Why does my kid look great in practice but come game time, it’s like they are a different player?
1. Fear of pain. They don’t want to get hit with the pitch. Their mind is more consumed with the pitched ball hitting their body than they are excited about hitting it themselves.
2. Parent comments. What’s Mom and/or Dad going to say. Self doubt wins more often when they are worried about the comments and emotions that come from their parents when they don’t succeed.
3. Coaches emotions. Coaches who harp on the negative, never have anything positive to say, have bad body language, often instill a level of self doubt in their players. Their attitude is counterproductive.
4. They don’t practice enough. Team practice will never be enough to be fully prepared. Reality is most get limited reps at team practices. All players should practice on their own time and if their desire is to be one of the best, they should practice often.
5. They don’t love it. They enjoy being with their buddies but the passion just isn’t there. Maybe they enjoy another hobby more, maybe a negative coach has taken away that love, maybe they’ve become tired of “hearing it” from their parents or maybe they’ve just burnt out from their own performance struggles.
6. The game has caught up to them. When they were younger they were naturally better than most others but as the years have gone on their peers have caught up to them and now it’s not as easy which has made it less fun for them.
7. Practice is too easy. The speed of batting practice pitches. The effort given in bullpens. The ease of practice ground balls. Coaches and parents, practice the hard stuff. There’s a time and place for easy but there also needs to be difficult.
8. Burn out. It’s time for a break. Mentally they are fatigued. There’s nothing wrong with taking some time away. Playing another sport. It’s also not necessary to play fall ball every year.
Confidence is everything out there on the field. If it’s lacking, for whatever reason, performance will be spotty and inconsistent. From how we practice to how we coach to how we parent, helping them believe in themselves and learn how to play the game with confidence has to be at the top of our list. When we struggle with our part as the adults in their lives, we shouldn’t be surprised when they struggle with their part too playing this extremely difficult game. Teach them. Lead them.
Founder of Baseball Dudes. Blessed with three beautiful children and an amazing wife. Baseball is my life, after my family, and I love sharing what I have learned from it. Thanks for taking the time to view what we offer here at Baseball Dudes.
