Suggestions for how to overcome fear of the ball

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Aug 12, 2014
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I'm coaching a 10U rec team and need some tips on how to teach catching the ball, and especially overcoming the fear of the ball. A lot of the girls have the habit of stepping to the side and reaching out for it because they are afraid of getting hit. I'm stumped on how to get them to stay in front of the ball. Anyone have suggestions on what to do?

Thanks.
 
Jun 11, 2013
2,619
113
I used to play a lot of catch with DD with a tennis ball or something soft when she was 7 or so. It got her to believe she could catch anything near her. It was especially good for pop fly training as she would square them up. To be honest though she was never afraid of the ball so I'm not sure that's what did it, but it's worth a shot.
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
Cps does not monitor this site do they?

Armored her up 1st put her against fence and threw balls at her.

More boring think is Mke Cantarties, spelling is wrong, rolling balls at them. See it on utube.
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
I'm coaching a 10U rec team and need some tips on how to teach catching the ball, and especially overcoming the fear of the ball. A lot of the girls have the habit of stepping to the side and reaching out for it because they are afraid of getting hit. I'm stumped on how to get them to stay in front of the ball. Anyone have suggestions on what to do?

Thanks.

Start with softer balls (tennis balls are great) and NO GLOVES and build confidence over time. Move further and further away. Then move to glove - same drill build up. Then start close with a real softball. Some will get it in 5 minutes. Some might take weeks.

Fielding masks or batting helmets are useful as well.


And most importantly - never lie to them and tell them it wont hurt... because it will hurt. You are teaching so they are great at catching so they wont have to worry about it.
 
Jun 29, 2013
589
18
Been there, amigo. Don't expect to solve it in one season, it takes time for a lot of them. Try the tennis balls, or softer balls where they have to catch it barehanded. But the best thing that I did (meaning that it actually worked, kind of) was forcing the kids who were struggling to play with other kids who were extremely accurate, and most importantly having them step towards the ball when they were receiving. For my kid I had a deal, $.50 for her for every time she stepped towards me when I threw, she wed me $.25 every time she stepped to the side and $.50 if she stepped backwards, and nobody owed anything to anyone if she stood her ground and caught it. I ended up owing her $10 one night and never had to try this again.
 
Feb 3, 2016
502
43
Drilled the DD with a short hopper a month ago and after the 5 minute session rolling on the ground and the chalk silhouette it still took around 2 weeks of not getting in front of the ball. If you glove it the ball won't hit you! Reps, Reps, Reps to grow confidence.
 
Last edited:
Feb 13, 2018
162
28
With my rec ball girls, at the beginning of the season I actually played catch with each of them. I would throw 3 balls to each one and rotate them through. I did this because when they play catch with each other they spent more time chasing balls than they did doing anything, so I felt as if we used time better this way. As the season went on, they progressed well and then started playing catch with each other.

My DD struggles to catch and steps away from the ball every time I throw it to her. In fact, she steps away before the ball even leaves my hand lol. At the end of us playing catch one day, I told her every time she moves away she loses a point, and everytime she doesn't step away and catches the ball, she gets a point. If she doesn't step away and still doesn't make the catch she doesn't lose or gain points. We played to 10 and didn't stop until she got there!
 
Feb 13, 2018
162
28
Also, we did some drills where we tossed the ball to them to have them make throws from different angles. They had to catch the ball and step and throw. They did pretty well, and I felt like since they had next thing to do they weren't as focused on being afraid of the ball.
 

Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,044
113
I coached Rec teams when DD was younger, and it is REALLY hard to teach a kid to catch well in a short time period. If they aren't regularly playing catch with someone away from practice, they won't get better. I was throwing socks at DD when she was four, and moved onto those soft pool balls. In the pool, she quickly got to the point where she could regularly catch those one-handed. When we started with the ball and glove, I purposefully threw it a bit to her glove side so it would fly over her shoulder if she missed it. By the the time she was ten, I was throwing them far harder than anything she'd see on a ballfield. Now, she throws as hard as I do.

Anyway, Jugs Lite-Flite pitching machine balls may work for you. Make them play catch without gloves for awhile.
 

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