Kimberly, congrats on the 8 pounds
Rhi, can you come to chicago and tell me what to do with my 7year old who is faster than the boy and can hit it out of the park but she can't field to save the earth...
Lisa, OMG.. where did you learn how to take pictures like that?? AMAZING
No working out at all, I have taken the month off, we fixed the basement (more of it) the carpet is in. And DD4 has a big girl bed but we still need to get her a mattress
DD7 is sick, I had to leave work to get her, on & off fever and a bad cough..
Thats about it in my world.
I can try! I love Chicago
Without actually seeing the player, it's hard to really pinpoint what they need help with. I can give a few suggestions though. The biggest thing to remember is that she's 7-- playing sports has to be fun for her. She'll eventually grow into being a better fielder and it will become second nature. For most kids, hitting comes a bit more naturally so fielding problems at that age are almost typical.
One of the biggest problems with fielding (aside from being afraid of the ball-- more on that in a bit) is that players of all ages confuse fielding mechanics. They see their favorite big league player crouched down and think they need to crouch as well, when it's really more of a squat.
The easiest way to teach fielding position is to turn them into an elephant. Have them stand up straight, and then touch their "trunk" (the back of their glove hand with or without the glove) to the ground in front of them-- not at their feet, but in front of their feet, and then bend their knees until it's comfortable for them to look up at you standing in front of them. At the younger ages, it's OK if it's not a perfect fielding position as the goal is developing muscle memory for the squat and getting them used to picking up a ball in that position. You can then "pick peanuts" by slowly rolling a ball at their "trunk" and having them scoop it up to their belly (kind of like how an elephant brings food to its mouth). They can use two hands, but you want to make sure that the hand doing most of the work is the glove hand.
You can build on this and get them used to moving in a squat by picking strawberries. You put a bunch of balls (or socks, toys, crackers, anything really) on the ground spread out. For younger kids, I'll usually do about 5 things for them to pick up, spread not too far apart. The goal is for the player to get into a fielding stance and pick up the stuff without coming out of the stance. The only rules are that they can't stand up until all things are picked up, and they can't pick anything up unless it's in front of their feet (so if they're standing over it, it doesn't count). This drill is for developing motion in the fielding squat, as well as training them to field in front of their body.
The other big problem is being afraid of the ball. This is a little tougher to deal with, since the wrong move could really push a kid in the wrong direction. If she learns that yes, being hit with the ball DOES hurt, it reinforces the idea that fielding sucks. You can take a two-pronged approach with this by showing her that balls don't always hurt, and you can also see what she's better at fielding and putting her on the field appropriately. The biggest thing is building confidence.
If she's OK with a zinging bullet, third or short might be a good place. If she's good at catching fly balls and slow grounders, outfield might be a good place for her. If she can catch things that are thrown by other players and the occasional ground ball, first or second could be ideal. Or if she wants to sit back and let her teammates do most of the work, have her be a pitcher.
If you find a spot where she's comfortable on the field, she will build confidence and eventually start to take risks.
But as far as showing her that balls don't hurt, she'll really only learn by feeling it. I am in NO WAY advocating zinging hard or soft balls at your DD, but what you can do is take a few tennis balls or foam balls (I wouldn't recommend wiffle balls at a young age since those sting) and have her practice fielding with those. Once she's in her stance, you can roll them at her and build up to a bat or a tennis racket. I usually start about 60 feet away (the distance between bases) and roll them, but as the player gets better they move closer. Once they're pretty good at fielding the rolled balls, I back them up to 60 feet and try with a tennis racket since it's a little less predictable and faster. Obviously gauge how hard you're swinging with whether she can stop it and make it easy for her. I usually tell players to try and field whatever they can, even if it's nowhere near them. That way they get used to moving and occasionally the ball may bounce off them and show them it doesn't hurt that bad. This is more about building confidence and getting players comfortable with fielding than really challenging them. As they get older, I really zing the ball at them to work on reaction time, so the drill can be adapted for any age/skill level.
I don't think there's any real magic wand that can be waved to help a player get better overnight, but the biggest things are patience and confidence as players and parents. The only way a player will get better is a love for the game. She won't love it if it hurts or she thinks she sucks and can't do anything right. At any age, softball is all about fun. I tell my players all the time about the silly mistakes I've made as a player-- I swear I have the college record for losing games by throwing a passed ball with a runner on third. If they actually kept track of that stuff, I could tell you for sure. But you rub it off and live to play another game. One mistake isn't the end of the world, even if it knocks your team out of the running for a state or national championship.
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But that's love Karen. That's love. 
It was like a pushing myself out of my introverted nature for a sec. 
Really. I'm THAT bad. So I'm trying to make some changes. Trying. 
Congratulations on the eight pounds. 
And see below about facebook. 
