Simply catching the ball....

[Sweet Lou]

Clock drill is pretty good for this too.

Have them put glove at 1 o'clock and throw ball in same spot using proper glove position, move to 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock...

Mostly I've found that more reps, more reps and more reps especially at shoulder height reinforcing good behavior when the do it right even if they don't catch it seemd to be the most helpful.

Though I like the egg toss idea too. I used to do that a lot as a kid, I don't see it much anymore.

 

[YOCOACH]

One small thing you can do to limit reaching is simply throw the ball harder. If she's impatient, maybe she has too much time to wait. Wouldn't expect this to be a magic fix, but it might allow rep's at the action you want, rather than repeating one you do not.

The other thing I do with girls this age that are impatient is to teach them the proper way of stepping out/into the throw to recieve it. It usually helps since they feel they are doing something to get closer to the ball, which is true.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

Of my four daughters, the oldest one, 7 YO, has been given (BY FAR!) the least coordination. Being honest, she has trouble catching. She will have times where she catches 20 in a row, but then miss 9 out of 10. I cannot get her to repeat the same action.

I coach her to bend her elbow and make sure her fingers are pointing toward the sky.

As soon as she sees the ball coming to her, she constantly reaches out with her glove hand, where her arm is pretty much stiff and the glove is pointed at me. She doesn't have the patience to let the ball come into the glove (with a little bend in the elbow) and squeeze. She tries to catch the ball before it gets to her. My younger three have no problem, but the oldest one really struggles with it.

What can I do to help her get along quicker?

Thanks guys. Great site to say the least!

That's why god made soccer.

(sorry - I couldn't help myself..... Forgive me father, I have sinned.....)

 

[guero_gordo]

That's why god made soccer.

(sorry - I couldn't help myself..... Forgive me father, I have sinned.....)

Well, we got all the way to p2 before the Kevorkian School of Coaching chimed in. ;-)

 

[Hitting Rebel]

Sometimes kids get really antsy with their feet and jump at the ball or lunge towards it. This may be a problem as you said your daughter has trouble waiting for the ball.

Try putting both her feet in a 5 gallon bucket and then doing the clock drill as stated above. Just make sure that if she misses the ball that it can't hit her...if you toss with too much ark at 11:00, 12:00, and 1:00 it will so give it a little more umph and it should really help.

Also, have her watch the ball 'with her nose' meaning turn her head in to the glove as it's coming in.