Player going wrong way

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Jun 11, 2013
2,619
113
I have a player on our team (14U B) who we started playing with at age 7.

She is an OK hitter, great bunter and very fast. A good ninth hitter who can start some innings for us.

She has always played short stop and has a strong and extremely accurate arm. If she fields it you are out.

The problem is that she is that she appears to lose the ball in the last couple of feet. I can't tell if it's being afraid
of the ball (a little) , anxiety, or something else. It's bad enough on ground balls but it's even worse on catching
throws to her. I can't have her take throws from home or cutoffs because she straight misses a lot (not even hitting
glove) if it's at all off line. We tried her at second but can't afford to lose the outs on routine plays. She is a decent
outfielder and can cover a lot of ground, but even there on balls she has to run for she will spring to ball, get a good jump
and just not go the extra couple of feet that would allow her to catch the ball. She doesn't talk much but you can tell
it's killing the kid. Her dad coaches a younger team and is the type of guy that will work with her all day if she wants, but not
if she doesn't ask for the help.

I know it's a have to see it issue, but really I just want to help this kid improve. The only reason she plays on Sunday is we have
a couple of legacy kids on the team who are just not ready. If anyone has any drills to help at the end of the play it would be great.
I think she is about to give up on the game and if she can't get over this problem it will happen.

She had pretty good fundamentals, it's just finishing the play.
 
Jun 7, 2013
984
0
I have this problem a bit with my youngest DD. For her I think it is about getting more comfortable with fielding since she has had some very, very bad experiences with softballs. My approach is to keep the pressure off of her and just get her more and more timing fielding ground balls. As time goes by, she seems to be getting evermore comfortable with it.
 
Oct 3, 2009
372
18
Have her parents had her eyes checked lately? At 14U I actually had to take my DD every 6 months instead of a year because of the level of change. Just a thought.
 
Jun 11, 2013
2,619
113
There is a flinch particularly on hard hit balls. She has always wore a mask. Even though we played with her when she was younger up through 10U we didn't play with her
the last couple of years so I'm not sure if it just stated happening, but it's been this way since beginning of the year. I'll talk to the dad this weekend.
 
Jul 6, 2013
371
0
All of this, but also, make sure she ain't trying to make the play before she has it. You can find out quickly by telling her to field the ball but stop at the point she brings hand to ball in the glove still crouched down in fielding position. If she does much better here, you know she is not playing the ball correctly. Also, you need a bit more info. What side of her body is she fielding it on? Is she overplaying it right to field in a more natural position on her body? Everything else fundamentally correct? Just some things to check.

Eta: let her use the mask I it makes her a better player!
 

Tom

Mar 13, 2014
222
0
Texas
Have her parents had her eyes checked lately? At 14U I actually had to take my DD every 6 months instead of a year because of the level of change. Just a thought.

May sound odd, but have her parents have her ears checked too? Inner ear infection or imbalance can cause vertigo, irregular depth perception or blurred vision from what I am told. Had a player go from great hitter to missing badly, while maintaining a reasonably good swing. Parents had eyes checked and they were fine. Optometrist suggested ears. Player had inner ear problem that was affecting perceived balance and peripheral vision. Not sure what the treatment was, but that seemed to be cause. Parent said that ENT doc highly recommended flushing out ears in addition to just regular washing, especially after being on field all day when fields are dry, dusty and wind blowing to help prevent this.
 
Last edited:
Oct 13, 2014
291
0
Metro ATL
Adding another possibility here...do you know if she has a learning difference (what we used to call learning disabilities in the old days). My DD has visual motor integration disorder. Child struggles to spell and was falling behind in math in early elementary school. We uncovered this about the same time she started playing softball. It was painfully obvious it was not just the pee-wee learning curve we were dealing with either. At lot came together for her at once, and we got her on the right track.

It took me a long time (too long) to say anything to her coaches. I was embarrassed. Again, not diagnosing your player, just offering another possibility to consider. I am glad to know you care about your player and her success!

_____________________________


(Visual-motor integration involves the quality of Eye-hand coordination. It is the ability to accurately coordinate visual skills with motor skills. These skills are necessary for sports (catching and throwing a ball and hitting a ball), puzzles and blocks and writing and copying information.)
 
Jul 10, 2014
1,283
0
C-bus Ohio
This is my DS - he's simply afraid of the ball, near as I can tell. He's been hit several times, once badly in the ear when he turned his head to catch a hard throw. I don't have a clue how to bump his confidence. He just had his eyes checked and the doc recommended he wear his glasses always vs just for reading before. Might help, I hope.

I've tried back-chaining, starting with underhand and tennis balls short toss, and moving to underhand baseballs longer - he does fine. As soon as we switch to overhand, he loses it: won't stay in front of the ball, stepping sideways, snatching at it with the glove. And it eats him up, too.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,481
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top