What happened to my DD??

[Left Hook]

ROFL!........I can see it now........Jimmy Falon on SNL "Weekend Update".........

"It's being reported by our field corrispondent Hal "brain-child" Skinner that pitchers are going blind from using the "Hillhouse Open Pitching Method"........."When interviewed after the game, the little girl's dad said everything was going fine until she stayed open just a little too much and lost her eye-sight"........."We're dealing with the tragedy by learning some sneaky pitching techniques that are for blind pitchers who can't get outs the conventional way"........"Good Pitching"........

ROFL!!!!

lmao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Left Hook]

Dana,

it could be many things. I am going to relate a story that happened to me and involved a colleg baseball ploayer many years ago.

However, you mentioned she just started wearing contact lenses. Some years back I was talking with the wife of my former center fielder from my team. That center fielder was the strongest hitter I have ever played with or against. He was also a hitting inmstyructor in Texas. Their son was in cillege playing baseball, he was also a tremendous hitter.

His Mom said he was having problems and desc ribed them to me. I told her it sounded like a vision thing to me. She said he had worn contact lenses for several years. He haId been to the eye doctor just 3 or 4 months before and his vision had changed, they gave him new lenses. I said it still sounds like a vision thing and I suggested she tak him back again. I also mentioned that when he is in the batters box, *he is a RH hitter) that his head is turned slightly to the right of straight on towards the pitcher. I did not know if that could be a factor but the left eye was closer to the pitcher than the right eye.

She took him back to the eye doctor and sur enough, his vision had changed in just 3 or 4 months. I guess that is why thery call them 'Corrective lenses'. He got new lenses and started pounding the ball again. She asked the doctor about the position of his head when batting, L eye a little closer than the R eye. The doctor said yes, with contact lenses it can make a difference. The simple truth was that eye doctors look aty and compare your vision with you looking straight on, not with your head slightly turned, like a batter.

Now to your daughter and this post mentioning her lenses.

The possibility exists that her vision might have changed since the last exam and new script for lenses. This might be the case for your daughter.

I have also wondered if a pitcher using the 'Open mechanics' that Bill Hillhouse teaches might have a problem with their vision and contact lenses. They are staying completely open and thgeir head isd ALSO turned a little more to the side placing the glove side eyue a lille closer than the other. I can picture this making a difference and having the effect it did on that college baseball player when batting.

Just something to consider if a hitter or pitcher has accuracy issues and wears contacts. It might not be a mechanics, mental or ant other problem. It might be the contact lenses.

I remember a 12u 1st baseman that would miss 4 or 5 catches per game, that copst her team a few games. Suggested a vision exam, she had never had one. Parents saw no reason as she read and everything else just fine. They took her and she came back with lenses. No more missed catches.

Dont forget a possible vision issue being the causes of weak / poor pitching, hitting or fielding. Is it possible that a pitcher that leans forward might be doing so to try and see the target better???? Not sure there. However, I would consider that a possible reason.

Dont dismiss a player without asking that question. "Do you wear contact lenses?"

This has to be a joke? Say it aint so?

 

[Dana Marque]

Thank you everyone... It may sound comical but seriously - I think it is/was a contact thing as well as having an off day. On Saturday, she got the job done but my DH said she wasn't pitching like she knows how to. After talking to mom, she said she has had the same problem with contacts on the tennis court and won't wear them (please understand that mom was ranked in tennis on the east coast years ago). Per her the ball looks different in contacts compared to glasses. So we have a tournament again this weekend and are going back to glasses. Hopefully that fixes her. I'm ok with her being a little off somedays but this was different. Hopefully this solves the problem and should there ever be another little girl after getting contacts, she will know it's not just her and to take the contacts out!!! Isn't that what this forum is for???

She's been pitching for several years now and against good teams. Could it be her nerves?? Sure but she's faced better batters... When she was 10, she pitched against 7th/8th graders in one game (rare circumstance). She did ok but stepped backwards after releasing the ball because the girls were so big (her words). But she held her own!!! And in that game, she was nervous!!! This past weekend, not so much...

 

[FrozenRope]

My DD was fine on Saturday. Sunday she was warming up nicely. Snapping, hitting her spots, lots of pop, etc... Stuck her in the game, and she's pushing the ball, throwing high, and basically didn't have anything

Oh NOOOOO .. You read the Skinner post and took it to heart didn't you? I'd put more stock in the Hormones thing than the contacts. Sometimes we look for excuses for a bad day. She's young, and she's human. She'll have bad days.

 

[halskinner]

Dana,

Were the contacts to replace the glasses with the same script? Were they a different script than the glasses? They are 'corrective' lenses and can change your vision, hjopefully for the better. Check with her eye doctor on this.

Good luck.

 

[starsnuffer]

I can understand a kid having trouble hitting going from glasses to contacts (glasses distort the image, the mind corrects, going back to contacts "messes with this") and this really messes with moving images and depth perception. But I honestly can't see a kid not knowing where the strike zone was, because it's a huge, static thing. Sounds like the kid is using it as an excuse.

-W

 

[Lozza]

My batting improved after going to contacts. I could see the whole ball again!

Sometimes you're looking for excuses and I think this I some of them.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

Thank you everyone... It may sound comical but seriously - I think it is/was a contact thing as well as having an off day. On Saturday, she got the job done but my DH said she wasn't pitching like she knows how to. After talking to mom, she said she has had the same problem with contacts on the tennis court and won't wear them (please understand that mom was ranked in tennis on the east coast years ago). Per her the ball looks different in contacts compared to glasses. So we have a tournament again this weekend and are going back to glasses. Hopefully that fixes her. I'm ok with her being a little off somedays but this was different. Hopefully this solves the problem and should there ever be another little girl after getting contacts, she will know it's not just her and to take the contacts out!!! Isn't that what this forum is for???

She's been pitching for several years now and against good teams. Could it be her nerves?? Sure but she's faced better batters... When she was 10, she pitched against 7th/8th graders in one game (rare circumstance). She did ok but stepped backwards after releasing the ball because the girls were so big (her words). But she held her own!!! And in that game, she was nervous!!! This past weekend, not so much...

I knew this was a possibility. I played JC tennis too and when I charged the net I would not be able to see the ball as clearly when I got there. Combination of the fast movement, tearing, etc, whatever it was I ended up going back to glasses. It's REAL for some folks.

I ended up gettin laser correction in the end - wish I could have had it earlier in life....

 

[Dana Marque]

Ok - we had a tournament this weekend. We fought Friday night about no contacts SATURDAY... Thank god because the wind was brutial... Dirt every where.... But she was back to normal again this weekend. She did great pulling us out of the semi-finals and started pitching in the finals. By 3rd inning, she was starting to lose her snap with a little pushing going on. That I can only explain was from being tired. 9 hours of softball on Saturday, and then 8 hours on Sunday... I'm not sure I'll ever know for sure if it was the contacts, hormones, or just a bad weekend. But either way, she gained her confidence back and no more contacts for softball at least for now...

But also think about it... If she's a movement pitcher, she throws the ball to where it breaks... Such as a drop ball - in her mind, she throws to a spot before the plate. If that depth perception is distorted, it just won't work...

 

[BoardMember]

Or.........She just had a bad day and you freaked out a little because of it........

Prepare for a lot more of those in the future.........