Opening Day is fast approaching and I've already done about 250 lessons this season. There is a very common attitude that I've seen thousands of times over the years and so far, this season is no different: I'm talking about the fear of failure at the plate, and what a debilitating effect it has on so many potentially great young hitters.

All my hitters have been working hard on their mechanics, getting their timing down, and have been absolutely crushing the ball during soft toss and other "warm-up" drills by taking incredibly aggressive swings.

But then, as soon as I go back to pitch from full distance, many player's swings change instantly.

Actually, it's not so much that the swings change, as it is their attitude that changes. Almost immediately, a fearless, "I'm going to crush the ball swing" turns into a, "Man, I hope I don't miss the ball" swing.

Most kids feel that swinging and missing equals failure and that striking out is the end of the world. (I certainly didn't like the feeling after striking out either!). But what we need to teach young hitters is that the game is designed to encourage and reward aggressiveness; it's designed to allow you to swing and miss! That's why we get 3 strikes and unlimited foul balls to try to hit the ball hard.

One of the biggest things you can do to help your son hit missiles at the plate this season is to encourage risk taking, celebrate aggressive swings and misses, and remind them that striking out is part of the game.

In fact, if your son is hitting every ball in batting practice, he's not swinging hard enough!

Here's a fictional story I often tell my students that really resonates with young hitters - it's called the "Tale of 2 Hitters."

Hitter #1 is cautious at the plate, and in his 50 at-bats this season he will NEVER strike out - he puts every single ball in play! The only problem is that, in order to never strike out, he has to swing really slowly to guarantee that he makes contact. He hits every ball, but it never travels past the pitcher.

Hitter #2 is super aggressive at the plate, and in his 50 at-bats he strikes out 25 times! But the other 25 times he hits doubles and triples to the outfield wall. The same aggressive attitude that causes him to strike out also allows him to crush the ball.

99 times out of 100 when I tell this story to a student and ask, "Who is the better hitter? Which hitter had more FUN that season" the answer is Hitter #2!

So as we gear up for Opening Day and the swings and misses will be amplified in your son's mind because it's a game and there's more "pressure," let's work really hard to encourage them to stay aggressive and to take risks at the plate all season long.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes of all time that I discovered when I was 16 years old and has had a huge impact on my life. (I wrote the quote down on an index card all those years ago and I still carry it around with me every single day.) It's great advice for life and while it was not spoken about baseball, it certainly applies:

"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure...than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat." - Teddy Roosevelt