Trouble adjusting to live pitching

[thammond]

Hello I'm new to this forum and hoping to get some advice.

My daughter is in her 5th year of fast pitch softball and her 1st year with live pitching in a U12 rec league. She has been struggling at the plate this year just to make contact. I think she has only had 2 or 3 hits all season. She hits very good in machine pitch or soft toss drills in practice and does so-so in live pitch practice. I have noticed that lately she has been taking a lot of good pitches (hoping to get a walk). I have been encouraging her to swing at the good pitches. She is a left handed hitter.

For a bit of background, she did struggle making contact the first couple years playing. She had a golf swing tendency. Her 3rd year in, something seemed to click and her hitting dramatically improved. By last year she had become one of the better hitters on her team.

So anyways looking for some advice on ways to improve swing or help her transition.

 

[Eric F]

Welcome to DFP!

Just based on what you've said, it sounds like it could be a confidence issue, which is affecting her mental approach during a game. Instead of getting into the batter's box trying to draw a walk, she needs to WANT to hit the ball. Getting her to adopt this mentalityi likely to be a tough hurdle, but it will make a big difference. If she's afraid to swing because she's afraid to strike out, keep working on her hitting against live pitchers as much as possible (rather than machines). If her swing mechanics are limiting her ability to make solid contact consistently, maybe it's time to put some focus on tweaking her swing, too.

Good luck!

 

[JJsqueeze]

Every time I work with a girls like this I just free em up. Tell them to always think "swing swing swing" in the box and then only stop if it is clearly a ball, make sure she swings at anything close. Tell her that it does not matter if she strikes out. Eventually she will get some confidence. If she swings at three in the box then consider that a win and compliment her. Keep her freed up and the ice will break. My little DD went through a phase where she fell in love with walks and kept on looking at strikes whenever she had 3 ball counts. I told her that success was defined by swinging three times in the batters box and failure was looking at a strike. She freed up a little too much and started swinging at balls in the dirt but I kept mum. She eventually broke out of it and while she does not light em up with power, she does win a lot of battles now and when she doesn't she is going down swinging.

 

[softballphreak]

Hello I'm new to this forum and hoping to get some advice.

My daughter is in her 5th year of fast pitch softball and her 1st year with live pitching in a U12 rec league. She has been struggling at the plate this year just to make contact. I think she has only had 2 or 3 hits all season. She hits very good in machine pitch or soft toss drills in practice and does so-so in live pitch practice. I have noticed that lately she has been taking a lot of good pitches (hoping to get a walk). I have been encouraging her to swing at the good pitches. She is a left handed hitter.

For a bit of background, she did struggle making contact the first couple years playing. She had a golf swing tendency. Her 3rd year in, something seemed to click and her hitting dramatically improved. By last year she had become one of the better hitters on her team.

So anyways looking for some advice on ways to improve swing or help her transition.

Without video most of the advice you receive will be wild guesses.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Without video, I would have her eyes tested and keep her away from pitching machines. She may be getting bad hitting advice, though, for all we know.

 

[humpty]

I had a cpl kids like this last season in rec. short term fix. If the pitcher is around the plate tell her she has to swing at every pitch. Long term .get away from the machines.do a lot of front toss and live pitching. Imo its a mental thing. She needs to get her confidence up.

 

[softball_mom#7]

I agree with Amy. My DD started wearing contacts last year and hitting dramatically improved. Early this year she was striking out more than getting on base. Took her back to the eye doctor and her poor vision doubled. Needless to say she wasnt seeing the ball early enough.

 

[homer316tx]

Glad to see this post tonight! My DD is 8 and having to move up to 10U this fall, and we are in the prime time for Texas tryouts. The biggest obstacle I am worried about is the transition from machine pitch (which she can hit very well) to live pitching, and actual balls/strikes. She had a tryout today with a team that has a mix of 02s and 03s, and she had to go up against the number one pitcher (an 02) in a game situation. First at bat no contact strikeout which drew some tears. I told her to not get upset and swing at any pitch she felt she could hit. Second at bat she made contact twice (one foul, one in play) but not very hard.

So, when eyesight is not an issue, is there any additional advice for girls making this transition? She does take weekly hitting lessons to help with mechanics, and she hits at home off a tee a few times a week (by herself shockingly enough!) to practice what her coach has told her.

Thanks!

 

[softballphreak]

Glad to see this post tonight! My DD is 8 and having to move up to 10U this fall, and we are in the prime time for Texas tryouts. The biggest obstacle I am worried about is the transition from machine pitch (which she can hit very well) to live pitching, and actual balls/strikes. She had a tryout today with a team that has a mix of 02s and 03s, and she had to go up against the number one pitcher (an 02) in a game situation. First at bat no contact strikeout which drew some tears. I told her to not get upset and swing at any pitch she felt she could hit. Second at bat she made contact twice (one foul, one in play) but not very hard.

So, when eyesight is not an issue, is there any additional advice for girls making this transition? She does take weekly hitting lessons to help with mechanics, and she hits at home off a tee a few times a week (by herself shockingly enough!) to practice what her coach has told her.

Thanks!

Live pitching is a MUST! Switching from mostly hitting off of a machine will take quite a few pitches. Front toss is very beneficial in this regard. (Not side toss, front toss!) It is a timing adjustment.

Too much machine pitch is very bad for timing!

 

[MsDinosaur]

Live pitching is a MUST! Switching from mostly hitting off of a machine will take quite a few pitches. Front toss is very beneficial in this regard. (Not side toss, front toss!) It is a timing adjustment.

Too much machine pitch is very bad for timing!

I agree. Get out there and do a LOT of front toss with her. Do whatever you can with the equipment you've got or can afford: regular softballs from behind a screen; wiffle balls, foam-type balls (like mojo balls or lite flights) or TCB balls without a screen.