Son afraid of the ball.

Question
Hello,

I have a ten year old son who is playing in his first year of organized ball. Two weeks ago, he was hit by a pitcher three times while batting during one practice. Evere since then, he has been jumping out of the box as soon as the pitcher is about to let go of the ball. I have played with him several times in the backyard and he kills the ball ans is not afraid of me hitting him. How can I help my son mentally to stay in the box and not be afraid of get beaned?

Rich  

Answer
Rich,

First, his fear of the ball is alleviated with you pitching because he probably has a greater degree of confidence that you'll be accurate enough to not hit him. I believe his confidence will return with time, but in the interim, during team practices at least a part of batting practice should be "live" against his own team's pitchers. Most of the time, coaches throw lazy easy to hit balls to their players, then wonder why their players can't hit regular pitching or are afraid of the ball in game situations! I think if his coach can run live pitching drills by having your own pitchers throw to your batters, and if someone can be there to correct his approach to hitting on the spot, he'll get used to it and his fears will eventually melt away. You also want to make sure he understands the mindset of attacking the ball, rather than slapping at it defensively. Once his concentration is redirected to whacking the ball, less attention will be given to the possibility of getting beaned. This will especially be true when he has some successful plate appearances and gets a couple of base hits. Hang in there -- reinforce the positive -- and he'll make terrific progress.

Mike F.