Expert: Willie Ansley Jr. - 5/29/2009

Question
I coach a 14U Dizzy Dean All-Star team and I have two questions for you,
1. One of my players seems as though he is possibly afraid of the ball when fielding.  Instead of playing through the ball, he stops goes down to his knees and pokes at the ball.  How can I correct this?

2. I have a great player (#3 batter in our order) who we can always rely on to get a hit, but since the start of the season he has been 1-12.  He is usually a dead pull hitter but he isn't pulling it at all.  All his hits are to the 2nd basemen.  Yesterday he told me that he can't hit so I'm thinking it is also part mental.  How should I fix this?
Looking forward to hearing you answers!

Answer
on the fielder i would move him to the outfield until he has worked his confidence back up inorder to field the ball correctly. i would also explain to him that at that age you cant have someone on the infield who cant field the ball correctly. with he hotter i am sorry but i cant help him unless i could see his swing. if u shot me a small clip thru email maybe i could tell u more.