fear of the ball.

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Out of the blue my dd started sidestepping the ball. When she is doing drills with the ball either hit or thrown at her she steps out of the direct line of the ball and catches the ball off to the side. In the outfield when the ball is up in the air, no problems. When she is at bat no problems. She has been hit on the fingers, head, ribs etc and had no issues when at bat. How do I correct this? Thanks for any help.

 

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Does she wear a fielders mask?

 

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I could give you some drills to stop this and give her confidence, but i just cant help anyone who supports "THAT SCHOOL UP NORTH"........;&

 

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Yes, she wears a mask.

 

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Yes...denounce that school for help!

:lmao::lmao::lmao:

 

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I am seeing the same thing with my DD behind the plate and it is becoming a concern for me. The last three years she has had no problem throwing her body in front of a ball to block it...now she just wants to reach for balls in the dirt outside and do a one handed scoop (the she turns her head away) on inside pitches...nothing occurred to her that triggered this...she just does it. No change at the plate and still takes grounders with no issue.

 

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Yes, she wears a mask.

Is it because of the school you support?:cap:

 

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How old and what level does she play?

 

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hey Jason - Dan Masiello here..looks like your getting no respect for your big blue support lol

but seriously i would use some softies or even wiffle balls and drill Sommer over and over and let the ball hit her a few times. keep the butt down, use two hands, have to keep attacking the ball. I know shes a tough girl and you need to get back into her attacking the ball so it becomes a routine play without thinking- it will work it's self out.... it will just take time.

good luck see ya around the ball fields man!

 

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Smart of you to notice and have concern but don't panic. It'll take some time but it can be repaired. The softies as mentioned will help. The advice is solid, great job DanMaz.

I've seen a lot of girls go thru this phase and it can happen at most any age. They suddenly decide it's too risky to block the ball and some will turn into matadors. They may have simply seen another girl do it and decided it was right for her. I'm not sure of the reason but in most cases a face mask and shin guards with plenty of patience will help bring her back to the player you once had.

 

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Out of the blue my dd started sidestepping the ball. When she is doing drills with the ball either hit or thrown at her she steps out of the direct line of the ball and catches the ball off to the side. In the outfield when the ball is up in the air, no problems. When she is at bat no problems. She has been hit on the fingers, head, ribs etc and had no issues when at bat. How do I correct this? Thanks for any help.

Start over with the basics....foot work! We marked out the floor as females are audio visual learners. As a right hand thrower...right foot first, left foot further field the ball inside and forward of the left foot slide the right foot in front of the left and throw.

Take a look at her glove also. Most higher end gloves have a thumb lock and baby finger lock. I have seen many with the locks stuffed inside the glove and not being used at all. To close the glove the thumb and baby finger should be used. For the girls putting the baby finger and ring finger in the same slot allows for more control of the glove.

I also bounce a tennis ball above the waist, below the waist and then left and right. They must track the ball with their eyes and catch the ball with one hand only. The idea is too catch the ball out in front of you. I also take two tennis balls one in each hand and toss the balls at the same time and they are catchint he balls bare handed and you be surprised at how quickly they adjust and can do it and have fun at the same time.

Get off to the side and roll her balls. Have her start her movement forward as your hand goes back to roll the ball so she gets a sense of timing. Keep the other hand out of the glove. Dr. Dot Richardson said, "Who ever taught the alligator movement should spend a day with me in surgery as the social finger is the one I repair the most and then the index finger."

Howard

 

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Dr. Dot Richardson said, "Who ever taught the alligator movement should spend a day with me in surgery as the social finger is the one I repair the most and then the index finger."

Howard

I have a girl now who does that alligator thing and gets her hand and finger hit all the time. It looks ridiculous.

Anyway, Howard's advice is good, just going back to fundamentals. One thing to keep in mind, we're all afraid of the ball, it's just a matter of our level of tolerance.

 

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Yea Dan no love for Big Blue here. Thanks for the advice. Everyone else as well. I will try the soft stuff first. I really like the tennis ball drills. She will have fun with that one. I just don't want to see her regress after she has worked so hard on other points of the game.

 

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Yea Dan no love for Big Blue here. Thanks for the advice. Everyone else as well. I will try the soft stuff first. I really like the tennis ball drills. She will have fun with that one. I just don't want to see her regress after she has worked so hard on other points of the game.

no prob! good seeing you guys at Candlelite this fall! you can add cones to both sides of her so she cant side step (or use 2x4 with nails sticking up lol ) so she has to take the ball straight on.... do it enough and it'll be automatic... stay aggressive and step with the glove foot when receiving the ball, keeping the glove in the center of her body. cya!!


O - H- I - O had to add that!! :lmao:

 

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Jugs liteflite machine and liteflite balls at low speeds...not a favorite technique but it does work.

Ok. Let me have it...just saying I've seen it done and the fear of the situation was broken quickly .

Similar to throwing the kid into the pool when afraid of the water :cap:.

 

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Seen this happen and it was when the tomboy turns into a young woman and is now afraid of the bad bounce and getting hit with ball very hard to change after it starts if she is good hitter than move her to outfield , if she luvs the game she will play anywhere.