Good Is The Enemy Of Great: The Story of Alexa Peterson

The story of Alexa Peterson is one of an athlete who knew that good is the enemy of great. And she decided she wouldn’t settle for good.

You see, Alexa was already good. As a sophomore in 2012 at the University of Oregon, she was a starter at a Pac-12 school, she went to the College World Series batted .323 with 7 2B and 6 HR.

When I arrived in Eugene to work with hitters in the Fall of 2012, I offered each player voluntary time with me. I would video their swings, break it down with them and teach them about what kind of changes we were looking for. I created a weekly plan (now known as The SwingBuild™ Program) using the drills I share in The Hitting Vault.

Alexa was dedicated to getting better.
She showed up early to work with me every single day.

She tasted success quickly with some swing changes we made. We focused on two main areas; getting more power out of her lower half and cleaning up her bat path.

The Results Speak for Themselves

By the spring of 2013, Alexa was dialed in and ready to go for the season. Alexa not only went from good to great, she went to one of the best in country! In her junior year, she was named First Team All-American and won the Pac-12 Batting Crown by hitting .424 on the season with 12 HR. That season, she doubled her HR total from the year before in 25 less at-bats. She finished the season ranked in the top-30 of the NCAA in batting average (28th), slugging (24th) and on-base percentage (24th).

In the toughest conference in the country, her stats got even better! She hit a team-best .492 in Pac-12 games, with 22 runs scored, 18 RBIs and seven home runs while starting all 24 league games, to put that into context.
One of Alexa’s most amazing stats is that she was the last player in college softball to strikeout.
She went 86 At-Bats without taking a single long slow walk back to the bench. 

After her senior year, Alexa was chosen with the 11th overall pick in the National Pro Fastpitch Draft and just completed her third professional season. She also serves as the Hitting Coach at University of Montevallo where she’s helping to guide her own hitters on their path from good to great.

One of the biggest temptations athletes face in their journey is the temptation to settle for being “good”. Alexa could have settled. She decided she wanted more. She wanted great and she got it.

There’s a pretty cool twist on this story too.

I asked Alexa to join me in teaching and demonstrating the drills in The Hitting Vault. When you join, you get to learn from her demonstrations and body movements.