12 year old Baseball player

Question
QUESTION: My son is 12 years old, been talking batting and pitching lessons from the high school varsity coach for 4+ years. He's the best player at practice, he's got great mechanics but in a baseball game he's not hitting well.  He went from line drives and hit to the fence to playing games with no hits.  We just finished a tournament and he played 4 games, is the #2 batter and never had 1 hit.  All of his muscle memory he's learned at practice and in lessons is lost in the batter's box, he looks 100% like a different child.  He's so tense you can see his muscles through his baseball uniform.  He's the quickest runner on the team and that's the only thing keeping him in the #2 spot.  He's a great athlete, been told he's gifted for a 12 year old, but falls apart in the batters box - anything you can think of to help.  If it's all mental, how does he get over it?  This is the 3rd season this has happened.  We really thought he outgrew it this year and boom, here we are again.  As a parent we don't know what to do to help.  


ANSWER: Hey Ruth,

He is putting too much pressure on himself.. This seems obvious sitting here at my computer.  Is someone putting added pressure on him.. A coach, a parent, a grandpa perhaps?  Your son needs to bat down in the batting order. He has added pressure batting in front of the number 3 hitter, who is probably the best hitter on the team. Ask the manager to drop him down to about 7th or 8th for now.
When you say he never got 1 hit, does this mean no hits and striking out a bunch? or the balls weren't finding the holes.. If he's hitting the ball on the line, or to the outfield, then it'll take care of itself.  If he's striking out a lot, then you have a bigger problem.. Is he seem to be afraid of getting hit? Has he changed since being hit with a pitched ball?  These are all questions to ask yourself..
Good Luck.. I hope I helped a little..
Good Luck and let me know how it works out.. I'm very interested in how it works out.
Dennis

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: My husband is one of the coaches, he recommended moving Brendan down to the 7 or 8 spot just as you suggested, the other 2 coaches were opposed to move him until after the tournament hoping he would help the team since n the past he was nearly the best hitter.  My husband too thinks too much pressure in the #2 spot.  Until this weekend Brendan was hitting and getting on base, not because of the hit but because of fielding erros and his speed.  This past weekend he struck out all but one ball making contact and it was a looper out.  The coaches have the 2 best batters and fastest runners in the 1 & 2 spot.  Last night I videotaped our son in the cage.  Could this be true,  Brendan is so smart and the 2 varsity coached love him, he's very trainable and is the baseball student he could be.  The coaches say "wow, he's 12 and he understands this stuff and he feels it".  He hits the ball just where the coach tells him to hit it, he's absolutely perfect in the cage with the coach.  My husband tends to think the coaches are teaching above his level since he's only 12 and perhaps he's thinking too much of the "fine tuning" rather than "hands to the ball".  If he has "hands to the ball" he "pulls the bat"  he can't rollover and everything works out great.  Do you think it's possible that he's just got too much in his head from the varsity coaches and he needs to go back to the basics until he starts hitting in the game again?  He was hitting much better back in January and February, even March and about a month ago it all fell apart.  We cancelle training for tonight, going to try to get back to the basics.  Do you think this is a good idea?  He loves training and I don't want him to feel like we are punishing him, but from the beginning of the intense training we talked as it was happening and he too thought maybe his coach was not really helping him.  Brendan is the type kid that will absorb whatever is given to him, straight A student with very little study time, the coaches and teachers all like him because he's trainable and does whatever anyone asks.

Sorry for the long email, I really appreciated your last comment, and yes, you helped a lot.  Just reinforced what my husband said, and I don't like to just believe everything he says just because he thinks he knows baseball!

ANSWER: Hey Ruth,

Are you sure that Brendan is not afraid of the ball.. Could he be more relaxed in the batting cage than with LIVE pitching.. When a machine pitches to him, he has no fear of getting hit by a pitched ball.  If you trace back to when his problems started, are you sure he wasn't beaned by a pitch somewhere down the line? Also, back in January , when everything was rosey, was he down in the batting order? with no pressure?  Is there someone, waiting in the wings to take his position if he fails? Ask these questions.. I'm thinking he has become afraid of something in the batters box. Maybe the speeds of the pitches from much harder throwers.. Keep me informed.
Dennis


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: He's definitely not afraid of the ball and that's the thing, he's not bailing out AT ALL.  He's being pitched to not only by the coach, but also kids at practice and he excells there.  He's a tough boy, physically fit and knows when a ball hit the hip area no big deal and if he's ready for the ball that should be about the only place he gets slammed.  He looks very tense at the plate.  The One thing the high school coach thought was he is afraid of failing.  I did forget this part....this is not the first year/season this has happened.  He opens the season looking great and 4 weeks into the season he can't hit.  It's just mind boggling.  Any further thoughts are GREATLY APPRECIATED.  If it's in his head and he's afraid to fail, how do we get past that.  We've tried to talk to him, encourage him, etc.  He's a great select soccer player, he's the only kid on the team who plays the entire game,
he's also captain.  He excells in soccer with pressure by me and my husband.  Baseball is totally different, he tends to get his feelings hurt.  We have asked him "do you want to quit, why do you think this if fun if it upsets you?"  I just want him to have fun and enjoy life and not be sad.  Brendan says he loves baseball and wants to keep playing.  Antyhing thoughts / comments are greatly appreciated!!!!!!

Answer
Hey Ruth,,

Are you sure the pressure isn't coming from somewhere other than the coach.. Is dad riding him hard?.. Maybe if he can play without parents watching would work.. (I know this would kill you).. Maybe for a short time. (3 games).. Just to see if it could be a link..
It probably isn't , but we need to rule it out.. MAybe ask the coach on the side.. to be honest with you.. Could be..

Dennis