"Get in front of that ball, It won't bite you." Yea ! and pork chops are not greasy, the Pope is not Catholic and a bear doesn't growl.

Every coach knows that little feller called baseball will bite. It's bite is normally not serious a little sting momentarily and all is okay. It is especially plum alright when the coach says,"shake it off." Get ready for the next one, for the coach fires another right your way, and sure enough the sting is gone.

Baseball that bites are like the neighborhood pooch there are really very few of them that bite. Every good baseball player knows what will make the ball bite. The ball acts friendly until some ole rough infield or pebble interferes with it's roll or bounce. Good baseball players will be found surveying their playing area well and often for any little pebble, string, chewing gum wrapper or any debris no matter how obscure.

Any small mound or clump of dirt, the better ball players will religiously scrub and rake with their cleats, so their entire area is as smooth as a lake with no breeze. You see that ball will bite but the coaches must plant the thought into the players mind that it won't. The fact of the matter is that the bite is usually minor nip because the players natural instinct compensates and deflects the snarling ball.

Although a baseball well hit and moving in unexpected fits of hip hop can bite but its bite is not vicious. The thought of the bite is what causes the most damage. The little bit of fear which creeps into your habit of playing the ball is worse than the bite.

All good coaches know this fear factor is present and they also know the bite is not usually vicious and will cause no real harm. Therefore this constant and well worn phrase, "Get in front of that ball," never ceases on any baseball diamond.

All of the books written by the best in the business concerning the art of positive thinking requires this mental attitude that, "The ball won't bite you."

Norman Vincent Peale, Dale Carnegie and Sig Zigler all recognized the power of positive thinking and that thinking can make it so. The wisdom of these powerful leaders in proclaiming the impact of speaking in positive terms must be the bible of all coaches. Coaches of baseball players want all their players to believe,"The baseball won't bite you."

Batter Up---Let's Play Ball...

Major Wiley B. Channell USMC (retired) and thinking positive at http://www.baseballfarming.com with baseball on my mind.

Playing baseball with a positive attitude about every aspect of the game increases the art of learning many great lessons of living.