- Jan 14, 2015
- 95
- 0
1. Make sure the players has a decent glove, one that is broken in & the girl can handle. Some new gloves for younger kids (Wilson) are made of a nice soft leather that feels like it is already broken in. They are not overly expensive either.
2. Use an 11" real softball.
3. Throw the ball right to her glove, every time, over and over again. Have her hold it off to the side a little, and hit her glove. The glove and weight of the ball will do the rest.
4. Throw the ball with a little speed as this will reduce the time she can think about the throw, and it will go right in.
5. Before too long, she will be having a catch with you.
6. Once she starts smiling with her success, tell her where you are going to throw it and have her move the glove to the ball. For instance, tell her which side of her body, high or low, etc.
7. After you do a few of those, stop. Tell what a great job she did, go inside, have a snack and talk about whatever while she plays with her glove and ball.
One of the keys is to tell her what you are going to do. Tell her you are going to throw the ball to the glove to help her out till she is confident the glove will actually catch the ball. Tell her when you are going to start moving the throw around. Physically show her how to move the glove to catch the ball on the opposite side of the body, or down low, etc. Then throw the ball to those areas. Take any unknowns or items she needs to think about out of the process, this will help her focus on just moving the glove and catching the ball.
I don't recommend she hold the glove directly in front of her as she may flinch. Wait till she works up to that.
I don't recommend tennis balls or other similar balls because they will bounce out of the glove, and could actually be a confidence killer when she can't hold it in the glove.
2. Use an 11" real softball.
3. Throw the ball right to her glove, every time, over and over again. Have her hold it off to the side a little, and hit her glove. The glove and weight of the ball will do the rest.
4. Throw the ball with a little speed as this will reduce the time she can think about the throw, and it will go right in.
5. Before too long, she will be having a catch with you.
6. Once she starts smiling with her success, tell her where you are going to throw it and have her move the glove to the ball. For instance, tell her which side of her body, high or low, etc.
7. After you do a few of those, stop. Tell what a great job she did, go inside, have a snack and talk about whatever while she plays with her glove and ball.
One of the keys is to tell her what you are going to do. Tell her you are going to throw the ball to the glove to help her out till she is confident the glove will actually catch the ball. Tell her when you are going to start moving the throw around. Physically show her how to move the glove to catch the ball on the opposite side of the body, or down low, etc. Then throw the ball to those areas. Take any unknowns or items she needs to think about out of the process, this will help her focus on just moving the glove and catching the ball.
I don't recommend she hold the glove directly in front of her as she may flinch. Wait till she works up to that.
I don't recommend tennis balls or other similar balls because they will bounce out of the glove, and could actually be a confidence killer when she can't hold it in the glove.