- Apr 28, 2019
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You could add Steve Sax to that list with Chuck K. as well. Another 2nd baseman who couldn’t buy a good throw to 1st after being a very good 2Bman. I think he had the problem before C.K. but not 100% sure without checking.Hard-core baseball fans will get the reference, but let me explain. Chuck Knoblauch was a second baseman who started his MLB career with the Minnesota Twins. He moved to the Yankees in 1998. He was widely viewed as one of the best second basemen in the game. Then around his ninth year as a big-leaguer, all of a sudden he couldn't throw to first base. You can see lots of videos on YouTube, but his most famous bad throw sailed into the stands and hit Keith Olbermann's mother in the head. He never really recovered. The Yankees used him as a designated hitter and a left fielder, but he was done with the middle infield.
Which brings us to my daughter. She's been playing softball since she was a little kid. Always had a great arm. She's a catcher now. All of a sudden a couple of weeks ago, during a game (we're in GA and right in the middle of school ball), she had a couple of loose throws to the pitcher. Then she completely missed the pitcher. Once or twice, a runner advanced. Then it went away. But now it's back. Sometimes she fires a strike to he pitcher, but sometimes she just pulls the throw and it is ten feet off target. And of course the more she focuses on the problem, the worse it gets. Her confidence is starting to waver. Her throw-downs to second are on target, though. Warming up a pitcher is fine. Its just during a game.
We keep telling her to NOT think about the throws, but of course that's counter-intuitive, I'm curious if anyone here has gone through something like this with your kid and, if so, how did you address it.
Sounds like a mental issue if only happening in games. Have her focus on where she is stepping (directly towards the pitcher) and her arm slot. Is she throwing over the top or dropping down slightly?
The tendency is to lob the ball back to the pitcher during games. Get her doing the same thing every time and get the ball back to the circle with some zip on it. Gives her less time to over think what she thinks she’s doing wrong.