Inside Pitch

[UTSLUGGER]

My 9 year old keep looking at a 3rd strike on an inside pitch. He actually backs away. He only does this after 2 strikes. Any suggestions on how to cure it?

[MarinersFan51]

take him aside and bean him 4 or 5 times, show him it doesnt hurt, dont throw your hardest though, that would be most uncalled for.

lol, but really, if its only on the third strike then thats kind of odd, he doesnt back away from inside pitches on other counts?? i dunno just soft toss to him inside and show him the power he can generate. maybe he had a bad experience with getting jammed by a ball and doesnt want his hands to hurt again or somethin

[UTSLUGGER]

Thanks. It is the weirdest thing. I think he is looking for a walk. He turns 9 this week and is playing in the upper division of a 9-10 year league. He is one of the youngest on his team and the only 3rd grader. Mostly it is fast 10 year olds pitching. It has to be all mental. In BP he pulls that pitch.

I will do so more soft toss and under hand quick toss inside.

[TG Coach]

My 9 year old keep looking at a 3rd strike on an inside pitch. He actually backs away. He only does this after 2 strikes. Any suggestions on how to cure it?

Is he crowding the plate? The bat only needs to reach the outside corner. Crowding the plate is for hitters who can turn quickly on the pitch.

[Ursa Major]

If it only happens with two strikes, it's more likely to be a psychological issue and not necessarily related to worry about being hit, which could happen on any count. It may be that he has a fear of embarassing himself by striking out, and his oddly constructed mental defense mechanism is to back away from the plate to make the pitch look more inside than it is -- whether to the umpire or others on his team -- or it's just his way of 'freezing up' due to the pressure of possibly striking out.

I haven't dealt with this specific problem at this age, but my general approach (subject to exceptions based upon the kid) when kids are either reluctant to swing the bat or back away is to view it as a matter of a rough cost-benefit analysis going through the kid's head. It usually runs something like, "... if I back away it may be a ball and I won't get hit (or, in this case, yelled at for striking out on what I've made look to be an inside pitch) and I may walk, but I'm a lousy hitter and am not likely to get a hit if I hang in and take my best swing anyway, so why bother to hang in?" You can try to address the negative aspects of this calculation by trying to convince the kid that backing away makes him LESS able to duck away from a pitch that is way inside, so he's really no safer doing it, but kids don't usually buy that logic.

So, you've got to try to find some way to enhance the positive aspects of doing it right, even if it's nothing more than giving him praise for hanging in on the inside pitch, or hanging in and swinging at it. But, better yet, is keep drilling him with inside pitches (maybe off a tee to make sure his mechanics are sound), and make a goal for him to get a good swing on an inside-half strike in his next game. If he actually gets a hit or two off a mediocre pitcher, you'll be a long way to establishing his confidence that he can hit that ball.

But, it's also a development issue that may only be addressed by a combination of seeing lots of pitches and just growing up a little more. Don't rush him, and be as positive as you can.

[UTSLUGGER]

Thanks for all the feedback. I think it is clearly mental. He looked at a 3rd strike again his first time up last night. This time it was right over plate; however he said it was outside. I basically talked to him the next inning and told him - look you can NOT hit the ball if you do not swing. The strike zone is huge in the 9-10 y/o league so if you can get your bat on the ball it is a strike. I further went on and told him in caring, but firm, way he will not be looking at a 3rd again. Striking out swinging is fine.

Well next time up he got in a hole 0-2. He then went on to foul 5 or 6 off. The pitcher was actually pitching pretty good. He then hit a double. Hopefully, this will solve the problem!

I think I am going to video his swing so I can get some input on it. I am not very good at noticing the finer things in it.

Thanks again.