Daughter is playing too tight

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Jun 27, 2018
291
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DD moved to a new high school. She knows some of the girls. She’s a catcher. The new team has an established catcher. They are friends. My daughter actually likes her a lot. That’s not the problem. She would be willing to play another position. Coach doesn’t seem willing to let her play another position. Ok I get it, she’s got an established team. The problem is my daughter is putting so much pressure on herself to crack the line up she’s suddenly a mental mess. I think part of it is she’s overthinking everything. She’s always been a confident power hitter. Last year at her old school she was a big hitter all year. This year she’s freezing at the plate suddenly. She says she’s not sure why, she’s thinking swing and then doesn’t. I think part of it is, she is at least for now the DH. She’s afraid of losing that. Coach told the team she wants to win. She doesn’t care if the girls have good or bad attitudes, she putting out the best 9 regardless of their attitude. Today she was told if she doesn’t swing she’s getting pulled. She’s so worried about it. I have to help her reset her mind. She hasn’t been able to get to her hitting coach because he is a college coach and this time of year his schedule is tight. She played two innings of defense only in a scrimmage game and did fine. Hasn’t seen the field since then. The other catcher is good and my daughter is also a very good catcher but she just isn’t doing anything to special that’s different. So i know she’s not knocking out the starter unless she does something completely better. . Both girls are solid. So she was embracing the role of DH and hoping at some point she would get a chance to play some defense. But her problem is now, her usual confident hitting self is also gone. Any advice? She is getting the tee out now that the weather is finally breaking to get in a lot of extra swings.


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Sep 19, 2018
928
93
I can't say that I know anything that will help. But, I liked this book a lot.

https://www.amazon.com/Mental-Keys-Hitting-Performance-Enhancement-ebook/dp/B006QUVDOU

It has been a long time since I've read it but two things that stuck with me

1) confidence through preparation
2) Seeing the ball and focus

I for sure don't know what is in her head, it kind of sounds like at this point both confidence and focus could be issues she is dealing with right now.

cmn
 

Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,044
113
Sounds like another "winner" HS coach.

Get her outside and hit the ball...just you and her. Find a field big enough so you both can see how far the ball traveled.

T-work...soft toss...and front toss...don't forget the pitching screen!
 
Feb 4, 2015
641
28
Massachusetts
See if she can change her mindset. Right now it seems she's thinking about herself and what she wants, which is natural. But it also puts a tremendous amount of internal pressure on herself. And regardless of what she does, she still may or may not break into a starter role.

Have her read this and really think about it. What does it mean to be part of a team and a good teammate? How can she help the team even if she never becomes a starter? And can she maybe be just as happy, but in a different way? Changing her focus from herself to the team may be just the change she needs in order to relax and start to let things happen.

https://thegameknows.wordpress.com/2016/05/30/the-game-knows/
 
Jun 27, 2018
291
28
She’s ok with not being a starter. She just wants to a chance to see the field even as a back up catcher sometimes. This coach isn’t giving her any reps at all in situation practice. And I’m not kidding, both catchers are good. No disrespect to number 1. So we understand she’s not going to displace number 1. Why wouldn’t you at least practice your number 2? She’s accepted that on this team right now she’s DH. That’s fine. She gets a ton of playing time with her tournament team. No attitude problem either. In fact she might be to passive. Is it unreasonable to hope for some reps to stay sharp for tournament season? Also her head is in a better place today hitting wise. On a positive note, She’s confident she will hit better next game.


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Dec 15, 2018
809
93
CT
See if she can change her mindset. Right now it seems she's thinking about herself and what she wants, which is natural. But it also puts a tremendous amount of internal pressure on herself. And regardless of what she does, she still may or may not break into a starter role.

Have her read this and really think about it. What does it mean to be part of a team and a good teammate? How can she help the team even if she never becomes a starter? And can she maybe be just as happy, but in a different way? Changing her focus from herself to the team may be just the change she needs in order to relax and start to let things happen.

https://thegameknows.wordpress.com/2016/05/30/the-game-knows/

Thanks for that link. I spent 4 years on the bench on a D1 baseball team (I did pinch run in the bottom of the eighth on senior day in a 16-1 loss to Clemson...I went 1st to 3rd on a single to right, subsequently was nearly picked off at third, and was replaced by another pinch run senior pitcher)...and wouldn’t have traded those 4 years for the world. Definitely about the mindset. Do anything/everything for your teammates and they’ll do the same for you. I have some great stories about what they did for me, and I wasn’t close to sniffing a starting role.
 
Mar 8, 2016
313
63
If you can use the high school field take her over to hit and throw pitches to her sweet spot. Once she hits several over it should remind her that she can hit and how much fun it is to be in the batters box. It is amazing what hitting some homeruns will do for the mental state of a power hitter. If you can go at a time when the wind is blowing out even better. Just remember to be her dad and not her batting coach during this time. DW has to remind me that sometimes i need to just be the supportive dad and not critique things.
Confidence will not fix bad mechanics but lack of confidence will ruin good mechanics.

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Jun 27, 2018
291
28
Thank you everyone. She talked to her hitting coach. She can help the team by being a hitter and she always is talking up her teammates anyway. She feels better. She’s going to talk to the high school coach on Monday to ask if she can get into the situational practices. Just so she feels part of the process. I honestly never saw a team that doesn’t run all players through situations at practice. Maybe this is common at high school? Probably definitely at college.


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May 8, 2019
9
1
DD moved to a new high school. She knows some of the girls. She’s a catcher. The new team has an established catcher. They are friends. My daughter actually likes her a lot. That’s not the problem. She would be willing to play another position. Coach doesn’t seem willing to let her play another position. Ok I get it, she’s got an established team. The problem is my daughter is putting so much pressure on herself to crack the line up she’s suddenly a mental mess. I think part of it is she’s overthinking everything. She’s always been a confident power hitter. Last year at her old school she was a big hitter all year. This year she’s freezing at the plate suddenly. She says she’s not sure why, she’s thinking swing and then doesn’t. I think part of it is, she is at least for now the DH. She’s afraid of losing that. Coach told the team she wants to win. She doesn’t care if the girls have good or bad attitudes, she putting out the best 9 regardless of their attitude. Today she was told if she doesn’t swing she’s getting pulled. She’s so worried about it. I have to help her reset her mind. She hasn’t been able to get to her hitting coach because he is a college coach and this time of year his schedule is tight. She played two innings of defense only in a scrimmage game and did fine. Hasn’t seen the field since then. The other catcher is good and my daughter is also a very good catcher but she just isn’t doing anything to special that’s different. So i know she’s not knocking out the starter unless she does something completely better. . Both girls are solid. So she was embracing the role of DH and hoping at some point she would get a chance to play some defense. But her problem is now, her usual confident hitting self is also gone. Any advice? She is getting the tee out now that the weather is finally breaking to get in a lot of extra swings.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Good keep it up
 
Dec 1, 2019
19
3
See if she can change her mindset. Right now it seems she's thinking about herself and what she wants, which is natural. But it also puts a tremendous amount of internal pressure on herself. And regardless of what she does, she still may or may not break into a starter role.

Have her read this and really think about it. What does it mean to be part of a team and a good teammate? How can she help the team even if she never becomes a starter? And can she maybe be just as happy, but in a different way? Changing her focus from herself to the team may be just the change she needs in order to relax and start to let things happen.

https://thegameknows.wordpress.com/2016/05/30/the-game-knows/
Great article, thank you !
 

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