How to help the girls adjust to a difficult strike zone?

My DD has always had a very good eye. I tend to trust her more than the ump! There have been a few times that she went down watching an outside pitch that was in the opposite batter's box. I told her don't dare be upset over that, I'd be more upset if she swung at it! Bad umpires are a part of the game, just like bad hops and the sun in your eyes.

As to the crying - we have several girls who are very young (not age necessarily - but maturity) who are very hard on themselves. The one girl who was crying the hardest was the one who was up to bat with 2 runners on (tying run on 3rd) and she was called out on a very high pitch. The parents (at least what I hear at the fields) and the coaches are all very supportive. They really never yell - so the crying either comes from stuff we don't see at the field, or it's just because of frustration and disappointment.

The opposing coach is a friend of ours and he came over and talked to us and to one of DD's coaches after the game...(now maybe he was being nice - because he won, but I have know him for 10 years and I think I know him better than that). Anyway, he was commenting on how he thought the strike zone was not consistent. He said the final pitch was ridiculous and he was kind of embarrassed that that is how the game ended. It was cold and windy and starting to spit snow so I think the umpire was just done. And again - not trying to knock umps in general because they have a job I would never want. But this one in particular is a gem (ha).

Thank you for all the responses. DD struggled last year with taking a ball. She is a catcher and said she knows how a good catcher can sometimes "help" a pitch so she was always looking at pitches from that perspective. She had more strike outs than walks last year. She worked very hard at having better pitch selection and now she gets walked a lot because she trusts her batting pitch perspective. So it was especially frustrating for her when she KNEW a pitch wasn't a strike. She did not cry. She knows to save her emotions for the car. All the parents had the girls backs...it was just a frustrating day!

pattar said:

In the spirit of Einstein ("Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler") you have 2 options:

a) Swing at pitches you don't normally swing at
b) Strikeout

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This is what I normally tell our team when encountering this. The only thing I would add to this is:

With two strikes,
a) Swing at pitches you don't normally swing at
b) Strikeout

I don't want them swinging at bad balls early in the count.

CPEM said:

This is what I normally tell our team when encountering this. The only thing I would add to this is:

With two strikes,
a) Swing at pitches you don't normally swing at
b) Strikeout

I don't want them swinging at bad balls early in the count.

Click to expand...

Agreed, but I was trying to be Eisteinien