Mark has some very good points....especially when he talks about the ones with the fire in their belly pushing you and making sure the game is fun for your kids.
Also - sometimes hitting in the game is "different" because now you have to judge whether or not the pitch is a ball or a strike before you swing, whereas in practice you have the green light to just swing off a machine or when working with a tee or when hitting soft toss. If she is uncertain in any way about whether or not she "should" swing, this can also change how she swings. If she is not confident that she should be swinging at a pitch, chances are she won't take a hack at the ball with confidence (or speed).
I have an article about helping hitters get game ready...there may be a thing or two there that catch your eye - article.
Also, like you said, a lot of hitting is mental and there is a cool freebie up at GetSoftballConfidence.com that I am going to have my 11-year-old go through. Will let you know what she and I think of it after she's done.
By the way, I have 5 kids too! My youngest is just 6 months though with the second to the youngest being 3 and my 11-year-old being my oldest.
One more thing, 5'1" and 110 is no where near fat!!!!! I was about that height when I started high school and maybe almost 5'2" when I finished and I was right around 110 when I graduated and I was NOT fat. In my first year in college at the University of Hawaii I gained almost 15 lbs and was somewhere between 122-125 on any given day and was still not fat. Her size does not have to limit her potential in this sport. She will probably end up bigger than me and IS definitely bigger than my daughter who just measured herself at 53 inches and 60lbs this week. She'll be 12 in October. Because of her size I have a really good reason to emphasize fundamentals with her. She MUST use good mechanics to keep up with the bigger stronger girls who can get away with throwing or hitting wrong because of their size (the ball will still get to where it needs to even without proper technique). I think, in the long run, this will work out to be an advantage to my daughter. I just hope she hits a growth spurt soon because at the rate she's going, I don't even know if she'll get as "big" as me.
Also - sometimes hitting in the game is "different" because now you have to judge whether or not the pitch is a ball or a strike before you swing, whereas in practice you have the green light to just swing off a machine or when working with a tee or when hitting soft toss. If she is uncertain in any way about whether or not she "should" swing, this can also change how she swings. If she is not confident that she should be swinging at a pitch, chances are she won't take a hack at the ball with confidence (or speed).
I have an article about helping hitters get game ready...there may be a thing or two there that catch your eye - article.
Also, like you said, a lot of hitting is mental and there is a cool freebie up at GetSoftballConfidence.com that I am going to have my 11-year-old go through. Will let you know what she and I think of it after she's done.
By the way, I have 5 kids too! My youngest is just 6 months though with the second to the youngest being 3 and my 11-year-old being my oldest.
One more thing, 5'1" and 110 is no where near fat!!!!! I was about that height when I started high school and maybe almost 5'2" when I finished and I was right around 110 when I graduated and I was NOT fat. In my first year in college at the University of Hawaii I gained almost 15 lbs and was somewhere between 122-125 on any given day and was still not fat. Her size does not have to limit her potential in this sport. She will probably end up bigger than me and IS definitely bigger than my daughter who just measured herself at 53 inches and 60lbs this week. She'll be 12 in October. Because of her size I have a really good reason to emphasize fundamentals with her. She MUST use good mechanics to keep up with the bigger stronger girls who can get away with throwing or hitting wrong because of their size (the ball will still get to where it needs to even without proper technique). I think, in the long run, this will work out to be an advantage to my daughter. I just hope she hits a growth spurt soon because at the rate she's going, I don't even know if she'll get as "big" as me.
