injured player advice

Rec (LL) 10u team. excuse the long windedness

background - 10 year old, Ok fielder, terrible hitter, and I can tell her lack of success at plate is bothering her. getting more nervous, reluctant to swing, basically looking for BB at plate rather than hits, no balls in play yet this season (7 games), a few fouls. BB is statistically a pretty good bet if batter never swings in our division, but I want my girls swinging and getting hits, not walks. I basically tell them if it is hittable, they should swing (ie nothing in dirt or over head, but that is about it). All this makes no difference to me, but I present it because it might be making the player to seek an excuse not to play.

missed 4 games due to her ankle bothering her. 2 games previous to this her ankle was wrapped. parents took her to ortho, they found nothing. last game, she plays, but I can tell it bothers her, even had to pinch run for her when she got a BB, mom said she was OK, had been running around on it all weekend. my wife sees the mom at kids school this morning, girl is in a boot. she asks her about it. Mom says boot was just to pacify her, and she will be there tonight.

she has in past played 3B and 1B for me pretty OK, but I am worried about her at these positions right now. having trouble pushing off (right ankle, throws right), so throws are going high (and we try throw downs to third, with subsequent need to throw home normally, several times a game), and worry about her stretching for throws at 1B.

I am all for toughing it out when appropriate, but I do not want this girl to be so pressured to play if she really is in pain. tonight is our last regular season game, and I am already down to 8 (looking for pool players, but no guarantee, small league, 3 teams).

Any advice on how to handle?

10U rec 1st and 3rd is where I would put a player with bad wheels, not near as much running as other positions.

If parent and she say is OK, I would play her.

DD has feet problems, doc says she will not cause any damage if she runs just needs to tolerate the pain.

my question is more about how do I make certain she is not pushing/being pushed too hard.

That is what I meant about asking both the parent and player.

Ask both without the other around.

I'm going to speak from the perspective of a currently injured player (broken arm from being hit by a pitch)...

As a catcher, I'm a average/decent defensive player and excellent hitter and thrower. Right now, not being able to play is bothering me. I'm wearing a cast on my left arm (my throwing arm). I know what she's thinking as a player and what your thinking as a coach. As a player, she's thinking she doesn't want to do anything extra at the plate. She doesn't want to swing at something she thinks she can hit and have her ankle hurt more. She wants to swing at something she knows she can hit. After I was hit by my pitch, I didn't want to swing unnecessarily because it hurt too much to swing. You know your player is hurting, she knows she's hurting but more importantly...her parents know she's hurting. As a coach...it drives you nuts when she doesn't swing at something that would be hittable to anyone else. But when your hurt, you don't want to swing at anything that you aren't sure if you can hit.

If she's missing playing time due to this it's a red flag that there's something there. How is her range at her positions? Does she have a hard time getting to balls to her left and her right? Does she have a hard time planting and throwing? Another issue that's bringing up a red flag is she was seen wearing a walking boot and her parents say it's to pacify her. If me, I'd be insisting that my parents took me to another orthopedic specialist out of the area and get a second opinion. That's what I'm doing with my arm before I undergo surgery on it.

I wish your player the best and hope she gets a second opinion. If it's something, it's better to get it treated now than endure more pain than its worth.

The way the situation is described - especially with the parents saying she's running around just fine during other activities - I have a feeling that the girl isn't enjoying playing, or is mentally struggling so badly with her own performance that she's fabricating an excuse not to play. With such a short time left in the season, I'm not sure if there's anything you can do to turn things around.

thanks for the input, but remember this is 10u rec ball. she was OK fielding before the injury, have not seen her enough since to make a determination (basically have not practiced much since games began, due to time/field limitations). and she was reluctant to swing bat period (or was very late, ie she would wait for it to be over the plate to start to swing). is she not wanting to play because she is struggling, or is she pushing herself too hard to play regardless? mom thinks the former (hence remarks like she ran around on it all weekend prior to tuesdays game). I am really not certain, very torn. never wanted a player to hit the ball in a game more in my life. only player on my team who has not put ball in play (have one other player with no hits, but at least some RBIs, she has put ball in play a few times). but I do not want to push her if she is in pain.

Sounds like the parents are forcing her to play when she really doesn't want to.....

I think the girl is legitimately torn. I think there is some pain, and part of her wants to play, but part of her is saying use injury to not play (either because she is a little embarassed because she is batting poorly, or is trying not to hurt the team, or combination).

In any event, I will try to get her to stand in left field for 1st inning, just so we can get game underway (I have 8 as of right now, cannot start with 7). we r home, so we start in field, and I will tell her to not do anything she is not comfortable doing.

If you feel like it's more pressure than pain, maybe try telling her tonight you appreciate her coming out so the team can play, and that she should just whatever she can and don't worry about the rest. Tell her if she hits the ball and can't run it out, that's ok, you appreciate her trying. Mostly, tell her just to have fun out there. It's just a game.