It started when my son (8) started to get better at catching. I started to gradually throw harder to him and then tried to start letting it rip a little more because some of the kids his age can really throw now.

Early on I was always conscious about trying to not hit him in the face and that’s never really left me even though it has never happened. My son can catch, I know he can catch, I know that I can really let it rip and he’ll catch it but something in my brain just doesn’t allow it. Wtf do I do?

Whenever I try to put some heat on my throws something in my head says “just don’t hit him” and when that happens I think I’m prematurely letting go instead of just letting it roll off my fingers, and this results in wild throws. The ball usually will bounce in front of him.

I take a breath, throw a couple more a little more measured and put it right in his chest then I try and put some heat on it again, same result. For some reason I can’t let myself really let it rip.

This has resulted in bad batting cage sessions, and bad times playing catch. Sometimes he’ll even kind of be like “dad wtf?” Lol

Any tips on how to get over this? Like I said I’ve never hit him before and he’s demonstrated that he is more than capable, but my biggest fear has always been hitting him in the face with a ball. I can’t seem to get over this.