Natalee has continued to struggle at bat during this softball season. Watching your child strike out 3-4 times a game each game is super duper tough. I'm thankful for her great coaches that talk to her kindly and have helped her keep her chin up about it.
The other day I decided old mom would get out there and try to help her troubleshoot. I know basically nothing about softball, but as it turns out I'm kind of an expert in how Natalee operates.
We took Uncle Lance's suggestion of switching back to her lightweight 12 oz. t-ball bat. After watching her practice I realized that she gets overwhelmed at the plate. There's too much to think about and she was struggling to remember it all in any reasonable manner. I helped her develop a 3 step checklist that she can whip through quickly each time she needs to bat. It seems that with those things taken care of efficiently she can focus a little more on actually hitting the ball. I could see her doing her checklist when she went to the plate at yesterday's game.
1. feet (squared to the plate)
2. bat (back)
3. elbow (back elbow up)
Feet, bat, elbow. Feet, bat, elbow.
And.....she got a hit!!
Man, I felt so proud and relieved for her, even if she did forget to run! And I was that mom that stood up and yelled, "run, run, RUN!"
A friend also loaned her some batting gloves, which she says helps the bat not hurt her hands when it hits the ball (vibration?). As promised I stopped at the sports store and got her some batting gloves of her own after she got a hit.
On Tuesday she got to play pitcher!
Thursday's game was also super exciting because she got to take her turn playing catcher for an inning. I'm so thankful that her coaches treat her fairly and appreciate how coach Kenny stood behind her and backed her up playing catcher.
Kid, we're proud of you. We realize that some of these things don't come completely naturally to you (blame your mama!) but you stick in there and you work your hiney off and keep trying. You're doing great!
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