Watching the ball

I'm coaching an 8u team this spring. After six weeks of a ton of instruction and batting practice, our swings are looking much better. However, half the team is struggling mightily with watching the ball. I'll pitch to them and after they swing they are still looking me in the eyes instead of following the ball or they are turning their heads. No amount of saying "Watch the ball and see it hit the bat" seems to help. We have tryed having them not swing and watch the ball go all the way to the catcher, which either does not seem to work or results in them turning their head towards the catcher as they swing. We work a lot on the tee focusing on watching the ball, to no avail. Any other ideas on how to help these young ladies keep their eyes on the ball? Thanks

My assumption is that they're afraid of the ball, which is a common and age-appropriate response until they get better at what they're doing. So telling them to watch the ball, or having them watch a ball without swinging, or having them watch a (non-moving) ball on a tee, doesn't eliminate the fear nor offer a solution to it because it doesn't replicate the exact situation that makes them a little timid in the first place - which is the ball coming at them while trying to hit it.

Ultimately, being timid is overcome with repetition and success in steps.

But, I might try video so you can confirm exactly what they're doing. (The idea that they're watching you the whole time does not sound plausible. How would the adult pitcher know that unless you're watching her eyes the whole time, which you wouldn't want to do in case she lines one up the middle.)

So I'd try video, confirm what's happening, show it to the player. That might help them see (pun intended) what they might not realize they are doing.

That's a very common problem at that age. After they miss the ball ask them if the ball went over their bat or under it? Most won't know. If they do, ask them if they're sure. Tell them, if they miss the next pitch, you want them to tell you if the ball went over their bat or under. Works wonders.

Don't look them directly in the eye while pitching. Some of The younger ones end up looking at your eyes and not the ball.

I have been coach-pitching for a few years now (lots of practices and games). I'm not looking the batter in the eye when I pitch the ball, but I do tend to look that way after the pitch as I am always trying to make them better. I see them looking at me, looking at the ground, or completely pulling their head out. If contact is made with the ball, I always have enough time to locate and react. I have made batter watch the ball to the catcher, bite shirt, focus from the tee, etc., and what it takes is confidence and repetition. Even the more advanced players will lose sight every now and then. I jokingly tell them to stop looking at their handsome coach, and focus on the ball. It tends to get a laugh and makes them aware of what they are doing. The most helpful info I've given seems to be the combo of hitting the inside of the ball (that's specific) and telling them the back shoulder will come through and touch the chin. It's more specific than just "watch the ball". Be specific off the tee. Set the ball up with two vertical seams and tell them to hit the inside seam. Color the ball with different colors and see if they can tell you which part they hit. Or substitute for numbers. We also do the side toss drill where we throw up two balls and tell them to hit the high or low ball. It really helps with focus.

Another phrase that might help is "Shoulder to Shoulder". Tell them that their chin should start on their front shoulder, and end on their back shoulder. Visualization is big at this age. I'm coaching 8U as well, and this has helped with some of my girls that were pulling their head.

Kids that young are still living in color and animation .. show them the red stitches and tell them to hit red stiches .. it works

Expanding on the post by [MENTION=14408]msbigdawg[/MENTION], I would start teaching them to see the ball instead of watching the ball. This is an often overlooked nuance of hitting instruction. Which is unfortunate since visual skills are the single most important ability with regard to hitting development.

A drill I do is take tennis balls and place a different colored dot on each ball (found the dots at Office Depot), I have the batter stand at the plate with a bat while I toss the tennis ball with the dots. The batter when she/he identifies the color of the dot they call out the color and I toss it where they can catch it with their top hand or back hand. Having them catch the ball forces them to follow the ball to their hand.

correct .. Watching is too wide term and casues the eye to see as a whole object .. by seeing the ball or seeing something specific on the ball, which creates focus to see the ball...All too often you will find teams in the 8u that have coaches pitching to the swing instead of them teaching to focus on the ball, all for the sake of the hit towards the W.. this then creates an even bigger problem when they move up to 10u ....

I coach/ pitch in a slow pitch Challenger League ( special Olympics kids ) every sat for month in May...having these kids see the RED / hit the RED has moved some to actually making contact with the ball instead of me making contact with the bat..