Hitting and Hitters Discussion Best Bat for Slappers & Draggers

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gorfpsb: The dd was a swith hitter at 12. Only slapping and bunting from the left side then switching to the right to hit. Worked with two good hitting coaches Dave Paetkau and Howard Carrier. Both stated the exact same thing. Don't switch hit , teach her to hit for power from the left side. So that fall for the next 6 months we worked on hitting only from the left side and it took roughly a year for her to learn to hit for power along with being a bunter slapper. At 14 she could hit the fence on a fly ball. She still has not hit one over, but at 107 lbs , she hits it further than most kids her age. The secret is not being big an strong , or the bat. It is working with good hitting instructors that have taught her a good swing. The winter when she was 13, we went to many slapping small ball college cames to learn the art of bunting and slapping. You never learn enough and we still are going to camps and lessons . Last year she learned the power slap as another weapon. Good slappers must be able to take what the defense gives them. Otherwise as you get older the defense will play the bunt or slap and you won't get on base no matter how fast you are. For those that don't undestand the power slap. Third base is playing you in to take away the slap or bunt. You hit it over the head of third base. She also can hit it in the gap over second base. It take practice and work. We have an indoor net in our basement so she can work on hitting all winter, or when we have bad weather. Plus she takes regular lessons.

 

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gorfpsb: The dd was a swith hitter at 12. Only slapping and bunting from the left side then switching to the right to hit. Worked with two good hitting coaches Dave Paetkau and Howard Carrier. Both stated the exact same thing. Don't switch hit , teach her to hit for power from the left side. So that fall for the next 6 months we worked on hitting only from the left side and it took roughly a year for her to learn to hit for power along with being a bunter slapper. At 14 she could hit the fence on a fly ball. She still has not hit one over, but at 107 lbs , she hits it further than most kids her age. The secret is not being big an strong , or the bat. It is working with good hitting instructors that have taught her a good swing. The winter when she was 13, we went to many slapping small ball college cames to learn the art of bunting and slapping. You never learn enough and we still are going to camps and lessons . Last year she learned the power slap as another weapon. Good slappers must be able to take what the defense gives them. Otherwise as you get older the defense will play the bunt or slap and you won't get on base no matter how fast you are. For those that don't undestand the power slap. Third base is playing you in to take away the slap or bunt. You hit it over the head of third base. She also can hit it in the gap over second base. It take practice and work. We have an indoor net in our basement so she can work on hitting all winter, or when we have bad weather. Plus she takes regular lessons.

Since working with Dan's daughter we have come up with a process to help in the conversion of going from right to left.

We start them off with throwing left hand as a hitter. We use Don Slaughts method of throwing the ball using the top hand by interlocking the top hand baby finger with the bottom hand index finger. They throw a pair of socks into a mirror and we put a piece of colored tape in the area of their belly button on their shirt. We want them to think slow to load, soft to step on a flexed front knee and separate their hands rearward at toe touch and then lower the back elbow as they pull with the lead arm elbow and throw the socks into the mirror. We want them to see them self in the mirror and look at the position of the tape and they should see their hips fully rotated. Next we have them throw the socks to the opposite field and they should see the tape pointed towards the short stop at a minimum and then finally towards the pull field and the belly button pointing at the second baseman's playing position. We feel working in front of the mirror gives them feed back so they can not only see it but feel it. Next we use the whiffer stick, PVC one handed drills and then the bat. Again we want them hitting up the middle first, opposite field next and finally pulling the ball so they can rotate the hips as needed.

We converted four right handed hitters from Colerain this year doing this and their contribution helped take their team to the final four for the first time in their schools history. Catlin Lowe was in town doing a clinic and we took those girls to her clinic and she helped lay the ground work for the foot work and we did the follow up to reinforce it. Once we got the hitting down the slap, power slap and bunt were worked in. Our method of getting them to track the ball quicker was to use reverse tracking techniques. We started at the back corner of the plate and I would move my hand down with the ball while the slapper was looking directly at the pitcher and they would see my hand move out of the corner of their eye as I would toss the ball in front of them however they had to turn their head slightly first to track the ball. Then we would make them hit pull, middle and opposite and then we worked in the power slap and bunt.

 

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I am new here, but not to softball. My DD has been working on her slap for over four years now. She can now drag bunt (down both lines), slap, power slap, and swing away. I have to agree with the dead bat theory-sorta. My DD has been using the medusa since the beginning. This worked well for bunting and regular slapping. But, for power, she has been working wth the voodoo. It just shoots off the bat.

The Medusa has a bigger barrell which, I think, starts the confidence, but has no power. She picks the bat (every time she goes up) based on outs, runners, etc. By 16U the girls have to gain their intelligence about the situations.

As for the remark that slappers are wasting their time and "aren't good." I have to say that the gentleman should get in there and try it once. Slapping takes a lot more practice than just swinging away. The girl has to #1-get their count right. #2-be safe 90% of the time. #3-stay in the batter's box and they better pull the bat back in time if it's a ball. But, most importantly be faster than the last time. My DD works harder on her speed training than the actual hitting now. Parachutes and weights are her best friend. Shaving 1/10 of a second off her home to first makes a huge difference.

Infielders are thinking about how to get her out before they field the ball. Stutter or attempt to think and she is on every time. Bad throws are very common against slappers. They cause havoc-in turn creates extra bases.

This is all just my opinion of course.