DD needing some encouragement

DD is playing in an out-of-state tournament, I'm back home. Rare that I've missed a tournament.

She called me just now, pretty sad, in the biggest slump of her life - 1-for-20. Went 0-for-2 today w/ a K, compounded by 2 errors.

Some background - She's first-year 16U. She's been one of the top hitters on each of her past three travel teams. Has some power. Much improved in the outfield.

On her last team, which had a very good hitting lineup, she started at the bottom, batting 9th, and in RF. By the end of the year, she was hitting #3-6, won the CF job, led team in HR. Actually batted 4th in their final tournament, partly due to injury, but still pretty good way to end it.

This year, joined a team that is no better than her last team, and actually weaker offensively, but this team is playing a tougher schedule. She batted #4 from the start. Was hitting like usual through 5 tournaments, but then the competition level went up these past 2.5 tournaments (ASA qualifier and 2 really good showcases), and she's been shut down.

First time in her life that she's described being nervous at the plate, lacking confidence. One of the first times she's ever come to me concerned about how she's playing. Never had a slump like this.

The nerves partly come from expectations. Previous teams didn't assume she was good, and she exceeded expectations. This team recruited her.

She's working hard at it. Last week, she hit at least an hour for 5 straight days. Took live hitting 3 days. Went to a college hitting camp. Did great there (vs. front toss).

What would you say to her? How would you keep her spirits up?

This appears to be emotional pressure as opposed to lack of ability on your daughters part. I think the best thing to do is to act like this is no big deal. Focus on other fun things and let it work it out itself, because it will.

Yeah, that's actually advice I give a lot. Act like it's no big deal. Harder when it's your own daughter. But you're right.

I once got DD 3 to relax when she was 10u playing up on DD 1's 14u rec ball team. I let her know the team was so bad there was no way she could lose the game for them. That calmed her down a lot, and she played great.

You tell your DD that rdbass has seen her swings and really likes what he sees. She is a hitter. Just need to slow it down....step out on each pitch......take a deep breath....think of 'happy thoughts(what ever makes her happy). The hits will come. Your DD has done it in the past (think of those hits) she can do it now. Good luck...

What would you say to her? How would you keep her spirits up?

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I would approach it as a learning experience. Failure is part of life. The trick is to recognize the failure and then make adjustments.

16U pitchers usually "have a clue" about how to pitch. Most aren't out there simply throwing the ball. They also have some skills...including real movement pitches. (I suspect your DD has never seen a pitch with real movement on it.)

Additionally, because your DD is batting cleanup, she has a great big arrow pointing at her which says: "She is good. Be careful!"

Since this is her first year at 16U, I doubt she understands what is going on. My guess is that she is swinging at bad pitches.

You need to "coach" her. You have to give her advice and things to work on, but you have to do it in a non-Daddy way. It is more of a two-way discussion between equals about a difficult situation.

You need to ask lots of questions. Try to help her understand how to approach the problem and let her find the solution.

DD's D1 hitting coach says the following to my DD all the time: "I can help you improve all the aspects of your swing except for the part that comes from the 6 inches between your ears". Softball players have to have an extremely short memory or it will eat them up. DD's hitting coach has her reading the book "Mind Gym: An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence" by Gary Mack right now. She is also a fan of coming up with your own positive affirmation that you say in your head (or out loud) as you step up to the plate.

sluggers said:

I would approach it as a learning experience. Failure is part of life. The trick is to recognize the failure and then make adjustments.

16U pitchers usually "have a clue" about how to pitch. Most aren't out there simply throwing the ball. They also have some skills...including real movement pitches. (I suspect your DD has never seen a pitch with real movement on it.)

Additionally, because your DD is batting cleanup, she has a great big arrow pointing at her which says: "She is good. Be careful!"

Since this is her first year at 16U, I doubt she understands what is going on. My guess is that she is swinging at bad pitches.

You need to "coach" her. You have to give her advice and things to work on, but you have to do it in a non-Daddy way. It is more of a two-way discussion between equals about a difficult situation.

You need to ask lots of questions. Try to help her understand how to approach the problem and let her find the solution.

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Good advice, Sluggers. You are correct that she needs to improve the mental part. She doesn't have much of a strategy when she gets in the box except to be mindful of the count, and she hasn't even mastered that. She doesn't have to worry about batting 4th any more, at least for now. I've lined up a lot of live pitching the rest of the summer. I think that will help. You're right, that if she views this as a challenge, it can be fun.

sbmom19 said:

DD's D1 hitting coach says the following to my DD all the time: "I can help you improve all the aspects of your swing except for the part that comes from the 6 inches between your ears". Softball players have to have an extremely short memory or it will eat them up. DD's hitting coach has her reading the book "Mind Gym: An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence" by Gary Mack right now. She is also a fan of coming up with your own positive affirmation that you say in your head (or out loud) as you step up to the plate.

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Will check out that book.

Somebody here has a quote from Lou Holtz, something about, 'Show me someone who has achieved anything worthwhile and I'll show you somebody who has dealt with adversity.'' I like that.

Keep it simple. Many times hitters are overthinking things. Tell her to trust her swing, see the ball early, and just let it happen.

Also let her know many MLB Players go through slumps, and they are getting paid millions!!!!

Is the whole team struggling or just your DD? Better pitching can cause the whole teams BA to drop and would be less of a concern than if just your DD is struggling. Better fielding will also take away some hits on plays that weaker teams may not make.