Expert: Dennis Girardi - 4/1/2008

Question
Dennis
My son is 12 this summer and plays on a competitive team. He's a decent pitcher with a strong arm. When he's not pitching, we originally had him play shortstop. However, as he's gotten older, he seems to have more fear now of fielding ground balls than in years past. So recently I asked him if he was scared of the ball and he said yes. He's a good athlete and I certainly don't want to play him somewhere he is not comfortable. But I was wondering if there are some things I can try to help get him over this. I'm also his coach and can tell you we spend a major portion of all our practices taking fly ball and grounders. Thanks in advance for any advice you might have.

Answer
Hey Terry,

As your son gets older, the balls get hit harder.  I have talked about this before. Check my archives..
One option may be to move your son to second base or even the outfield, but you already know that.. The balls will come much slower to him at these positions more often than not.. One thing we know for sure is that he CANNOT remain at shortstop if he is afraid of the ball.. Your son needs to remember to always try to pick-up a grounder as close to the ground as possible.  This, of course, will cut down on any bad hops.
Many coaches go to the "Hit tennis balls" theory.. This may or may not help, but it's a start.  I personally don't like tennis balls because they bounce so much different than an actual little league baseball. A rubber coated would work better for bouncing, but would hurt more.. So I would use an actual league ball if at all possible.. A beat-up league ball would be best cause it would not hurt as much.  Make sure that your son stays in front of the ball.  He will probably field to the side at first, but as you see the confidence build, he will naturally start to do it the right way.  Also, make sure that the field that you hit to him on, is level and bounces correctly. (No bad hops). Even if you have to hit in some parking lot at first.
I hope something I said helps.. Good Luck !!! ...Let me know how it all works out for him..

Dennis