Play ball!  Opening Day is more than just a day on the calendar, or the first game on the schedule.  Opening Day marks a tidal change in your year; in your outlook on life; in the pace and rhythm of your life.  Baseball!  Throw away your clock.  Grab your home team's cap, scorecard and a pencil oh, and don't forget your mitt.  You never know when a ball will come within your reach.

Every year my father took me to Opening Day.  Skipped school. 1 o'clock.  American flag bunting covering every wall.  Sunshine.  Stadium packed.  The smell of cigars, hot dogs, peanuts and popcorn.  And, where we lived, the President of the United States threw out the first ball.  My dad always found us a seat in general admission on the third base side so we had a good view of the presidential box seat along the first base line, next to the dugout.

Ted Williams is reputed to have declared that the skill of hitting a major league baseball is the most difficult to master among all sports.  Even the greatest fail more than 6 out of 10 tries.  Who would argue with Ted Williams?

Let me ask you, if I were able to arrange for you to be on the starting line-up of your favorite team on opening day which would you rather have Albert Pujols' bat or Albert Pujols' swing?  If you could hit like the superstar would any good bat that fit your hands do?

Something significant changed for me awhile back.  When I first became a financial services professional I was a "me too" representative.  Every one else in the business sold bats; so me too.  My time was spent selling potential customers on the virtues of one bat over the others.  Problem was, when we were done the customer was no more skillful than when we had started at using any of the bats (nearly all of which were very good).  I knew it wasn't the ideal way, but it was what everyone else was doing; so me too.

Then I met swing coach Don Blanton.  My swing improved.  I began to understand how to properly use a bat, how to judge the ball, and how to hit it into the gap.  Now, under Don's tutelage, I am a swing coach.  No longer do I see myself as a bat sales guy.  Of course, when it's your turn in the line-up you need a good bat.  But my primary purpose and objective is to help people improve their swing and raise their batting average.

After the last game of the last season more players are judged on their batting average than on how many home runs they hit.  The home run hitters, generally, are also the strikeout leaders.  We admire them, but we know trying to hit every pitch out of the park is a high-risk strategy.

Which do you want to stand at the plate with your current swing and try to hit a home run?  Or would you rather improve your swing, and raise your batting average?