My son has been practicing for 6 months for our softball season which starts in a few weeks and he’s starting to pitch strikes with good consistancy but if gets rattled about anything its proving hard to get him back in the zone. How do you get a 10 yr old to refocus if he loses composure.
How to regain composure
- Thread starter Egor
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Have him develop a routine every pitch. If he has a consistent routine, it may help him focus on the routine and not the situation. Won't cure it, but will help. The only other thing is experience. When things get tough, he will be able to rely on his past good experiences to get him through. It will be up and down for awhile though. Not going to change for awhile.
I think Papelbon might be asking that same question after he gave up the game tying hit last night... to only follow it up with a game losing hit. What I tell my daughter is practice hard. You don't have to over-practice, but practice hard. When you are done, tell yourself if it was a good practice or bad practice, and why... carry that on to your next practice. Then when it's game time, I tell her, it doesn't matter, you prepared the best that you could, with the tools you had. If you feel that you didn't, I'm sorry, now isn't the time to fix that, that will be at your next practice.
I am a true believer that on the field actions are a direct reflection of how you practice. Practice is much deeper than a simple scrimmage, or just a bunch of drills. To me, practice is a time to actually think about the game, slow it down, talk it out. Then, in the game, the moments hopefully won't feel so fast. Teach kids how to evaluate each play before the pitch is thrown...slow the game down.
I am a true believer that on the field actions are a direct reflection of how you practice. Practice is much deeper than a simple scrimmage, or just a bunch of drills. To me, practice is a time to actually think about the game, slow it down, talk it out. Then, in the game, the moments hopefully won't feel so fast. Teach kids how to evaluate each play before the pitch is thrown...slow the game down.
Of course, a 10YOA boy is going to have those problems. Part of it is simply maturity.
But, I think having a plan on how to approach a problem, and then getting him to focus on executing the plan, are the keys.
If you don't work with him on location during practice (i.e., how to move the ball up and down, left and right) then he isn't going to be able to do anything during the game...which means he becomes frustrated.
But, I think having a plan on how to approach a problem, and then getting him to focus on executing the plan, are the keys.
If you don't work with him on location during practice (i.e., how to move the ball up and down, left and right) then he isn't going to be able to do anything during the game...which means he becomes frustrated.
- Aug 19, 2011
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Everybody is different. With my DD, it's not so much a matter of regaining composure as of not losing it in the first place. Live one pitch at a time. After every pitch, turn the page. My DD had a rough start, was pitching in games the same week she learned the full pitch and it's hard to relax and trust your fundamentals when you don't have any. I asked my DD when she was worried about not doing well if she could live with a game where, every single pitch, she had done her best. She couldn't be guaranteed a win, or even that a particular pitch would be a strike, but she could be guaranteed that every pitch was the best she could do at that moment. Would it help to relax, knowing ahead of time that at the end you could look in the mirror and know you'd done the best you could? Yes, she said. I said, ok, you've got it. Every pitch, start fresh, and do your best. So that's our deal, just turn the page, every pitch is a first pitch. If you focus on mistakes you get more and better mistakes, so focus on what you WANT to happen.
We also have a confidence bottle. Every time something goes really well -- we have a great practice or she throws a perfect changeup or has a great game -- I tell her to put that in her confidence bottle and pour some out when she needs it.
We also have a confidence bottle. Every time something goes really well -- we have a great practice or she throws a perfect changeup or has a great game -- I tell her to put that in her confidence bottle and pour some out when she needs it.
halskinner
Banned
- May 7, 2008
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Now you will get the facts.
There is only one persom that can control the pitcher and pull their focus back to the business end of the pitcher's position, THE CATCHER! As soon as the catcher sses thqat someone or something is distraxting the pitcher from the strike zone and the catcher, the catcher must take immediate steps to get the pitcher's attention back on the catcher.
Parents in the stands cannot help him. Coaches cannot help him. Only the catcher can pull his focus back to where it must be for him to succeed. Every great catcher has done this for their pitchers and their team.
Even if the catcher has to insult the pitcher and piss him off, if that is what it takes to get their attention back on the plate, THEN BY GOD, THAT IS WHAT IT TAKES!
Work with your catcher and make sure HE understands that if the pitcher starts to lose composure and control, the catcher must immediately take control and snap him back to attention. And dont be subtle about it. Be large, in charge and loud and dont be afraid to tell ANYONE ELSE to be quiet and let you do your job!
There is only one persom that can control the pitcher and pull their focus back to the business end of the pitcher's position, THE CATCHER! As soon as the catcher sses thqat someone or something is distraxting the pitcher from the strike zone and the catcher, the catcher must take immediate steps to get the pitcher's attention back on the catcher.
Parents in the stands cannot help him. Coaches cannot help him. Only the catcher can pull his focus back to where it must be for him to succeed. Every great catcher has done this for their pitchers and their team.
Even if the catcher has to insult the pitcher and piss him off, if that is what it takes to get their attention back on the plate, THEN BY GOD, THAT IS WHAT IT TAKES!
Work with your catcher and make sure HE understands that if the pitcher starts to lose composure and control, the catcher must immediately take control and snap him back to attention. And dont be subtle about it. Be large, in charge and loud and dont be afraid to tell ANYONE ELSE to be quiet and let you do your job!
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Thanks for the advice everyone. There are some great ideas to follow up. Our practices have been pretty structured with drills but I will slow things down a bit and spend a bit of time on trying to develop a routine and evaluate things.
Slugger, we haven’t been working on location because he’s only just started getting consistency around the strike zone, maybe 30 to 50% strikes. He does seem to understand why bad pitches go high and low, inside and out of the zone so yeah I will try implementing more locations into practice.
We have our first team training next week so I will put a lot of emphasis on the catcher/pitcher relationship which will require extra practice no doubt. Hes been pitching to me for 6 months and I was getting a bit tired of squatting down low pretending to be the 10 yr old catcher.
Slugger, we haven’t been working on location because he’s only just started getting consistency around the strike zone, maybe 30 to 50% strikes. He does seem to understand why bad pitches go high and low, inside and out of the zone so yeah I will try implementing more locations into practice.
We have our first team training next week so I will put a lot of emphasis on the catcher/pitcher relationship which will require extra practice no doubt. Hes been pitching to me for 6 months and I was getting a bit tired of squatting down low pretending to be the 10 yr old catcher.
Lol. Egor if you can have the team catcher come and practice that would really help your boy.
Personally I can never hear my catcher. I've always been lucky to have fantastic shortstops who can calm me down. A lot of it is just nonsense such as 'deep breaths', 'slow down' and so on.
If he's struggling I would encourage him to take longer between each pitch. Just walk behind the circle if needed. Stop before walking onto the plate and take a deep breath. Often just doing that can bring a pitcher back into the game.
As said though a lot of it's maturity. The more he pitches the more you (and hopefully he!) will pick up his keys that will help him relax.
When does the season start in Un Zed?
Personally I can never hear my catcher. I've always been lucky to have fantastic shortstops who can calm me down. A lot of it is just nonsense such as 'deep breaths', 'slow down' and so on.
If he's struggling I would encourage him to take longer between each pitch. Just walk behind the circle if needed. Stop before walking onto the plate and take a deep breath. Often just doing that can bring a pitcher back into the game.
As said though a lot of it's maturity. The more he pitches the more you (and hopefully he!) will pick up his keys that will help him relax.
When does the season start in Un Zed?
Couple of points I use with my DD. I stress the mental side of pitching and focus. What is she focusing on? (this works in games and in practice)
I remind her that you can't change the past, you can only change the future. If your pitcher is focusing on the fact that the last three pitches were in the dirt, there is a good chance the next pitch will be in the dirt. That is what she is thinking about so that is the messaging she is giving her body. What works for my DD is to focus on the next pitch. Pause a moment and visualize the pitch she is going to throw. Visualize herself throwing the pitch and the path of the ball as it comes in to the right spot. Then throw that pitch! For her it seems to work every time.
Sometimes it seems that the mind is quicker than the body. The mind says throw a curve on the outside corner, but when DD gets in a rush it doesn't seem like her body "hears" her mind in time to throw the pitch effectively. By going through the pitch first in her mind it seems to give her body time to catch up to the mind and understand what it is supposed to do.
I know... a little "Hokey" but it seems to work.
I remind her that you can't change the past, you can only change the future. If your pitcher is focusing on the fact that the last three pitches were in the dirt, there is a good chance the next pitch will be in the dirt. That is what she is thinking about so that is the messaging she is giving her body. What works for my DD is to focus on the next pitch. Pause a moment and visualize the pitch she is going to throw. Visualize herself throwing the pitch and the path of the ball as it comes in to the right spot. Then throw that pitch! For her it seems to work every time.
Sometimes it seems that the mind is quicker than the body. The mind says throw a curve on the outside corner, but when DD gets in a rush it doesn't seem like her body "hears" her mind in time to throw the pitch effectively. By going through the pitch first in her mind it seems to give her body time to catch up to the mind and understand what it is supposed to do.
I know... a little "Hokey" but it seems to work.
