Your glove becomes an extension of your hand when catching a baseball. It must fit your hand properly to work efficiently. As a general rule of thumb, players under the age of 12 will use a glove in the 10–11 inch (25.4–27.9 cm) range.  Older players will use something between 11 and 13 inch glove. Before playing regularly with your glove, it’s important to beak in your glove. One of the best ways to break in your glove is by practicing your catch. Catching a baseball relies heavily on your stance and body position. You should be in the athletic position to prepare catching a ball. The athletic position takes the following into effect:  Bend your knees slightly. This will give you the flexibility to lung for the ball and keep your mind focused. Keep your shoulders positioned towards the target. This will make it easier to visualize and react once the ball comes towards you. Stand on the balls of your feet instead of standing flat-footed. The key to catching a baseball is to never let the ball out of your sight. Keep your eyes fixed from the time the ball leaves the thrower's hand until it lands in your glove. By watching the ball, you can track the ball’s flight plan, and prepare for the right stance to catch the ball. ”You can’t catch what you can’t see,” meaning it'll be difficult to catch the ball if your eye is off the ball. Don’t feel inclined to stay anchored in one place, but instead move to catch the ball. If the ball is thrown and you can tell it will land behind you, run backwards while watching the ball. In baseball, catchers play by zone defense. When the ball enters your zone, it’s your job to move to it. Hold your glove with your palm facing outwards in front of your body. Position the glove in the direction of the target who is throwing the ball. If the ball is thrown above your belly button, you can use this stance to catch the ball with little adjustment.  If the throw is below your belly button, rotate your glove so that your fingers are pointed down. When the ball is thrown above your body, use the first position mentioned, but extend your arm upwards. Catch the ball in the pocket of the glove. The pocket is another name for the palm of the glove. Close your hand immediately once the ball makes contact with your glove. Get into the practice of using your second hand to secure the catch. Using your second hand will also prepare you to throw once you become a catcher.  Your free hand needs to have quick access to the ball. Be careful not to obstruct your vision with your glove when going for the catch. If a ball is heading towards your face, move your glove to the position at the last second. This might take some practice, but the goal is to watch the ball till the final second.  Practice throwing with a friend to avoid a black eye on game day. You can usually reposition yourself to avoid your face crossing the ball’s flight path.

Summary: Get the right glove. Position your body. Watch the ball. Go to the ball. Position your glove. Catch the baseball. Keep your vision clear.


When you use bookkeeping software, you also have the ability to generate the financial reports you need with the click of a button. However, the reports created are only as good as the information you put into the software.  Go over your sales and expenses before you generate your final reports. Reconcile your books with your receipts and bank account statements to make sure the information is correct. Once you're satisfied with the information, click through to create your reports. You'll typically be prompted to enter the dates you want the report to cover, and the specific information you want included. Your P&L reports are among the most important tools for assessing and growing your business. Many bookkeeping programs will generate these reports for you if you input the parameters of the report you want.  Your P&L starts with your total sales. You then subtract from those sales the cost of the products or services sold to get your gross profit. Take your gross profit and subtract other expenses, such as rent or utilities, from that number. You'll be left with your net profit for the time period. P&L reports are especially important if you anticipate needing small business loans or other outside funding. In addition to your P&L, there are several other statements, such as your cash flow statement and your balance sheet, that help you determine where money is flowing in and out of your business.  Your cash flow statement reports the increase or decrease of money flowing into your business. You can quickly see the amount of cash on hand and what you did with it, as well as where that money came from (whether from sales or other sources, such as a loan). The balance sheet summarizes your business's assets and liabilities. It will be particularly helpful if you have a business credit card, or if you've taken out a small business loan to help fund the start up of your business. Your business plan likely includes cash flow and profit projections several years into the future. As you operate your business, you'll want to check periodically and make sure these projections are still accurate given your business's actual performance.  Look at your business plan and update it twice a year. You also want to update it any time you're applying for a small business loan or courting investors, so they have the most up-to-date information to make their decision. Depending on how your actual performance compares to your initial expectations, you also may want to adjust some of your business goals and plans for growth or expansion.

Summary: Download bookkeeping software to simplify report creation. Create quarterly profit and loss (P&L) reports. Prepare quarterly business financial statements. Update your projections based on your actual cash flow.


Wind direction is highly important when learning backspin shots. Hitting into the wind will often result in increased spin. However, this may be back-spin, which is desired, or it may be side-spin, which can cause your ball to travel off course. The higher your ball goes, the more time it has to travel sideways.  Aim to hit shots with lots of backspin when there isn’t much head-wind. You may find that you are never able to consistently backspin without a favorable wind. Many professionals avoid attempting to hit shots with higher-than-average backspin when the wind is against them. Friction is essential to creating backspin, so it’s more difficult to create backspin on short shots (like those at 50 yards (46 m)). It’s easier to create friction between the ball and the club-face when the club-head is travelling at higher speeds, such as those used when hitting shots at longer distances (such as 160 yards (150 m). You may want to start with mid- to long-range shots while learning backspin. The "face" of your ball is the circle you see when viewing the ball head-on. Hitting your ball lower on its back face will create even greater force in your backspin, improving it.  This characteristic is called the "vertical gear effect." It states that balls hit lower on the face will have greater spin than those that are hit high.  If you hit a shot high on the club-face, grass may be caught between the ball and club-face, as the club-head travels toward the ball, into, and through the ground lower.
Summary: Backspin into the wind. Backspin long shots for better results. Strike low on the face of the ball.