What should I do?

[fastpitchmom17]

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My 4yr old son had batting practice today at an indoor facility, silly I know. This was the 2nd time his team had been to hit off the machine. I could tell by the fact that he was standing about 2 feet off the plate that he was nervous, but just tried to reassure him that it was nearly impossible to get hit & to get up on the plate and take some swings. After his coach realized it was a total waste of time for these little guys to be expected to hit 38-40mph, he started pitching to them, finally a small spark of thought.

At some point & for a reason I'm still unsure of the coach told my child that if he did ?? again he was gonna hit him with a ball. Sure enough, next pitch son is standing completely outside BB facing coach/pitcher and coach nails little guy in the "wrong spot"! WTF? I could understand if lil son was in the box and ready to hit and coach acctidentaly hits him, but the way I see it he warned him first and then followed through on his threat. I sent nasty email to coach & forwarded it to our Board of Directors explaining why my son will no longer be playing on this team.


Did I over react? I was too pissed to follow the 24hr rule!
Just looking for advice, please respond.

[Cannonball]

4 years old?

Regarding the coach, he shouldn't be allowed to coach. Children this age don't have the faculties necessary to follow directions etc. consistently nor do they engage images that help them attempt what the coach request from experience. I'd be angry as well.

Now, maybe just play catch with your son for a year or two and let them enjoy the sport for what it is. There'll be time enough for him to play on teams. JMHO!

[Judd]

I asked my DD's hitting coach about getting my 7 y/o son in lessons and he told me most kids that age just cant grasp lessons and be that focused. So for a 4 y/o boy to be focused?

Maybe if these were 16 y/o and the kid was goofing off and the coach got his attention by tossing a ball at him (not beaning him). But to hit a 4 y/o who is already scared of being in the box, I think thats pretty sh..... Well I wont say it

I would just encourage him and play catch and let him grow into it. My 7 y/o goofs off and I try real hard not to push him and let him make up his mind about sports. He is currently doing soccer.


BYW Whos idea was it to take 4 y/o's to the batting cages? They can barely hit it off a tee

[daylightkate]

Wow, they don't really have eye/hand co-ordination at that age. This sounds like a new over zealous coach and I would be concerned!

I think at that age they should only be playing t-ball or blast ball. At least, that is what they do here to start. Give them two years of that and maybe start hand pitching to them but not with a machine. Is he nuts to even attempt to put a kid that young in a batting cage with a 40 mph pitch?


Again WOW...

[just play]

First of all, NOBODY should be threatening to hit anyone else on purpose with a base/softball!!! That is no way to teach any kid how to hit. The kids will not even comprehend the game itself and are just learning their motor skills for the game. I would have reacted in the same manner and may have also gone a step farther.

Secondly, 4 years old, what are they doing at a batting cage? Like I said, they are just learning the motor skills needed to swing a bat and hit a ball. 100% of the time should be at a tee or some type of stationary ball, learning the correct mechanics of a swing. If you wanna push it, then I would think soft toss with wiffles would suffice. What would 4 year old kids benefit from being in a batting cage? I don't know of a machine slow enough to throw at a speed a 4 year old would be able to hit. Maybe I am not giving enough credit to the kids, but as my kids are now teens, I do not remember them being told to hit a pitched/thrown ball at that age. I can still remember the struggles of 7 years olds trying to hit off 6'0' plus coaches weighing 200 lbs. Why is it coaches just do not realize how important tee work is and how much kids/adults can learn from it. This is where you "learn" the swing and then you can apply it to a pitched ball.

[wadeintothem]

The batting cage was nothing.. next weeks lesson for the 4 y/o's was how to break up a double play.

[Skarp]

Did I over react? I was too pissed to follow the 24hr rule!
Just looking for advice, please respond.

I would have still been beating that guy when the cops showed up, so I guess in my estimation you didn't over-react.

[Sam]

Had you placed your 4 year old in a tee ball league this wouldn't have happened.

Had you stopped the coach from throwing the next pitch after threatening to hit your child with the pitch, this wouldn't have happened.

We don't know how the coach reacted after hitting the child...we don't know if he said "I told you what I was going to do" or if he was mortified that he had let a pitch get away after his "highly motivational instruction."

So...the only thing we DO know is that this never should have happened in the first place.

[Demonboy]

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My 4yr old son had batting practice today at an indoor facility, silly I know. This was the 2nd time his team had been to hit off the machine. I could tell by the fact that he was standing about 2 feet off the plate that he was nervous, but just tried to reassure him that it was nearly impossible to get hit & to get up on the plate and take some swings. After his coach realized it was a total waste of time for these little guys to be expected to hit 38-40mph, he started pitching to them, finally a small spark of thought.

At some point & for a reason I'm still unsure of the coach told my child that if he did ?? again he was gonna hit him with a ball. Sure enough, next pitch son is standing completely outside BB facing coach/pitcher and coach nails little guy in the "wrong spot"! WTF? I could understand if lil son was in the box and ready to hit and coach acctidentaly hits him, but the way I see it he warned him first and then followed through on his threat. I sent nasty email to coach & forwarded it to our Board of Directors explaining why my son will no longer be playing on this team.


Did I over react? I was too pissed to follow the 24hr rule!
Just looking for advice, please respond.

If the coach is alive and or has all his limbs, you didn't over react.

[fastpitchmom17]

You guys are a riot! Thanks for the comments. We have a meeting with the board about this tonight.