Posted by: kailbo (kailbo@yahoo.com) on Tue May 17 21:21:21 2005

Sounds to me like he needs to approach the at-bat a bit different mentally. Like Yogi says-- 90% of baseball is half mental.

I tell my 9 year old son to approach every pitch with the thought process that he is swinging at it-- and if at the last second he realizes its a ball, then say NO! and stop the swing.

I realize this may not be totally appropriate as he advances in baseball, (with different situations for different at bats during different phases of the game) but at this level, I believe it's an appropriate approach to get the kids thinking they are up there to hit and not look for (or hope for) a walk.

I also tell him that every at bat is a battle between you and the pitcher. Somebody is gonna win. Is it gonna be you or the pitcher? Are you gonna give in and let him get the best of you, or are you gonna decide that your going to win. Sure you may strike out every now and then, but your mindset is that I'm there to hit and the kids will be more inclined to take there cuts. And as they do, they will get their hits and as a result confidence will grow and the propensity to freeze at the plate will diminish.