Does anyone have suggestions for breaking my daughter's habit of watching where she hits the ball? She's a quick leftie, about 2.9 home to 1st, but loses .5 sec in game situations because her eyes are on the ball not 1st. She's 13.
Funny - Trust me, I've thought about it. I've also thought about blinders.Some suggestions:
- Throw firecrackers at her feet when she hits the ball
- Have the first base coach holding an ice cream cone
- "release the hounds" upon contact. This works better if you staple a pork chop to your daughter first
Drills to try:
- Have her practice her T work, making sure she's "looking down the inside of the T" after she hits the ball. (you can even tell them there is a number inside there and you want them to tell you what it is). Practice this enough on the T and you will break them of turning their head to track the ball.
She's a leftie and you say she's quick, so teach her to slap, at least that way she's already on her way to first when she hits the ball.
-W
Try adding a timer to her run to first while doing front toss. Clock starts on ball contact, ends on foot hitting bag at first. IME kids don't realize how much time they are wasting watching the hit until they find out they are 5.0 seconds to first base when they should be 4.0 or less. Any time you measure something it becomes a contest and if she does it with the rest of the team you can bet they will compete to see who can get the lowest time.