DD Regressing in the infield

[stickpile39]

Hey all,

10U DD making leap to 12U next spring, currently working 2-3 times a week with 12U tournament team.

I've noticed DD is shying away from the ball, backing up, lunging, taking poor angles. The reaction time seems very slow as well. I'm thinking there is a lack of confidence/fear of the ball developing. She does wear a faceguard.

I almost feel like I need to break everything down to basics and start from scratch. Any suggestions on where to begin, drills, mindset etc. ?

Thanks

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Yes. The Howard Kobata dvds. If he can't fire her up. No one can.

I would also have her throw against a wall or a pitch back. Have you had the "Do you want to play?" talk with her?

 

[humpty]

I second that notion. Kobata. I saw a YouTube video that made sense for building confidence in fielding. do drills with a stationary ball(not moving) to work on footwork and technique. Then move on to a rolled ball. Then onto a hit ball. Work on all the different scenarios and different throws.

 

[Greenmonsters]

With 12U she will be seeing harder hit balls. Kobata is good advice. Also make sure that she's good w/ her vision and doesn't need glasses/contacts as that can be an underlying cause when things go south inexplicably.

 

[stickpile39]

With 12U she will be seeing harder hit balls. Kobata is good advice. Also make sure that she's good w/ her vision and doesn't need glasses/contacts as that can be an underlying cause when things go south inexplicably.

Thanks everyone. She wants to play, no issue there. The vision thing is indeed an issue. She is on her 2nd prescription for myopia, and she has just started playing with sports glasses. Perhaps an adjustment period is in order? She claims she is picking the ball up properly. I'm a bit perplexed.

 

[RichK]

Thanks everyone. She wants to play, no issue there. The vision thing is indeed an issue. She is on her 2nd prescription for myopia, and she has just started playing with sports glasses. Perhaps an adjustment period is in order? She claims she is picking the ball up properly. I'm a bit perplexed.

Happens like clockwork for almost every player I've ever seen, every two years they move up and the game gets faster balls hit harder pressure is a little bit more. This fall our shortstop who excelled at 14U suddenly we moved up to 16U and you could see her stranded out on an island out there just struggling with things that used to come easy for her...it happens....just work with her in the ways described above until she gets her comfort level back.....per Kobata, focus on working through the ball...

 

[stickpile39]

Happens like clockwork for almost every player I've ever seen, every two years they move up and the game gets faster balls hit harder pressure is a little bit more. This fall our shortstop who excelled at 14U suddenly we moved up to 16U and you could see her stranded out on an island out there just struggling with things that used to come easy for her...it happens....just work with her in the ways described above until she gets her comfort level back.....per Kobata, focus on working through the ball...

This is also a great point. Two things are at play here. She is the youngest and the least experienced on her tournament team AND she is practicing with 12U and 14U. These two things will expose her a bit. Also, I think there is a bit of intimidation setting in, although she would never admit it. I'll check out this Kobata stuff and get her fired up!

Thanks

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Thanks everyone. She wants to play, no issue there. The vision thing is indeed an issue. She is on her 2nd prescription for myopia, and she has just started playing with sports glasses. Perhaps an adjustment period is in order? She claims she is picking the ball up properly. I'm a bit perplexed.

I've seen a bunch of kids "start" to have problems that they didn't have before, and vision was usually the cause................and a much easier fix.

 

[tjintx]

DD has developed bad case of game-day anxiety. She's on a new team that plays at a high level so pressure is always on.
Her mistakes are being compounded by thoughts of past errors to the point that her stomach hurts. she actually considered quitting TB all together trying to get away from her feelings. I assured her that quitting would be a mistake and running away from fear instead of facing it is the wrong thing to do.
Now we need help from you experienced coaches and parents. How do we help her cope with and overcome these feelings? We need to rebuild her confidence and assure her that mistakes happen to everyone. She puts the weight of the teams losses on her shoulders. I feel somewhat to blame as I told her when the team wins she should point out what her teammates did well and when the team loses she should look at her own performance and no one else's after the game. she may have misinterpreted this.

 

[CoachKevin]

DD has developed bad case of game-day anxiety. She's on a new team that plays at a high level so pressure is always on.
Her mistakes are being compounded by thoughts of past errors to the point that her stomach hurts. she actually considered quitting TB all together trying to get away from her feelings. I assured her that quitting would be a mistake and running away from fear instead of facing it is the wrong thing to do.
Now we need help from you experienced coaches and parents. How do we help her cope with and overcome these feelings? We need to rebuild her confidence and assure her that mistakes happen to everyone. She puts the weight of the teams losses on her shoulders. I feel somewhat to blame as I told her when the team wins she should point out what her teammates did well and when the team loses she should look at her own performance and no one else's after the game. she may have misinterpreted this.

Oh, while I understand what you were trying to convey to her, that probably wasn't the best way. See what if she WAS the major player that caused the team to win? You have just disregarded what she did. Or what if she did go 3-3 and didn't commit any errors in the loss, what could she have done better?

The other day my DD pitching for her Varsity team lost 4-1, and while she received the loss on her record, 3 of the 4 runs were unearned. What can you say? I didn't ask her to look at her own performance, I told her that players are not out there intentionally missing balls. Things happen within the game and I also told her that I was proud of the way she pitched. That was it, nothing more.