- Apr 13, 2010
- 80
- 0
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?
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?