Fear of getting beaned

[southpaw coach]

This is going to sound strange, but I have a high average 12U travel player who is afraid of getting hit. She is a good contact hitter, rarely strikes out, bunts very well, but most times she makes contact it's a weakly hit ball. A lot of her base hits are full swing bunts or come off the end of her bat with so much spin the fielders can't handle it. She rarely hits a solid line drive however.

Off a machine she crushes the ball. In the batter's box against a live pitcher she habitually steps in the bucket, sometimes even sweeping her back foot away from the plate before stepping in the bucket. We have tried nailing a 4x4 piece of lumber behind her heels during practice but that hasn't really worked. She will openly admit to being afraid of a live pitcher. I've coached her from 8U and can't recall her ever being beaned so I don't know where this fear is coming from.

Oddly she actually has a high batting average and a high on base percentage. She is short so she gets walked quite a bit and is a good base runner. Any advise on getting her over her fear?

 

[sluggers]

This is going to sound strange, but I have a high average 12U travel player who is afraid of getting hit.

Sounds like she is a rational, intelligent human being. Fear of getting hit by a 50+ MPH pitch thrown by another 12YOA girl makes sense to me. My DD#3 broke a girl's ankle when she was pitching 12U.

BUT:

First, make sure she has a helmet.
Second, teach her how to react. Most coaches don't teach the proper way to react to an inside pitch. For a right handed batter, the batter turns her left side so that her back is facing the pitcher. She then ducks her head under her left shoulder.
Third, practice the skill you taught her by tossing balls at her so she gets hit.

 

[PEPPERS]

I get softballs like the foam balls at Wal-Mart or different sports stores and throw them at the batter, once they get comfortable they can get out of the way of a pitch they get more confident at the plate. We also do dry swings on my call, inside low, inside middle and so on. I also call ball at head, ball at you angles and etc. for them to practice moving out of the way of a pitch.

 

[southpaw coach]

The strange part was that looking at the book and her batting average you would never guess how she really swings.

To both Sluggers and Peppers: Have you found that after doing these drills the player becomes more aggressive at the plate?

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I will repeat the advice that I give over and over to students that come to me, with a story similar to your. Do not have her hit off of a machine again. She may be one of the athletes that that is not helping.

 

[starsnuffer]

Teach her how to get hit. Teach her that you expect her to get hit. Teach her to turn into inside pitches, not flinch away from them.

It's normal to not want to get hit, who does? However, softball is a contact sport and getting beaned is part of the game. Once you teach her to turn into the inside pitches, exposing her large muscles (thigh, butt, back, back of helmet) to the ball instead of her vulnerable areas that get exposed by flinching or stepping out (chest, belly, face), then you can start benching her every time she fails to follow your instructions. Tell her she's a base-hit hitter right now, so she's expected to get on base and take those inside pitches for the team.

-W

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Getting beaned is quite different that getting hit by the pitch. I read this that she is scared of getting hit in the head.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

Teach her to turn into inside pitches, not flinch away from them.

-W

For a right handed batter, she would turn to her right so that her back is facing the pitched ball, correct? When you say "turn into inside pitches" doesn't that expose her body to the pitch, not protect it?

 

[starsnuffer]

Yes, turn to the right. You want it to look like they are "coiling" or loading up and not like they're jumping in front of the ball. Extend the "coil" until the back is turned leaning in slightly.
-W

 

[southpaw coach]

Getting beaned is quite different that getting hit by the pitch. I read this that she is scared of getting hit in the head.

I did mean getting hit in general, not just the head. I know that is the literal meaning but I've always referred to getting hit as getting beaned, right or wrong. Sorry for the confusion.