Tips for getting pitcher over mental hurdle of behing hit by batted balls

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Dec 16, 2016
11
3
My DD is a second year 14U pitcher. She started off the season throwing really well, but in a scrimmage she took a line drive off her glove hand wrist. Thankfully no broken bones, but it was sore for a few days. Then not long after that she took a line drive right off the belly button. (for the record she still finished the play and got the out both times) After those incidents she began to struggle throwing strikes, the fastball was constantly missing high and velocity was down.

Long story short, last night she had a horrible first game and finally told me (in tears) that she was afraid of getting hit by the ball again.

I tried to find the right words to calm her down, told her to visualize throwing to me sitting on my bucket, and also told her to focus on just alternating high-inside fastball, low-outside fastball. Giving her that focus on spots seemed to work as she threw a much better game, and by the end of the game her velocity was getting back to normal.

But I'm looking for any other tips or tricks you might have to help her continue to get past the mental hurdle of worrying about being hit by a batted ball.
 
Feb 20, 2020
377
63
Does she wear a mask? How about a chest protector? Maybe more protection will give her some security.

Also, have her talk to an older pitcher you know or have run into. A lot of pitchers like to talk about those hit backs like war wounds, and they become a source of pride more than a bad memory.
 
Dec 16, 2016
11
3
Does she wear a mask? How about a chest protector? Maybe more protection will give her some security.

Also, have her talk to an older pitcher you know or have run into. A lot of pitchers like to talk about those hit backs like war wounds, and they become a source of pride more than a bad memory.

She does wear a mask in all games. I'm picking up a chest protector shirt this morning for her to try.

I did get a lesson setup with her pitching coach today, her coach was a D-1 All-American for Minnesota so hopefully she can share some words of wisdom too.
 
May 27, 2013
2,353
113
I’m not trying to sound rude here but is she playing on a team that is playing up against obvious higher level competition? While playing better competition is good, you can’t constantly have pitchers facing hitters that just keep knocking them around. It’s not fair for the pitchers and is a potential safety issue. However, at 14U, I’d also expect most pitchers on B level or higher teams to be able to move the ball around the plate and have a changeup to keep the hitters off-balance.

Obviously getting a ball hit right back at the pitcher is going to happen at all levels when the pitch misses its spot; however, when it becomes a regular occurrence I’m wondering if the team is playing up a little too often.
 
Jul 11, 2020
10
3
Work on building confidence. She’s obviously afraid of being in the circle and nothing good can come of that. There are several ways of doing this. Also, remind her that getting hit is a risk that every pitcher faces. There is a good chance she’ll get hit again in the future. But don’t let that stop you from pitching. Use it as motivation to put more emphasis on hitting spots during practice. She needs to work the corners. Having a pitch come in high is setting yourself up for balls to be hit back at you. Also, work on reaction times. Practice having someone throw a ball at her directly after a pitch. Also, during fielding drills do a pitch before the ball is hit. This allows a pitcher to react from her realistic stance in game like situations.
 
Dec 16, 2016
11
3
I’m not trying to sound rude here but is she playing on a team that is playing up against obvious higher level competition? While playing better competition is good, you can’t constantly have pitchers facing hitters that just keep knocking them around. It’s not fair for the pitchers and is a potential safety issue. However, at 14U, I’d also expect most pitchers on B level or higher teams to be able to move the ball around the plate and have a changeup to keep the hitters off-balance.

Obviously getting a ball hit right back at the pitcher is going to happen at all levels when the pitch misses its spot; however, when it becomes a regular occurrence I’m wondering if the team is playing up a little too often.

I don't think that sounded rude at all....fair questions you're asking. The first time it happened, it was against a team that I would say is better than our team, but we've played them quite a few times and have always played good games against them. The second time it happened, we won the game 7-3, it was a team I think our team would beat at least 7 times out of 10.
 

radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
7,270
113
My DD is a second year 14U pitcher. She started off the season throwing really well, but in a scrimmage she took a line drive off her glove hand wrist. Thankfully no broken bones, but it was sore for a few days. Then not long after that she took a line drive right off the belly button. (for the record she still finished the play and got the out both times) After those incidents she began to struggle throwing strikes, the fastball was constantly missing high and velocity was down.

Long story short, last night she had a horrible first game and finally told me (in tears) that she was afraid of getting hit by the ball again.

I tried to find the right words to calm her down, told her to visualize throwing to me sitting on my bucket, and also told her to focus on just alternating high-inside fastball, low-outside fastball. Giving her that focus on spots seemed to work as she threw a much better game, and by the end of the game her velocity was getting back to normal.

But I'm looking for any other tips or tricks you might have to help her continue to get past the mental hurdle of worrying about being hit by a batted ball.
Sorry to hear of this situation. Unfortunately it is a tough bump in the road to move past. However it can be conquered!

You mentioned she started off the season throwing well. Then I'm guessing that she had a break of at least a couple months before throwing to batters again?
Has there also been a break on getting grounders hit to her?

Two topics come to mind.
1. Who is calling pitches for her and are they calling a good sequence of pitches? Including off speeds and throwing 'around the strike zone' not into the strike zone.
Hitting up the center says batters are timing her spot on.
Consider different approach with pitch selection.
Takes back mental control by adjusting physical approach to controlling batters.

2. imo pitchers in general should be trained more thoroughly as defensive players. It develops reaction instinct.
It is time to get a lot of grounders and shots hit at practice. With a person standing with a bat hitting,
not a batter in the box while she is pitching. If she does not have confidence in her defensive skills then she is a standing target on the field. Suggest some skills development work.

Brain and Body need to be able to work together.
Mind needs to be able to have the confidence to believe in the body to be able to react and do what we need it to do.

imo all pitchers should be wearing fielding masks.
 
Last edited:
May 23, 2015
999
63
There's not much you can say or do that will make her feel more confident about pitching. Have her work hard on hitting the inside corner as a primary pitch location and changing speeds. Everything that hangs brings the possibility of line drives up the middle
 
Dec 16, 2016
11
3
Sorry to hear of this situation. Unfortunately it is a tough bump in the road to move past. However it can be conquered!

You mentioned she started off the season throwing well. Then I'm guessing that she had a break of at least a couple months before throwing to batters again?
Has there also been a break on getting grounders hit to her?

Two topics come to mind.
1. Who is calling pitches for her and are they calling a good sequence of pitches? Including off speeds and throwing 'around the strike zone' not into the strike zone.
Hitting up the center says batters are timing her spot on.
Consider different approach with pitch selection.
Takes back mental control by adjusting physical approach to controlling batters.

2. imo pitchers in general should be trained more thoroughly as defensive players. It develops reaction instinct.
It is time to get a lot of grounders and shots hit at practice. With a person standing with a bat hitting,
not a batter in the box while she is pitching. If she does not have confidence in her defensive skills then she is a standing target on the field. Suggest some skills development work.

Brain and Body need to be able to work together.
Mind needs to be able to have the confidence to believe in the body to be able to react and do what we need it to do.

imo all pitchers should be wearing fielding masks.

We've only been playing for about a month now, so haven't had any sort of break between these incidents and the next time throwing in a game. That being said, we do need to incorporate more fielding work into our practice routines.

I'm planning on giving much more focus to your first item above, pitch sequence and location. That seemed to help last night, hopefully a focus on this will continue to give her more of that "control" mindset.

Thanks for your feedback, appreciate it.
 

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