Strike outs

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Jan 5, 2018
385
63
PNW
Not sure her age - but sounds like minimally a soph on a Varsity HS program so 18U eligible.

The short answer at this age: No; this is on her now. She has to figure this out herself; if she even thinks it is a problem. If you stop trying to micromanage how she plays you (and her) will enjoy this more. Having parents chirp on about striking out is as likley to annoy her and stress her more and make it worse; not better. If she asks for help, great; now you can talk through approach because she asked.

My DD expects to strike out on occasion because she also expects that she is going to crank a couple over or to the fence to make up for it; and as long as the pitcher is quality she can live with getting fooled by a good pitch. A strike out doesn't bother her at all - she just figures she will get the pitcher next time. Travel pitchers/travel hitters - sometimes you get them, sometimes they get you.

Second - if you can intentionally 'foul off 2 strike pitches' then you might as well intentionally square the ball up and hit it fair. Fouling off 2 strike pitches are just you trying to hit what you think is a strike. That is just hitting. Fouling it off just means you didn't get the contact you wanted 99% of the time.

Love these:

A strike out doesn't bother her at all - she just figures she will get the pitcher next time

you might as well intentionally square the ball up and hit it fair.


so much of this is about attitude and expectations. Expect to get a hit...but if you don't have the right attitude about it..... Reggie jackson is MLB all time strike out leader....yet we don't remember him for that. We remember him for being clutch and 'Mr. October'. He knew that for every 10 K's he hit a home run. His attitude if he struck out....I'm one more strikeout closer to another home run. Perspective and Attitude towards the situation...
 
May 23, 2015
999
63
Reggie jackson is MLB all time strike out leader....yet we don't remember him for that.
There are some huge names on the all time strikeout list. Plenty of hall members

Cy Young is the losingest pitcher in MLB history but the award named after him is for the best pitcher. Ryan is 2nd or 3rd on the list

You better get use to failure and parents better embrace it because it will run you down and defeat you
 
Jun 11, 2013
2,619
113
I don't have a problem with the occasional called strike 3 especially if it's a bad call. People who chase pitches are easy to get out. You don't even have to throw them a strike. In the majors the best hitters take that 2 strike slider but sometimes get fooled and will take strike 3 but they couldn't hit it anyway. Simply putting a ball in play is really not that hard but the goal of hitting is to get hits not to not strike out.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
I wouldn't mention it anymore. Whatever you told her (if anything...) before she starting slumping tell her the same thing now. If she (and you) starts getting in her head it will only make it worse..
 
Aug 27, 2019
640
93
Lakewood CA.
Don’t change your swing regardless of the count. Just be much less picky with 2 strikes.

If once she gets 2 strikes on her and she starts to think “don’t strike out!” and then the swing changes from her normal swing, that is a recipe for weak dribblers back to the pitcher.

With a runner on first a strike out is not as bad as a dribbler to the pitcher (easy DP).

My DD used to never strike out. But she was a terrible 2 strike hitter. She was “afraid” to strike out. Lots of contact but easy outs. Her hitting has improved DRAMATICALLY after her hitting coach taught her to not be afraid to swing and miss.


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Jun 10, 2018
55
18
NY
I agree with marriard, you should back off and stop bothering her about it. You have gotten in her head. Let her figure it out.
 
Apr 20, 2018
4,581
113
SoCal
I have always told my kids that the only unforgivable sin in softball is to strike out looking. I'm a big put the ball in play guy, so I guess that makes me old school.

Here are some random thoughts -
1. Have a two strike approach. By this I mean get off the knob of the bat, shorten up the swing, get a little closer to the plate, spread the feet a bit, and expand the zone. Yes, you are going to sacrifice some power. For me, it's worth it if it helps get the ball in play.

2. You have to practice this. Every front toss session with my kids includes a two strike approach time. It may just be four or five swings or it may be a full bucket. But, we work on this every time we hit.

3. Make sure you DD is studying the game. How has the pitcher been pitching with two strikes? Does she automatically go to her rise when she gets ahead in the count for example? Having an idea which pitch is her "out" pitch can be a huge advantage when behind in the count.

In my case, we don't spend a ton of time talking about fouling off pitches. We talk making contact with 2 strikes. If they foul off a pitcher's pitch then that's great, but our main objective with 2 strikes is contact.
BIngo! This should/could start at 12u! Cheering is important but let's say you are batting 6th and nobody on your team has gotten a hit so far then it is time to focus/study and give yourself a chance.
 
Aug 10, 2016
686
63
Georgia
To be clear - we don't care if she strikes out but it's the called third strike that is concerning to us. It's been her weakness for years - that she thinks she knows the strike zone better than the ump. The only thing we ever really say is - anything close - she needs to be willing to swing the bat because you just never know. She's been mostly right most of the time or lucky - since she has a very low strike-out rate. But senior pitchers are going to just be better. She plays 16U travel and most teams we are up against are 18U so she's seen her fair share of them.

But I think HS ball is more pressure to her because we have like 16 on the roster and only 9 can play - so she's still earning her spot. Travel was easy since she always played so not doing well at a couple of at-bats wasn't going to hurt her.

We really do try to back off and not hound her about it - because I don't want to stress her out either. I keep telling my husband that it happens to even great players but he thinks she should never get called out looking.
 
May 23, 2015
999
63
Everyone gets called out looking. Anxiety is real you don't want to let your team down but you do. We all freeze.

I preach a military adage. You always revert to your lowest level of training. Its always held true
 

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