Catching and Throwing

Question
To start my son is a 7 year old talented coach-pitch baseball player. He just finished his first season of "fall-ball" and I have noticed some gaps emerging in his play, and I would like to solve them before he gets any older. My question is in two parts. First, occasionally with no rhyme or reason at the last moment before he releases the ball he looks up at his hand and then releases the ball resulting in an incredibly awkward rainbow. Usually not even in the direction in which the throw was initially intended. I have gone over the noes,toes,throws approach until we are both blue in the face. Any ideas?
Second, when the ball is thrown to him he will not put his body between the rest of the field and the ball. I have tried explaining to him the importance of stopping the ball before it gets by him and I have tried throwing him softer balls and gaining his confidence, but to no avail. I have even put him in his batter's helmet and he caught every one that he could see, but still no luck when the hat came off. Any ideas?


Answer
Stephen:  Thank you for your questions.

When he looks up at the ball it opens up his front shoulder, which in turn drops his throwing arm elbow below his shoulder, causing the ball to come out of the side of his hand.

That would cause the ball to spin sideways, slicing off to the right if he is right handed, to the left if a lefty.

If you are able to figure out why he is looking up at the ball, rather than keeping his head still and his eyes on the target, it might give you a place to start.  It could be as simple as, he is 7 yrs old.

On my website, www.theoleballgame.com, I have some pages on rookie throwing and advanced throwing, as well as rookie and advanced receiving.  You may find some things in there that you can use.

Throwing correctly is important, not only for increased velocity and accuracy; mostly for elbow and shoulder protection.  In the Diamondback's Training Centers we work on throwing and receiving every day of the 5 day camps, for 40-50 minutes, for all ages 6-17.

From your description of his catching situation, it sounds like he may be afraid of getting hit with the ball.  Whether he has been hit himself, or seen someone get hit, at his age it is hard to come to terms with.  Over time we all tend to get through it.

I have a page called, "Fear Of Getting Hit".  It sounds like you are on the right track throwing him softer balls.  Using incrediballs for kids his age is great.  It is all we use for that age group in the Training Centers.  Helps take out some of the fear, allows them to concentrate on the activity, be it hitting, fielding or playing catch.

Try getting him to count the number of hops, with the goal to keep them to 3 or less.  To do that he will need to concentrate on coming to get the ball, which will automatically create better hops for him to work with.

Show him what a long hop is, and what a short hop is; either one is the one he wants to field.  The in between hop is the one most likely to get them hit.  Once they get some confidence to come and get ground balls, rather than sit back and wait, they will start to feel in control, which they are.

It is all about showing them the right way to do something, and then letting them practice it, over and over.  The mind will learn whatever it is taught to do, and will call upon that learning when the action starts.

You are both off on a great journey.  Enjoy the trip.  You are making lifetime memories every day.

If you have additional questions, you can contact me through my site, if it is more convenient to do so.

Yours in baseball,

Rick