Great in the cages, terrible at the plate

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Oct 4, 2016
176
18
Hi all - my daughter is struggling mightily at the plate. She has been going to a well respected hitting coach for a year and has a nice swing and looks great in short toss and tee work but when she gets to the game she either freezes and watches good pitches go by or just completely whiffs. When she does connect she's hit one bouncers to the fence (she's 11 playing u10). I think she's taking her eye off the ball at the last minute in addition to just being off with her timing. She will be starting her second full season of travel (team is staying down) and previously played rec ball (coach pitch after 4 balls thrown by player pitcher). At this point her confidence is very low and I can tell that she's thinking, "Don't strike out" more than she's thinking positively.

I also think she just hasn't had enough live pitching situations. Team doesn't have a pitching machine so in practice it's usually just a few at bats for all the girls and that's it. I've been trying to get out and throw her pitches with whatever speed I can get on an underhand pitch and go through a few buckets of balls a week and going to a pitching machine batting cage when possible but with her being a pitcher, a lot of our time is spent working on the mound.

I've had to discontinue the lessons due to work constraints plus I'm just not seeing results on the field. I plan to restart those but I need recommendations on what more I can do to help her get it going again. What has worked for any of you?

Thanks in advance!
 
Feb 4, 2015
641
28
Massachusetts
Get her a tee and a bow net. Lessons won't help if she's not swinging a little every day and putting the lessons into practice so that the mechanics are developing.

In the games, have her focus on getting in three good swings at every at bat, and not worry about the results. It's not uncommon at this age for them to still be learning timing, good pitch selection, and the right amount of aggressiveness. Get her swinging and not worrying about results. And keep telling her what a great swing she has until she believes it herself.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
Hi all - my daughter is struggling mightily at the plate. She has been going to a well respected hitting coach for a year and has a nice swing and looks great in short toss and tee work ...
Somebodies going to do it so I might as well...videos??
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
I like older girls pitching so call MS, HS or see if there is older players in organization that will pitch to her. School player might do it for free but always give them a few bucks.

Go to field and hit a bunch.

Once DD gets her timing down she can clober balls in cages, not anti cages but she needs to hit off live pitchers too.
 
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Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
I'll hold off on putting up videos for now. I think I'm looking more for ideas of how to help her practice more than changing the swing for now. Thanks!

Well, the best way to practice may depend on her swing so...Anyway if you are saying she isn't swinging at good pitches then a mindset change is necessary. Have her go up there
assuming she is going to swing at every pitch. The decision to NOT swing should be a last millisecond thing...The reason she could be whiffing when does swing (assuming her mechanics are fine..) could be that
she is waiting too long to decide to swing and because of this she has to rush everything leading to poor swing mechanics. Again a game video would be helpful to see how her timing is regarding coordinating her swing
movements, even if you only look at it yourself and don't share.
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,105
0
Portland, OR
Hi all - my daughter is struggling mightily at the plate. She has been going to a well respected hitting coach for a year and has a nice swing and looks great in short toss and tee work but when she gets to the game she either freezes and watches good pitches go by or just completely whiffs. When she does connect she's hit one bouncers to the fence (she's 11 playing u10). I think she's taking her eye off the ball at the last minute in addition to just being off with her timing. She will be starting her second full season of travel (team is staying down) and previously played rec ball (coach pitch after 4 balls thrown by player pitcher). At this point her confidence is very low and I can tell that she's thinking, "Don't strike out" more than she's thinking positively.

I also think she just hasn't had enough live pitching situations. Team doesn't have a pitching machine so in practice it's usually just a few at bats for all the girls and that's it. I've been trying to get out and throw her pitches with whatever speed I can get on an underhand pitch and go through a few buckets of balls a week and going to a pitching machine batting cage when possible but with her being a pitcher, a lot of our time is spent working on the mound.

I've had to discontinue the lessons due to work constraints plus I'm just not seeing results on the field. I plan to restart those but I need recommendations on what more I can do to help her get it going again. What has worked for any of you?

Thanks in advance!

You stated clearly that your daughter "hasn't had enough live pitching situations".

You followed up with excuses ... e.g., no pitching machine, only a few at-bats during team practices, spending time pitching at the expense of hitting, work constraints, etc..

Life is about the choices and the scarifies you make or don't make. You stated clearly that your daughter doesn't face enough pitching situations. You were wise enough to recognize that your daughter's team practice, like most team practices, doesn't provide enough at-bats to become proficient. Seems like you walked yourself dangerously close to getting yourself involved and pitching to your daughter. Unfortunately you are too busy to put in the extra effort and set a good example for your daughter. In a nutshell, that is part of the message behind youth sports. She's not getting involved in youth sports to become a pro softball player. More it's about learning that she has control of her life ... that her focused extra efforts improve her chances of success in life ... that success in life doesn't come easy, and often it comes down to putting in extra effort to succeed, and not expecting success to come simply from attending practices. It comes from putting in extra effort ... show her the way ... or don't show her the way ... it's your choice as the parent.

In a subsequent post you wrote that you were "looking more for ideas of how to help her practice more than changing the swing for now." One way to do that is to pitch to her.
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
Hitting is always interesting, fastest pitcher she ever faced and she looked like she knew what she was doing. Always fun when defense backs up.

This weekend, who knows. I think soccer might be a better sport.

As long as they hit ball hard not concerned about hits.

About 1/2 way through this season coach got hung up on called 3rd strikes. Not acceptable. We swing a some bad pitches which is Ok but no called 3rd strikes anymore.

(She is also young enough were a spring loaded or sling shot machine will work for her. About $200. should be able to get 75% of money back when it doesn't throw fast enough in a few years)
 
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