Hitters in a slump will do about anything to turn it around, but getting instruction from 750 miles away may seem a little extreme. Not in the age of technology. Justin Coulter, a sophomore designated hitter at Haverford College outside Philadelphia, started the first two and a half weeks of the season slower than he would have liked to.  A stretch of 0 for 4 games was wearing on the player, who started the season batting third for his team.  Coulter decided to get pro-active, and seek out  Justin Stone  to work on his swing via Elite Baseball Training’s Skype lessons.  Coulter had been following Stone’s Youtube and Facebook videos and posts on hitting and thought that getting together via the digital highway may provide the answers needed to end the “Sophomore Slump.”  Coulter would come back to Haverford’s indoor fieldhouse late at night and work on his mechanics and approach, in the cage, with his laptop and a wi-fi connection.
The result was a turn around season.  Coulter received Honorable Mention All-Conference, hitting .314 with 59 RBI’s, which are all the more impressive numbers considering the slow start to the season.  Haverford begins NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional play tomorrow after winning the Centennial Conference.  Stone commented on Coulter, “Justin is a great example of the type of perseverance it takes to make adjustments and become a good hitter.  When I saw him hit, it was a scary resemblance of myself when I was his age.  He is tall and lanky, and tried to dominate his swing with a strong upper body.  We made the mechanical adjustments of cleaning up his negative move and getting him anchored to the ground to use his foundation first. He picked it up really quick.   I think more importantly, we talked about approach, pitch selection, and playing the game from at-bat to at-bat.  Justin has a good future ahead of him.”
Stone and Coulter will continue to hit online through the summer season. Stone added, “All hitters need a pair of eyes on them.  There’s no difference if your standing 4 feet from them in a cage or 1,000 miles away behind a computer screen.”  To get more information on Elite Baseball Training’s Skype lessons, visit us at www.elitebaseballtraining.com/dev2/skype-lessons