DD can't see the ball!

[Goober]

My DD (9) suddenly can't see the ball. She's fine playing catch, but hitting - she's missing by a foot. A couple weeks ago she was one of the few girls that could hit the ball out of the infield - most in her group hit grounders to the infield that might sneak through. She hit them in the air to the OF. Now, the last maybe 10-12 AB's she has struck out without making contact: swinging early, swinging at pitches that bounce in front of the plate, etc.

Now, I did find out after taking her to the eye doctor (a yearly visit, not something special because she wasn't hitting) that she needs stronger glasses (she wears them while hitting), but not a huge change in prescription. Her new glasses should be in next week.

I had kind of hoped that taking a bit of a break (she has practice twice a week, and we go in the back yard and pitch and hit most other days) would have helped, as we had a mini-vacation (long 5 day weekend) where she didn't do any softball, but she went right back to practice and struck out 3 times in a row, not making contact at all. Advice?

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Getting her eyes checked was the right thing to do.

Maybe she doesn't want to play. Is she asking you to practice with her or are you telling her when to practice?

Or maybe she is just being over coached on hitting. Good luck. I hope that she is just in a slump.

 

[Goober]

She's the one telling me it's time to practice (we set 10 am for "softball time"). It's funny, she was doing okay - hitting about as well as every other kid, then she started hitting really well for a couple weeks (all that was said was to swing through the ball rather than a short swing that stopped just out front), and she started raking. Now this...

 

[softballphreak]

Have her bunt during live pitch practice. If she can bunt ok, have her hit. Every time she misses a hit, the next time she bunts. Keep hitting consecutively as long as she hits.

Another thing I have players do if they are missing is have them swing over the ball, the under the ball, then hit the ball on the third pitch. In other words miss on purpose over and under; then hit. This usually works pretty quickly.

Yet another is have them bump the ball at POC without a follow through.

 

[jinjet95]

Did the eye exam include testing the eye muscles to ensure they're working together? That's about the same age my daughter developed something called convergence excess, which is where one eye turns too far when tracking an object coming toward her. It was affecting her depth perception. She would "lose" the ball about 2 feet in front of the plate. She went through what amounts to physical therapy for her eye muscles and is hitting fine now. Her fielding was never affected. There are many common issues with eye muscles that don't affect day to day functioning, but can be limiting in sports.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Jinjet95: Just an FYI ... tracking the ball to within 2ft of the plate is exceptionally good. It's considered extremely good (professional level) to be able to track the ball to within 6ft of the plate.

Goober: Post a clip and folks can comment on your daughter's mechanics.

 

[jinjet95]

FFS - thank you, I'm always learning something new here. 2 ft in front of the plate was her description at 9 - so I can't guarantee that she really saw the ball until then. She wasn't having trouble in school, but we'd ask her if she could see the ball and she'd say yes. We found out later that she was really only seeing the ball partway to the plate. It would literally disappear from her sight momentarily. It was in a routine eye exam that the doctor mentioned the issue. It sure explained why she went from having the highest batting average on the team to one of the lowest. I'm happy to report at 14U, she's doing fine and batting leadoff. If it is a sudden problem with Goober's DD, it's questionable it's a convergence issue, but it's worth checking.

 

[SBdad]

Here's a soft toss machine you might want to try (even after your DD gets her glasses). Beebe Sports Inc. This machine will definitely help improve hand-eye corrdination and help improve a kids hitting.

To use, a person steps on launch pad to toss the ball in the air. Keep front foot on launch pad (after ball is launched), load up, then swing as ball starts back down. Make sure machine is adjusted to toss the ball to the correct height for the batter, then this will give the batter time to load up and ready to swing as ball comes down into strike zone. (Works similar to a person throwing a ball in the air to themself and hitting it as it comes back down, or hitting from someone soft tossing. Only difference is, the machine tosses the ball up.)
At first some kids tend to swing too early and pop the ball up. After they get on to it, then they start making good contact with the ball. Kids can definitely tell when they slightly mis hit the ball on this machine, so it makes them focus more on keeping their eyes on the ball and timing it just right as it comes down into the strike zone.

This machine can also be adjusted to toss whiffle balls to a desired height. This would also be a good machine to use, for people that like to use the Insider Bat to practice with.