Being Scared of the Ball

[Scottsdale]

I'm trying to figure out a way to help one of my daughters that is sort of scared of the ball. I understand that she is scared of the ball because she is like a ball magnetic and has been hurt in the past by a miss caught ball. Also it didn't help matters that a varsity player at her school misjudged a fly ball and had her nose broken a few weeks ago. My daughter played rec ball about 4 years ago and is now on JV team. She will catch a ball that is thrown hard or hit to her but is scared she is going to get hurt. I feel that a lot of this is due to lack of confidence in herself, she doesn't think she can make the catch and therefore overthinks it or freaks and moves out of the way. When I ask her about it she just says she doesn't want to get hurt. I feel that if I could build her confidence up, that she can catch these balls she will do better. I know I can't just throw balls at her to solve this. I have thought about putting her in protective gear and working with her on catching fast balls. The protective gear may take away the getting hurt mentality while building her confidence that she can catch these fast balls? I'm sort of lost on this one so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sluggers]

I know I can't just throw balls at her to solve this.

Uh...well, that is precisely what you do--except you use softies (soft compression balls--about $8.00 each). The soft compression balls won't hurt much if they hit her, so she can get her confidence up that she can catch a ball. Start off slow, but gradually increase the speed. Throw the ball to her and hit her line drives.

Make sure she has a well broken in mitt.

Teach her the correct way to catch a ball. (Do you know how? A lot of adults don't know how to catch a ball.) I watch some kids catch a ball and I cringe.

As an aside, your DD is not being "weak" by being afraid of the ball. She is actually being smart. If she plays enough softball, sooner or later, she will get hit with the ball. What she has to do is learn the skills necessary to keep from being hit in the face.

I would get her a fielding mask as well.

 

[gophert]

I am big supporter of fielding masks as well. Yes, it gives them protection, but I have seen more confidence with young players that wear these masks from a young age. When they get older, they feel weird without the mask. I had a dad on one of my Rec teams years ago that would not let his daughter wear a fielding mask. Needless to say, she was terrified of getting hit and it showed in her performance.

 

[pumpkinbear]

What about hitting? My youngest DD strides away from the plate and leans back when she faces fast pitching. I got her a Barry Bonds-type sleeve and Xprotex gloves but don't know anything else to do except wait and hope.

 

[YOCOACH]

What about hitting? My youngest DD strides away from the plate and leans back when she faces fast pitching. I got her a Barry Bonds-type sleeve and Xprotex gloves but don't know anything else to do except wait and hope.

In my experience, this usually works itself out with better pitch recognition and as the player gets better at hitting. Again, take softies and do a lot of front toss, especially to the inside of the plate. Make sure to pitch some of the balls really inside and off of the plate. As your DD gets more used to hitting the ball further out in front, her confidence will grow and won't be as prone to bail out unless really necessary. Also, make sure to teach her the proper way to protect herself as getting HBP is a part of the game and sooner or later, it will happen. If she has time to jump back/bail out great. However, sometimes on a breaking ball that's not an option so teach her how to drop the bat down in her grip and turn her back to it.

 

[Elk Grove Hurricane]

I'm trying to figure out a way to help one of my daughters that is sort of scared of the ball. I understand that she is scared of the ball because she is like a ball magnetic and has been hurt in the past by a miss caught ball. Also it didn't help matters that a varsity player at her school misjudged a fly ball and had her nose broken a few weeks ago. My daughter played rec ball about 4 years ago and is now on JV team. She will catch a ball that is thrown hard or hit to her but is scared she is going to get hurt. I feel that a lot of this is due to lack of confidence in herself, she doesn't think she can make the catch and therefore overthinks it or freaks and moves out of the way. When I ask her about it she just says she doesn't want to get hurt. I feel that if I could build her confidence up, that she can catch these balls she will do better. I know I can't just throw balls at her to solve this. I have thought about putting her in protective gear and working with her on catching fast balls. The protective gear may take away the getting hurt mentality while building her confidence that she can catch these fast balls? I'm sort of lost on this one so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

You are 100% right that this is about confidence. She is showing a ton of courage, facing that fear every day, and the psychological scar is a tough one to overcome. I bought a dozen foam softballs (Diamond sports, cost me about $39 online as I couldn't find any locally). They are not too spongey, and are 12" round but they won't hurt unless you get hit directly in the eye. I throw them right at her face, tell her they are coming at her, tell her to assume every ball that is thrown to her is going there. Then, we try to fix the problem.
She has been hit in the face two or three times and bails whenever she thinks a throw is coming at her head or right shoulder, but has no problem catching a ball thrown to her backhand. She had developed a bad habit of extending her hands as far as she could, throwing her glove out way in front of her body, fingers down and also tilting her head backwards. Someone on the fielding board wrote down the simple formula for catching a ball and we read it again, reminding her how to do it (knuckles in front of nose, alligator arms, wait for the ball and don't reach for it.) We do this every night and I'm seeing progress. The instinctive flinch or diving whenever my arm went into the javelin position (my description for a normal throw ) are going away.
We also have a bet, whenever she steps forward towards the ball, she earns a point. Whenever she steps back, I win a point. If I end up with more points after one of these sessions, she loses 5 minutes of hitting instruction (which she absolutely loves). If she wins, she gets some kind of reward.

 

[grmerrill]

girls are smart.

Girls at this age are pretty smart. My 11 year old DD (designated daughter?, I have yet to figure out what that means) is playing her first year of comp after one season of rec. She would put her mitt up in front of her face and move to the side away from the ball. We sat down and talked about these signs of fear and that her mitt was her protection. Helping her to understand that what she was doing was making it more likely that she would get hit has calmed her down and she has made great strides. The other thing that helped is that she has an older sister that can handle everything I can throw at her, having her watch sis handling these hard thrown softballs while discussing her fear seemed to help her work out the issue in her head.

 

[YOCOACH]

Girls at this age are pretty smart. My 11 year old DD (designated daughter?, I have yet to figure out what that means) is playing her first year of comp after one season of rec. She would put her mitt up in front of her face and move to the side away from the ball. We sat down and talked about these signs of fear and that her mitt was her protection. Helping her to understand that what she was doing was making it more likely that she would get hit has calmed her down and she has made great strides. The other thing that helped is that she has an older sister that can handle everything I can throw at her, having her watch sis handling these hard thrown softballs while discussing her fear seemed to help her work out the issue in her head.

DD stands for Darling Daughter or Dollar Destroyer.....your choice