All right Don, here's my two cents:
The stance I use when I am behind the plate is a fairly normal stance. Heel to toe, feet about shoulder with apart. From this point it is easy to glide down into the strike zone with little aggravation to the knees. Remember to tuck those elbows in and keep your hands relaxed though. This allows me to get into the strike zone of even the smallest player. (I am 6'2", so that is saying a great deal.)
Most chest protectors are relatively thin. Normally, I wear a large, but get by with an XL for plate duties without looking crammed into the shirt. If your XL fits with some room, you should be able to get by with an XXL. However, id by saying you fill out that XL pretty well you mean there is no room for....uh....growth,
then you might consider going for the 3X. The rule of thumb is normally a size larger though, so I really think that you ought to get by with an XXL.
On the plate cap issue, I am one of those relics that prefer to use a two stitch beanie style to the four stitch ballcap style. Also...as it is adjustable, I can't really say whether or not it is the same size as my fitted field hats, but I can tell you this, it does fit me a little tighter than the field hats. To be on the safe side, why not go with the adjustable style? To me, the bill of the hat is more of an issue in getting my mask off that the fit of the hat anyway, which is why I use the 2 stitch.
As for tests...I still go through test anxiety.
Hope this helps.
Scott
[Edited by Skahtboi on Feb 14th, 2002 at 04:46 PM]