Posted by: Shannon (sblack@realtracs.com) on Fri Jul 7 20:39:05 2006

I know the season is almost over- but I am trying to get a game plan to help my daughter improve for next season! My daughter who just turned 11 plays fast pitch and has made the allstar team every year . The problem I have is that I have never, ever played any sport before and I am clueless as how to help her. She has natural ability I assume as I have taught her nothing. She has also had great coaches. She is pretty good at her fielding and usually plays short stop. Lately, she has really been struggling with her hitting. She is not what I would call a home-run hitter. She is a strong, consistent hitter who will once in a while surprise everyone with a homerun. But lately she is striking out quite a bit and very frustrated with herself.She weighs about 110 and is about 5'4 tall. Her bat is an Easton Havoc 30/18. I just bought her a Demarini Medusa 32/20 to see if using a different bat would help. She did hit a homerun with this bat but then struck out 3 times after the homerun. Should I find someone who can work with her and give her batting lessons? If I find someone, How will I know that the person won't confuse her more? Is there a book or anything that will help me assist her? Maybe a softball for dummies or anything like that?(haha) We don't really have access to batting cages in our area. I can throw a ball to her but of course it isn't like the fast pitches she gets. Her Dad could probably help but he is and will continue to be deployed to Iraq indefinitely.This site has a ton of information on it but I am embarrassed to say that most of it goes right over my head.If anyone can suggest anything basic that I could make sure she is right with her swing/hitting, I guess that would be a great starting point. Sorry for the rambling post-I do appreciate any and all help though