For some young players one of the largest troubles to overcome in baseball is the fear of being hit by a pitch while hitting. This fear is the reason for various technical flaws while batting, the biggest being "stepping in the bucket" where you step away from the plate as you swing. It is pretty much impossible to be a good hitter when you're scared of the ball. As former Red Sox player Carl Yastrzemski said, "If you're afraid of being hit, you might as well not bother going up to the plate at all. You can't hit the ball if you're afraid it will hit you." While this is usually a big fear to conquer, with some persistence it is definitely possible.
The very first thing you must do in order to overcome your fear of being hit should be to know the reason why you're scared of it. you are probably afraid of getting hit by a pitch mainly because you don't want to be seriously injured and in pain. Well, if you discover ways to avoid getting hurt if a pitch is coming at you, you will most certainly be much less scared of the pitch hitting you. If you're going to get hit by a pitch, the ideal place to be hit is on the back or side of your body. So instead of stepping out and exposing the front of your body you should turn in the direction of the backstop in a clockwise direction (if you happen to be right handed) so your back is what gets hit. If you get hit in the back or side you will not be in as much pain as you would be in if you got hit somewhere else.
Now that you fully understand what to do if the pitch is coming towards you, you need to repair your confidence in realizing that if the baseball does hit you, it's not going to hurt a great deal given that it will hit your back or side. A terrific drill to perform will be to have someone kneel ten feet from the hitter and throw rolled up socks for the hitter to swing at (only if they're strikes). Occasionally throw a balled up sock at the hitter and have him turn away from the pitch the correct way rather than step away from the pitch. When the batter has got the hang of it using socks, progress to tennis balls, and after that soft tee-balls.
When the player is comfortable knowing it does not hurt that much when the baseball hits his back and he is not stepping in the bucket even with soft tee-balls, start using regular baseballs. Pitch some batting practice as you would normally, but throw a couple of pitches directly at him. If he uses the right approach to turning away from the pitch, he will soon recognize that it does not really hurt very much to get hit in the back or side even with a regular baseball. His overall confidence while batting will improve and he will have the capacity to hit the ball better than ever as he will be striding towards the pitch instead of away from it.
It is very unfortunate many young baseball players who have lots of potential never succeed and quite often give up playing baseball all because they are scared of being hit by a pitch. Every one of us have fears and it's important, whether we're referring to baseball or life in general, to conquer those fears. By working hard and digging deep, it is possible to overcome this fear without any issues and get back to your baseball workouts and excelling at the game.
The very first thing you must do in order to overcome your fear of being hit should be to know the reason why you're scared of it. you are probably afraid of getting hit by a pitch mainly because you don't want to be seriously injured and in pain. Well, if you discover ways to avoid getting hurt if a pitch is coming at you, you will most certainly be much less scared of the pitch hitting you. If you're going to get hit by a pitch, the ideal place to be hit is on the back or side of your body. So instead of stepping out and exposing the front of your body you should turn in the direction of the backstop in a clockwise direction (if you happen to be right handed) so your back is what gets hit. If you get hit in the back or side you will not be in as much pain as you would be in if you got hit somewhere else.
Now that you fully understand what to do if the pitch is coming towards you, you need to repair your confidence in realizing that if the baseball does hit you, it's not going to hurt a great deal given that it will hit your back or side. A terrific drill to perform will be to have someone kneel ten feet from the hitter and throw rolled up socks for the hitter to swing at (only if they're strikes). Occasionally throw a balled up sock at the hitter and have him turn away from the pitch the correct way rather than step away from the pitch. When the batter has got the hang of it using socks, progress to tennis balls, and after that soft tee-balls.
When the player is comfortable knowing it does not hurt that much when the baseball hits his back and he is not stepping in the bucket even with soft tee-balls, start using regular baseballs. Pitch some batting practice as you would normally, but throw a couple of pitches directly at him. If he uses the right approach to turning away from the pitch, he will soon recognize that it does not really hurt very much to get hit in the back or side even with a regular baseball. His overall confidence while batting will improve and he will have the capacity to hit the ball better than ever as he will be striding towards the pitch instead of away from it.
It is very unfortunate many young baseball players who have lots of potential never succeed and quite often give up playing baseball all because they are scared of being hit by a pitch. Every one of us have fears and it's important, whether we're referring to baseball or life in general, to conquer those fears. By working hard and digging deep, it is possible to overcome this fear without any issues and get back to your baseball workouts and excelling at the game.
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