scared of ball while batting

Question
I have a first year live pitch kid on my team. He doesn't back out of the batters box, but he lowers his arms and leans back sometimes before the pitcher releases the ball. He has no intent on hitting the ball. It is all in his mind. He hits the ball if I'm pitching, but another kid he's scared. Are  there any drills to boost his confidence back?  

Answer
First, when you pitch to him for practice, it should be at the same velocity as what he will see in a game. If that's the case already, his fear may be 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 come with time, but in the interim, during team practices at least a part of batting practice should be "live". Most of the time, coaches pitch lazy easy to hit balls to their players, then wonder why they can't hit regular pitching in game situations! I think if you can run live pitching drills by having your own pitchers throw to your batters, and if you 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.

Best of luck,

Mike F.