- Jun 12, 2015
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Wait to they get older it turns to 'I know!'
OK you know then why didn't you do it.
My older one is 12, and I have definitely heard this one from her! Dang kids. lol
Hitting slump & KCs
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My older one is 12, and I have definitely heard this one from her! Dang kids. lol
FiveFrameSwing
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She's giving you a good answer. She may truthfully "not know".
A young developing hitter, that is out of sequence and does not prepare to throw the barrel as the pitch is released, may suddenly find the ball in the strike zone, but because they didn't properly prepare to throw the barrel, they find themselves in a situation in which they are effectively shutdown. They suddenly realize that they should swing, but find themselves unprepared to swing/react. They can confirm that the pitch was a strike ... they can confirm that they didn't swing ... and they can confirm that they should have swung ... but they don't know why they didn't swing ... they wanted to swing, but they just couldn't pull it off. Since they didn't know about the early prep work in "preparing to throw", they sincerely don't know why they didn't perform the throw.
Hitting is a reactionary action ..... but you have to prepare and position the body to be ready to react .... and if you fail to do that, the act of reacting can be subdued ... and a young hitter may not have a clue of why.
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- Jun 12, 2015
- 3,848
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I'll watch the video and also snip some video from the weekend this afternoon. Thanks!
I have definitely noticed she's back to lacking confidence in the box, like she did in the fall. She started hitting at the end of fall and that gave her confidence, you could see it in her stance. Now she's back to looking tentative again. You'll see what I mean in the video, I think.
I have definitely noticed she's back to lacking confidence in the box, like she did in the fall. She started hitting at the end of fall and that gave her confidence, you could see it in her stance. Now she's back to looking tentative again. You'll see what I mean in the video, I think.
She's still 10u, correct? DD went through what your talking about a couple times in 10U and transition to 12U. It's a self perpetuating problem. DD has a real nice swing. Even went through a Fall season with no strike outs.
In 10U, she started popping everything up after a run of solid hits. Moved her up in the box and focused on cutting the ball in half. Worked on it, and she was back to normal. Later in the season, struck out several times, then started watching strikes go by. Worked on hitting fouls. Foul em off till you get the right pitch. Back to normal.
After the fantastic Fall season. Started off 12u, ok. Then went into a terrible slump. Was popping up and striking out a lot. Finally talked about her approach to the plate. She said something that really stuck out. "Dad, I go to the plate telling my self to not strike out and not pop up." Hand to forehead moment. She was putting the wrong kind of pressure on her self.
We worked on her approach to the plate to visualize the hit. Pick quadrant, or half, of her "hitting zone" for the pitch to be in before she takes swing (of course, 2 strikes changes things.) Focus on hitting the ball hard, not over the fence. Slump over.
Point?? In 10U moving her up in the box, focusing on cutting the ball in half, or working on fouling off bad pitches did very little to get her back on track. Changing her mindset and not focusing on the strike outs, pop ups and or weak grounders was the key. I read a couple of chapters of "Mind Gym", covers much of this. Good book for athletes. I thought I was a genius having her work on the different things. It was just her changing her approach, and mind set, that made the difference.
In 10U, she started popping everything up after a run of solid hits. Moved her up in the box and focused on cutting the ball in half. Worked on it, and she was back to normal. Later in the season, struck out several times, then started watching strikes go by. Worked on hitting fouls. Foul em off till you get the right pitch. Back to normal.
After the fantastic Fall season. Started off 12u, ok. Then went into a terrible slump. Was popping up and striking out a lot. Finally talked about her approach to the plate. She said something that really stuck out. "Dad, I go to the plate telling my self to not strike out and not pop up." Hand to forehead moment. She was putting the wrong kind of pressure on her self.
We worked on her approach to the plate to visualize the hit. Pick quadrant, or half, of her "hitting zone" for the pitch to be in before she takes swing (of course, 2 strikes changes things.) Focus on hitting the ball hard, not over the fence. Slump over.
Point?? In 10U moving her up in the box, focusing on cutting the ball in half, or working on fouling off bad pitches did very little to get her back on track. Changing her mindset and not focusing on the strike outs, pop ups and or weak grounders was the key. I read a couple of chapters of "Mind Gym", covers much of this. Good book for athletes. I thought I was a genius having her work on the different things. It was just her changing her approach, and mind set, that made the difference.
The goal is good pitch selection. If your DD hears your advice above, I'd be worried her goal would become never strike out looking, since that would keep parents from getting upset. But good hitters will get caught looking. If not, they need to play a higher level. A beginner can accomplish the goal of never getting caught looking. Just swing at everything.
Not saying you shouldn't attempt to diagnose a flurry of five in a tournament. I just wouldn't make one judgment error more shameful or honorable than another.
Hitters at all ages lack confidence, but the younger they are the more difficult it can be. Several people have mentioned outside forces; parents, coaches, other players, etc. Pressure to succeed can come from many different directions, and young players may have trouble dealing with all of it.
Just out of curiosity, how is she getting into the two strike counts? 10u pitchers that I know are not really known for pinpoint accuracy or honed movement pitches. In most cases there is a pitch earlier in the count that could be hit hard. What is happening to those pitches? Swing and miss? Foul balls? Taking for strikes? It may be that her "approach" could use a little work.
- Jun 12, 2015
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OK, here are a couple of her hits this weekend. The first one was a pop up where she got lucky the short stop was having a bad day. The second was her only solid hit all weekend which should have been probably a double (maybe even a single) but was still a nice hit. I did a slomo version of that one at the end. I found one at bat that is a perfect example - a few fouls, one ball, then a strike out looking. It's processing now, will post shortly.
https://youtu.be/R7E8uZOWaSQ
https://youtu.be/R7E8uZOWaSQ
This ^^^, is very much related to this...
Developing a good mental approach takes work just like the physical/mechanical aspects of the swing.
At the age of 9, one of the topics of discussion I had with my DD was about attitude/swagger in the box. You might not have a lot of confidence in yourself at the moment, but why let the pitcher know? If you're in the box looking timid and unsure, the pitcher's confidence goes up. If you're in the box with strong and positive body language, looking like you can't wait to crush the ball, the pitcher might not feel so confident. Even if you aren't so sure on the inside, step into the box like you're the best hitter on that field. Fake it. Fake it well enough that everyone on the field believes it. Sometimes a pre-setup routine helps - tap the outside corners of the plate with the bat, wiggle your rear foot into the dirt, or anything else that triggers a "I'm going to crush the ball" attitude.
As for approach to the actual pitch, the video that FFS posted is excellent. I have quoted/paraphrased the heart of Enquist's speech from that video with every player I have coached. You HAVE to expect that EVERY pitch is going to be one to hit, and get the body prepared to deliver a good swing on time.
Mig demonstrates it beautifully...
Every pitch, his body starts the same, well before he knows where the pitch will be. He doesn't wait to see if it's good before he starts the process - he doesn't have enough time. A good hitter expects to be swinging the bat on every pitch.
- Jun 12, 2015
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OK, and here's one full at bat with several fouls, a ball, and striking out looking.
https://youtu.be/aooCrXbpZww
https://youtu.be/aooCrXbpZww
