DD frozen at plate?????

[kcanaday]

need some advice here. my dd is first year 10U. playing travel ball practice twice a week and playing rec ball twice a week. at practice for either team or with me at batting cage she has a nice swing and typically drives the middle of the field. she also sees pitches well as far as laying of bad ones and getting after the good ones. however, in games its like she has never done it before. she goes golfing and tries to kill the birds flying over head. watches perfect pitches go right by. when she does swing its like half effort and never eyes on the ball. what can i do to put the results of practice at bats into game at bats????????

 

[grcsftbll]

We're new to 10U also. Only one tournament so far and she batted 200 over 4 games. I think she averaged about 900 in 8U. Haha. She doesn't swing at crap, but then she doesn't swing at strikes either. Or she misses them. I really think it's nerves. She hits fine practicing with her own team. Do you think it might just be nerves? And over time she'll adjust? That's what I'm hoping for.

 

[gophert]

Give it time. Sometimes the pressure to hit makes them swing a pitches they would never think they would. Maybe try this: Ask them what their favorite pitch to hit is (outside, inside, high, low, etc). Tell them not to swing until they see that pitch (their favorite pitch), but when they see it, they got to go all out after it. Once they have 2 strikes, then the goal changes to see how many they can put a bat on. We did this with our 10U team years ago and it made them much more patient at the plate. It almost eliminated the crazy high and balls in the dirt swings. If they have a mindset to go to the plate and only hit their perfect pitch, it will turn neg thoughts to the pos+. Good luck and enjoy the ride!

 

[625ender]

You have to hit to have confidence and you have to have confidence to hit. There's no way to "coach" your way through it. The light will go on in her head

 

[JAD]

Try to get her as many at bats as you can vs. live pitching in practice. If you have to pay one of your teams pitchers a little $$$ to come early or stay late to get your DD some swings. I have also had my DD stand in the box while a pitcher is warming up with a catcher and just call the pitches ball or strike as quickly as she can - no swings, she does not even need a bat. I would also encourage a lot of tee work to work on her muscle memory of the proper swing plane.

 

[42'sdad]

Sounds like practice might be too easy for her. Challenge her more in practice ie; faster, closer, hit the corners better. Try to expose her weaknesses in practice.