10U Girls not Swinging the bat, at all......Help???

[GunnerShotgun]

Bribe them. Buy them candy from the concession stand (or bring it) for every time they make contact with the ball.

It sounds bizarre but I saw someone do it with a 10u team that was having the same issue and it worked.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Gunner, I have done that in basketball, when my DD was small. Yes, it worked.

 

[CoachKevin]

I bought little stickers (stars) from a store to put on their helmets. After the game we gave them out for different things. Gold Star = Extra Base Hit. Silver Star = Base hit. Red Star = Fair Bunt. We also had Purple Star = Good defensive play.

Seemed to work out pretty good too.

 

[JAD]

You need more live pitching in practice, and tell the girls that for every strike out 'looking' they are running a 'suicide' at the next practice! You may get some swinging strikes at bad pitches, but that is better than sitting there watching strike 3 right down the middle of the plate! If you are more of a 'positive reinforcement' coach, tell the team you will take everyone for ice cream after the tournament if no one strikes out looking!!!!

 

[MsDinosaur]

Yes, bribes work! It's amazing what the girls will do sometimes to win a piece of candy or a little trinket. I think the positive reinforcement works a little better psychologically when you're trying to get them to take a chance at something. If you can get them swinging to get the candy reward, IMO they'll be in a more aggressive state of mind at the plate than if they're swinging to avoid punishment.

 

[Down and Out]

When we had this problem, I introduced them to taking signs from the 3rd base coach. If they started letting strikes go by without swinging the bat, I had a sign that meant you have to swing at the next pitch no matter what. It was the only sign we had. Then I'd laugh and tell them "I hope the next pitch is close, cause you've gotta swing at it no matter where it is. Jump if you have to."

They finally figured out that swinging the bat was good and they would not get yelled at for doing it.

 

[xplosion10U]

As a 10U team, we once struck out 14 times in 6 innings...

It will get better!

 

[shockcoach]

Lose the pitching machine, invest in a pitching screen and start front tossing from 15-20' in front of the hitter. During the games, have them swing at every pitch. Bribe them with a prize if they succeed at swinging at everything. Strike out swinging doesn't count against them. Then go from there.

Good luck

 

[Greenmonsters]

Lose the pitching machine, invest in a pitching screen and start front tossing from 15-20' in front of the hitter. During the games, have them swing at every pitch. Bribe them with a prize if they succeed at swinging at everything. Strike out swinging doesn't count against them. Then go from there.

Good luck

I like the front toss recommendation, but they have to learn about the strike and hitting zones sometime. IMO, the sooner you can instill that and a "yes, yes, yes......Swing or Stop" mentality, the sooner they'll become good hitting ball players. Might as well teach them the right way initially and avoid having to teach them something entirely different next year. Even at that transitional age, the majority are more capable than we tend to give them credit for.

 

[shockcoach]

I like the front toss recommendation, but they have to learn about the strike and hitting zones sometime. IMO, the sooner you can instill that and a "yes, yes, yes......Swing or Stop" mentality, the sooner they'll become good hitting ball players. Might as well teach them the right way initially and avoid having to teach them something entirely different next year. Even at that transitional age, the majority are more capable than we tend to give them credit for.

While I agree with you, the swing at everything is only to get them started in swinging the bat initially. I should have stated that, since I was thinking that when I typed "then go from there."

So is sounds as if we are on the same page. With my own DD at 1st year 10U I had this problem and that's how I solved it. The first half of the season it was either a BB or a backwards K. Once she started to swing using the above techniques, the strike zone part fell right into place.

Thanks for the clearing up.