Whole team has stopped swinging

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Sep 18, 2016
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Last 3 tournaments the team has had only 3 girls getting hits. Each day it's a different group of girls usually. But as coaches we don't know what is going on. The girls get up and just watch the strikes go right down the middle without swinging. If they do swing it's at stuff in the dirt or at their eyeballs. The pitchers aren't any faster or slower than we are use to, in fact a few teams we have played multiple times and hit 15+ against.

We do an 1 hour of hitting as part of every team practice, plus have a 2 hour team batting practice at one of the local indoor cages every week. Half the team also takes hitting lessons from private instructors.

The girls can all hit and have been hitting as a team in the past. This refusal, reluctance or whatever it is to swing is something new in the last couple of weeks. We've been joking about needing to bring chicken bones for some of the girls, but man after this weekend it's starting to feel more serious than joking. What should we do?

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Sep 18, 2016
54
8
We've done that. This last tournament we tried taking all pressure completely off them in the 4th game and let warm up play a game of touch football. Just let them play and have fun. Still 3 hits, we did get more swings but no one was making contact because of timing and pitch selection.

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Apr 2, 2015
1,198
113
Woodstock, man
During practices/cages are you making sure they stride at ball release, so they are striding on every pitch?

Most youth kids wait until the ball is a strike before they move.
 
Sep 18, 2016
54
8
During practices/cages are you making sure they stride at ball release, so they are striding on every pitch?

Most youth kids wait until the ball is a strike before they move.
Yeah and when I notice they aren't I will start to hold pitches, even during soft toss, so I can call it out and have the yes yes yes no talk.

I just don't understand what has changed in the last few weeks that took a big hitting team into this mess we have now. Even my own kid. She went .600 a week ago Saturday and .000 the last 3 (Sun, Sat, Sun).

I'm wondering if we do too much batting and not enough hitting at practice, if that makes since. We have a couple older pitcher who could come in and throw some for us and a few of ours that don't get much circle time.

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Nov 18, 2015
1,585
113
How have the umps been calling the games? An umpire with a high strike zone (top of shoulders) can really get them swinging at the bad pitches.
 
Jun 11, 2013
2,619
113
You might not see it as coach, but when they do swing at bad pitches is there someone (it may be you ) who is tell them to lay off bad pitches. If that is happening you can be sure they'll take more pitches. It might even be non verbal, but they feed off the negative comments. You can be sure if they get yelled at for swing a pitch in the dirt that they will take the next pitch. Just give them some positive energy and it will start again.
 

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