Posted by: Major Dan (markj89@charter.net) on Tue Aug 20 13:05:45 2002

My son has just started Kids Pitch. He has a fear of being hit by the ball. What will help overcome this fear?
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> pitch a few balls to him and let them hit you in the face and showem it doesnt hurt. You can really be sure of what will happen. if your a pitcher u take that chance. Thtas why a lot of people dont choose that way.
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> IM being all serious

Great advise. I suspect you tried it on yourself first.

Baseballparent -
when first starting kidpitch, getting hit is a realistic fear. Most pitchers can't aim and some throw hard anyway. I'd be scared too.
1) teach your son how to protect himself. Use tennis balls, throw slow pitches from medium range and have him turn away and protect his head and neck with his shoulder and back. Learning how to take a hit-by-pitch avoids nasty things like getting hit in the face.
2) pitch tennis balls and have him hit them. Mix in a few aimed at him to build in the correct reaction.
3)graduate to real baseballs but don't hit him on purpose. Instead come inside on occasion or over his head. (I do that by accident all the time anyway!).

Confidence that he can get out of the way or take it off a part that doesn't hurt as much is what will get him to stand in there against his Junior Wildthings.
Interestingly, most kids will be fine with adults even if they get pegged. They don't trust the other kids. So there is another transition no matter how much you work with your son on this.
Don't push him too hard to ignore his fear. Help him to overcome it with skills.
Patience and support. Acknowledge that it IS scary. Think about it - your son is smart enough to know that he doesn't want to get hurt.
Even the pros know it is scary. They're just really good at reacting and getting out of the way. Teach your guy to outsmart the wild pitchers too.