Afraid of the ball

[STRAVERS]

Just looking for drills or tips to help some of my 10u girls who are still afraid of the ball. When playing catch and waming up they will side step to ball and reach for it instead of moving to the ball and catching the ball in line with the center of their body. Also on offense the girls that are still afraid are stepping in "the bucket" instead of toward the pitcher. Any advice or tips would be appreciated.
Thanks Shawn

 

[mudbug]

The best way to get them over the fear of the ball is to hit them with it. Have them stand in front of a fence, then stand back about 10 ft and throw it moderately hard at them. Dont allow them to move. I always have found that its best to make them close their eyes so that they dont squirm or try to avoid it. Hit them a few times in the legs, arms, and body. This will teach them that theres nothing to fear, that it really doesnt hurt that bad after all. For the ones that are really hesitant, you might have to hit them in the head once or twice too. Be careful not to hit the face though, and you dont want to leave any visible marks.

Im just kidding, please dont do that . Why couldnt you have waited to ask this question on April 1?

Generally its lack of confidence that they will catch it and protect their body that causes that. That just comes with experience and ability. When I have taught very young kids that arent exceptional ( 6-8), I teach/drill them to actually do just that first when learning how to catch. Step one way and extend to glove side to catch ball on glove side, step other way and turn and backhand across body to catch on throwing arm side. I do this to teach/drill them how to catch a ball on both sides of their body. They learn to catch before being threatened with bodily harm, Besides they are scared to death of it anyway at first if it has any speed to it, they need confidence.

But the best I found to teach catching is lots of pop-flys, with lots of time to set-up underneath, and watch ball all way into glove. Gives them confidence that they can protect their face/body with the glove, and they get used to it, and its loads of fun too (for them, not you throwing the ball up in the air). Start low, and work up, they will want them sky high, straight up eventually. Never failed me. Eventually it all comes together for them.

 

[mad hornet]

The best way to get them over the fear of the ball is to hit them with it. Have them stand in front of a fence, then stand back about 10 ft and throw it moderately hard at them. Dont allow them to move. I always have found that its best to make them close their eyes so that they dont squirm or try to avoid it. Hit them a few times in the legs, arms, and body. This will teach them that theres nothing to fear, that it really doesnt hurt that bad after all. For the ones that are really hesitant, you might have to hit them in the head once or twice too. Be careful not to hit the face though, and you dont want to leave any visible marks.

Im just kidding, please dont do that . Why couldnt you have waited to ask this question on April 1?

Generally its lack of confidence that they will catch it and protect their body that causes that. That just comes with experience and ability. When I have taught very young kids that arent exceptional ( 6-8), I teach/drill them to actually do just that first when learning how to catch. Step one way and extend to glove side to catch ball on glove side, step other way and turn and backhand across body to catch on throwing arm side. I do this to teach/drill them how to catch a ball on both sides of their body. They learn to catch before being threatened with bodily harm, Besides they are scared to death of it anyway at first if it has any speed to it, they need confidence.

But the best I found to teach catching is lots of pop-flys, with lots of time to set-up underneath, and watch ball all way into glove. Gives them confidence that they can protect their face/body with the glove, and they get used to it, and its loads of fun too (for them, not you throwing the ball up in the air). Start low, and work up, they will want them sky high, straight up eventually. Never failed me. Eventually it all comes together for them.

Man that was hilarious. I coached an 8U team last year and I can just see the parents faces if I started beaning the kids.

Our 8U league was 37 mph machine pitch and we had issues with kids stepping in the bucket. I brought a treated 4x4 piece of lumber to put behind thier heels during practice and this took care of the problem with all but one kid who refused to open her eyes while swinging. You should have seen the look of surprise when she actually hit the ball! However once they get to kid pitch it starts all over again after they see one of their friends get drilled.

Getting back to your first paragraph though, I tried a couple of drills with my 10U catchers that I got from Coach Weaver: the "flinch drill" and "sit and hits". In both drills you suit up the catchers in full gear. For the flinch drill you toss balls at their facemask and the player has to absorb the hit without blinking. Sit and hits are where you have the catcher on her knees and bounce balls into the chest protector. The whole idea is to get them to trust the equipment. First time I tried it I had to wonder what the parents were thinking though...

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I don't know if this will help or not, but I teach them to catch and throw using tennis balls or Jugs softie balls.

You may want to introduce them to face masks, too.

 

[Ken B]

I've had them toss tennis balls bare handed, then move on to softies--both at short distances. It seems to work.

Ken

 

[Hollyrockartist]

My dd was never afraid of the ball until the high school level when the coach would nail one down the line. If the balls would take bad hops, she'd get popped pretty hard. Didn't take her long to realize she needed to charge the ball (wearing her face mask) before she finally became aware that if you get it first, it won't get you! We did have a girl who came to one high school practice. Coach put her on 1st and had the 3rd baseman (awesome athlete and super strong) soar it over to 1st. The girl didn't even think about attempting to get the ball - beaned her square in the cheek. She never came back...

 

[JC heir]

Fear diminishes as confidence builds, & confidence builds slowly. As you teach them to play, fear should gradually subside . Be prepared- in some girls it will never go away to a satisfactory level. That just might be God telling them that this isnt their sport. Also, I have seen at least 1 nice little player ruined when she took a liner back through pitchers mound. So far (1 year later) she hasnt recovered. IMO some girls have a natural agressivness that will overcome fear & some dont.

 

[Coach Al]

I agree with JC. Some will overcome the fear and others won't. Years ago I had a girl in rec ball that took a bad hop on the arm and broke it. She never came back to play.

 

[obbay]

My 15 yo DD has a love of the game but a fear of the ball. she had overcome her fear of the ball when she was 10 and had become a good little 3B. Then one of the fathers hit her a hard one hopper to the throat. It was scary and 5 years later she still dances her body off to the side whenever a hard hit grounder or bouncing ball comes her way. Looks ridiculous, sometimes with one foot on the ground, one leg in the air and bent at the waist reaching out for the ball like some kind of dysfunctional hurdler. It's frustrating for me to watch, so now I am encouraging her to learn how to play OF.

for the young kids, I totally agree it's about building confidence. If a facemask like a gameface makes them more comfortable, then by all means get one!

 

[SoCalDad]

The best way to get them over the fear of the ball is to hit them with it....Im just kidding, please dont do that .

Teach me to speed read, missed that just kidding part. Spent all day at practice yesterday with the girls lined up in front of th e fence throwing balls at them. Any suggestions on how to reduce bruises?

Ok, I didn't really do that. But I do have a drill for players afraid of the ball where we line the girls up in front of the fence and either roll them grounders or toss one bouncers in front of their feet. The important part of the drill is we Jugs lite flite training softballs. These balls do not hurt when they hit the girls and I have found getting rid of the fear of getting hurt helps them focus on the form of properly fielding ground balls.