The Hitting Zone

We finished our classes, got ready for practice in the club room, and started our warmups. Zeke led us at a steady pace, reminding us to be careful stretching to make sure we avoid injuries before tomorrow's game. Afterwards, we followed routine: I went to Drew as the team got to start batting practice.

"Don't look so depressed." Drew put a hand on my shoulder, drawing my gaze away from my teammates and their practice. "We're going to do something new today. Your coaches told me about your games this past weekend. Congrats on doing well and winning."

"Thanks." I mumbled.

"They also told me about your lack of ability in sliding and stealing bases."

I blushed and looked away. Surprisingly when I turned my attention away from Drew, I spotted Mr. Miller headed our way in his golf cart. A long piece of cardboard was flapping up and down on top of the cart. He pulled up next to us and hopped out. "Found what you asked for, Vish." Drew and him unattached the cardboard from the cart and laid it on the grass. It was three feet wide, and over ten feet long. Mr. Miller got back on the cart. "Work hard Bambi. You can join us for fielding after an hour with Vish." He drove off with a simple wave, leaving me dumbfounded.

Who's Vish? I looked at Drew, and gathered my courage before asking, "Is he calling you Vish?"

Drew laughed. "Yea. It's a nickname that a lot of coaches call me by. It's a play on words. My last name is Vishnevsky...a little hard to pronounce so you cut it short, Vish. And it rhymes with fish so it's easy to remember. Now come here and sit on one end of this cardboard."

I plopped down on one side.

"You know I'm an athletic trainer, right?" I nodded. "Well, I really emphasize the training part. So I know multiple drills for many sports. Yesterday, Coach Wilcox called to tell me about your difficulties in sliding so I volunteered to help."

The red on my face didn't go away; in fact I felt even more warm. So embarrassing. I looked at the cardboard, not sure how this was supposed to help.

"Don't worry about the cardboard for right now. Let's start with the fundamentals." He started to instruct me. "While you're sitting on the ground, keep one leg straight out and the other leg bent, and then place it underneath the straight leg creating a figure four shape." I did what I was told. "The straight leg should be bent slightly at the knee, and the heel should be raised off the ground to prevent catching the ground with the cleats. So kind of use the bent leg under your straight leg to help you keep your foot elevated."

I felt awkward in my movements, trying to imitate what Drew was saying.

"Good. Now, you're going to want to keep your head facing forward to the base, with your chin tucked close to the chest. Your arms should be bent at the elbows, and keep your hands up in the air so they don't get scratched up in the dirt."

I no longer felt awkward. I felt dumb. I held my hands up like I was being robbed, and my chin touched my chest so I could only see my foot stretched out.

"Can you memorize these steps?" I nodded slowly. I guess I could. "Excellent. Now stand up so we can start practicing."

Uh. What. I slowly got up and looked at him. "How?"

He tapped the cardboard with his foot. "You're going to slide on this. It'll be easier on your body so we can avoid unnecessary injuries. You remember the positioning right? Well give it a try and let's see how it looks." He nudged me along. "Just sprint a couple of steps and slide on the cardboard."

I backed up a few more feet and took a deep breath. I could do this. I took a deep breath and started my run. Once on the cardboard, I started my slide, tucking my left leg under my right and made sure that my heel wouldn't touch the ground. I tucked my head down, looking at my own foot and then threw up my hands so they wouldn't get in the way. With the last movement, I suddenly fell all the way on my back and my head bounced off the cardboard. "Ow." I mumbled, forced to look up at the clouds in the sky.

Drew laughed. He walked over to me and looked down at me. "Ok. Not bad. You were right to go with your momentum, but then you ruined it in the end. When you toss your hands up, don't throw your chest up and back, otherwise you'll hit your head on the ground every time. Good thing Miller found this cardboard for you to practice on." He pulled me up to my feet. "Now this time, keep your core strong. Use those abdominal muscles to keep you up." He advised.

I dragged my feet back to where I started my run last time. I tried to tighten my abs to make sure I even had any. Then I started my run, my slide and this time I didn't fall back. I got my hands up, but made sure to put them together and stayed upright.

Drew laughed again. "Oh no. You can't do that. That's awful and awkward. Just no." He helped me back up.

And so we followed this pattern where I would try a slide, he'd laugh and then give me something new to fix, help me up and repeat.