Sparky,

I wanted to say thanks and congratulations on your web site and for the advice you are offering. I bought "How I Teach It" and the picture vault a year ago. I also bought the whiffle ball pitching machine and we already had a Swing Away. At the time I had a 9 year old and a 12 year old who were doing nothing at the plate. I had them playing Little League Majors and AAU travel with a team called the Connecticut Storm. They were getting a HEAVY dose of "hit down on the ball" from the CT Storm coaches. After watching my 12 year old doing nothing much at the plate and my 9 year old, who has an absolute passion for the game, strike out 3 times in a row and come home completely discouraged, I decided something had to change. I noticed watching him from the first base side that with his downward swing there was only a moment when he could hit the ball. That night I got on the web and luckily found your site!

We worked hard to learn what is in "How I Teach It" over the next few days and in our next game, Davey, my 9 year old had his nicest hit ever - a line drive double. Charlie had a double and an inside the park home run! We kept working at it and...Davey went on to finish the season with the highest average of any 9 year old, batting 312. Charlie batted 565 for the season and during the Championship game, a real pitchers duel, he was the only kid on either team who was able to hit. He had a triple early in the game but we failed to get him home. Late in the game he managed a single and on the next pitch stole 2nd, on the next pitch stole 3rd and on the next pitch and throw back to the pitcher, stole home (he's very fast)! We won the Championship 1-0!

Anyway, as you can tell, I'm very grateful to you and enthusiastic about what you offer.

Thanks again!

Rob P. - Durham, CT