My DD is struggling at the plate. In hitting practice she is killing the ball. In games, it's like she freezes up. She is playing 10u. Grant it she is young and first yr going against actual pitchers, but we are halfway through our tournament play and she doesn't seem to be doing any better. Any suggestions. What can we do to help her get through this.
8yr old DD won't swing the bat
- Thread starter kimsch72
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Does she get talked to for swinging at bad pitches? A lot of batters who don't swing have been yelled at too many times for swinging at balls out of the strike zone. So they go up to bat thinking about balls and walks. She needs to go up there thinking that every pitch is a strike and worthy of swinging at. It's easier to decide late to stop a swing the it is to decide to swing late
Is batting practice done off a pitching machine or coach pitch? I see this all the time and think its a common problem. Sometimes it's a fear of getting hit. Kids don't worry off a machine or even coach pitch. Get a live pitcher and they get nervous and freeze up. Sometimes I think they wait for a walk. Most coaches are happy the girl made base. The girl gets the atta girl by first base coach. She waits for the walk again because she got a positive response from coach.
She never really was one to swing at the really bad pitches. I do see your point though. It's like she freezes. She says that she can't tell how the ball in coming in. She has been hit several several times in games and practice. The hitting practice has been done off both but mainly coach pitch, whom she trusts. We'll keep encouraging her and working with her. I do believe she is waiting for a walk, though.
Bucketmom
Psycho for softball!
My DD was the same way. She felt she had a better chance getting on base by being walked so she waited forit. Our current coach has made it clear that he will never be upset with them for striking out if there was honest effort. She now swings the bat. She actually got her first grand slam this season and is now figured out how to "pull" the ball and is hitting triples and doubles. Did take some work to convince her it was okay to strike out.
- Oct 25, 2009
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Ask the coach to give her a "must swing" signal. Justify it to her with some reason if necessary. In lieu of that, have her bunt. Make sure she understands that she is to try to hit the ball, but she must swing whether she hits it or not.
I would get her eyes checked. Especially, if she has said that she can't see the ball coming in. 
For us, at 10u we dont use the machine, and never a coach. We use our own pitchers to do the batting practice. The kids know that the coach and machine will not hit them, but a pitcher may. Keeps them on their toes. Im guessing after you mentioned that she has been hit several times, that she is just tensed up and mostly thinking about getting hit with the ball rather than swinging. Something you might try, not sure if it would work, but its a shot. Get a couple 2-3 balls, paint a different colored stripe on each ball, red-white-blue. Have your DD catch a pitcher without gear, just standing up and have her call the different colors before she catches it. But, make sure the pitcher goes through the motion and have your daughter try to pick the ball up at the hip, and call out the color in the air. After she has done this awhile, move her to the batters box, and have her do the same thing while batting without a bat. After a few pitches, put a bat in her hand, and you call out a color of ball, she can only hit the color you call out. This will be tough, depending on how fast the pitcher is. Good luck
In the hitting forum one of the suggestions for hitting off the T is to have the player look to a point where the pitcher would release the ball. Start their swing and then look at the ball on the T. It helps them track the ball. I did this with my youngest and she went from mid to last in the lineup to 1st in the lineup. It helped immediately.
Many young players (and older players) struggle with indecision at the plate and over think everything. Have you had the "yes, yes, yes" discussion with her?
Every pitch you think 'yes' in your mind and you only ever change to NO when you see a bad pitch. If you don't change from YES then you swing. The idea is that you are up there with only ONE decision to make and you are not thinking "yes/no/yes/no". Simple plan that avoids the indecision many players have.
As you get older and you get past the fastaball only stage, you can refine this into other plans as well - such as picking 'MY' spot for 0 strike pitches (if it is THERE then I am killing it) and then expanding the pitches you swing at on 1 strike and 2 strikes.
I now there are lots of other approaches and plans on how to approach batting - but having a plan on what you WANT to do is a big part of success.
Another approach is to have her bunt to get the feel of the bat on the ball and to get the bat moving. We had a girl in 10U who we turned around and slapped for awhile just to get her bat off her shoulder. When she went back to regular hitting she was much more confident about getting in motion. Another couple of options that may help getting her swinging.
Every pitch you think 'yes' in your mind and you only ever change to NO when you see a bad pitch. If you don't change from YES then you swing. The idea is that you are up there with only ONE decision to make and you are not thinking "yes/no/yes/no". Simple plan that avoids the indecision many players have.
As you get older and you get past the fastaball only stage, you can refine this into other plans as well - such as picking 'MY' spot for 0 strike pitches (if it is THERE then I am killing it) and then expanding the pitches you swing at on 1 strike and 2 strikes.
I now there are lots of other approaches and plans on how to approach batting - but having a plan on what you WANT to do is a big part of success.
Another approach is to have her bunt to get the feel of the bat on the ball and to get the bat moving. We had a girl in 10U who we turned around and slapped for awhile just to get her bat off her shoulder. When she went back to regular hitting she was much more confident about getting in motion. Another couple of options that may help getting her swinging.
