, just like some people are taller than others. That doesn't necessarily guarantee success, but it's certainly a nice head start. Coupled with everything else it's a huge advantage for the MLB player over the local 12 year old softball player.

Coaches usually have extremely good bat control in a controlled environment (they aren't facing moving pitches thrown at them) because they spend all their time doing hitting balls to different players all over the field -basically doing fungo. Athletes should definitely spend more time doing "fungo-type" drills to increase bat control.

Winners are separated from others by the way they control their effort and their attitude. Whether you are a parent, a coach or a player there are a million things that you have absolutely no control over no matter how much you try. Close your eyes for a few minutes and think through several recent really bad situations.

Sports psychologist Jeff Janssen likes to talk about the four stages of team building — forming, storming, norming and performing. I thought we were ready to move into performing but I'd say now we're still in the norming stage. Given how short a summer season is I hope we get through it and into performing soon. Because the game is a lot more fun when you're performing.

Practicing longer without being tired or losing your focus is one of the characteristics on how to be a go-to player. The point is excellence doesn't make excuses, and it doesn't wait until you're not so busy. If you want to be a go-to player, you have to make the time to practice. Not next Spring, but now.