Expert: Dennis Girardi - 6/6/2008

Question
My 8 year old daughter is having difficulty moving from coach pitch to kid pitch.  It seems she can hit the velocity and consistent pitch from her coach, but when the league switched to kid pitch she can't hit the variety of pitches from the kids.  She seems to understand the strike zone, but can't move the bat within the strike zone to hit a high or low pitch.  Are there any tips or drills I can do to help her with this?

Answer
Hey Spencer,

It sounds to me that your daughter may be afraid of getting hit with the pitch thrown by her peers. She may have faith in pitches coming from the coaches, but the pitches coming from the other kids may scare her.  Has she been hit by a pitch thrown by a teammate?  If she can hit from a batting machine, then this would prove my point.. Can she?
She may not want to admit this however.. I can't see her swing for myself, so you need to follow up on this yourself.
Also, there are many websites that can help her with drills.
Just GOOGLE ....basball drills tips
Good Luck and keep in touch.
Dennis