FiveFrameSwing
Banned
Coach,
It's very important that you train the eyes to identify the softball within it's path from release to contact. If you have a young, anxious (freshman) hitter who hasn't yet been trained to be able to track the 11 or 12" object, and eventually identify the spin on that object, you will never coach her out of a guessing game. Without that, it's a fly-swatting contest. Suggestion is to micro-focus within those drills, and then you can slowly work outwards into a macro-focus (soft-focus) mode. Really develop that mental engrainment, which should eventually lead to better anxiety control (because she'll now better understand ball trajectory) and more relaxed body language (as she's more confident in her actual ability to hit the ball).
Eventually, her goal is to become very relaxed in the box, both mentally & physically. Remember, she's a freshman. The game should eventually slow down with proper training, experiences & successes. In the process, soft-focus within a general range of vision of the ball path is an extremely important aspect to mental relaxation. What absolutely must occur at a point shortly after the pitcher's release...is an hyper-level of focal sharpness. Soft-focus and focal sharpness can, and will eventually co-exist together as she becomes more experienced as a growing player with developing skills.
Chris
The bold above is nonsense.
Contrary to common opinion, it is not wise for a 'hitter' to recognize 'spin'. Recognizing trajectory is much more important. In fact, a hitter should not be looking at the ball with such a sharp/tight focus that they recognize spin.