Hitting and Hitters Discussion Right handed naturally, hitting left handed

[default]

It is when you have the defense playing you for a slap or a bunt. You drop the ball over the infielders head , just in front of the outfielders. It looks like a wounded duck, so it got the nickname. It is just one more weapon, that slappers can use. I have an article on slapping at home, that explains it and other weapons of slapping..

Ah. Understood.

 

[default]

Alright so there are two basic things that I do with my daughter to allow her left handed swing to become more natural.

1 - Train each hand independently.
2 - Make sure the top arm elbow slots correctly.

#2 is not something I concentrate on with someone hitting from their natural slide because if you do some other things right, that usually takes care of itself. And I've actually found that if you focus on it too much on the natural side there tends to be a dip in the swing and you come out of the proper swing plane.

1 - Train each hand independently.
The bottom hand (her right hand) is the FOR HER. If she gets that well oiled the top hand is not as much of a problem. We use a small bat like a t-ball bat, one that she can handle without having to focus on it.

We take slow swings through the phases I have set up for her, stopping at each point to check things out. We do that a few times. Stance, load, launch, contact and follow-thru are the names we have given them. In the off-season we go through them about 5-8 times and then each time we go hit we do it again and she gets better at it. All one arm at a time.

We then get on the tee and step though the 5 phases again a few times to get lined up. We then take some slow, smooth swings to allow her to feel that she can generate power with slow strokes and doesn't need to get all out of whack trying to hit the ball hard. Each time she does a few smoothly we rotate a bit harder. We keep doing that until she is on the edge of control. And if we keep doing that what was on the edge of control will now just be her "hard swing" and she will have a NEW edge of control. Repeat for the top hand.

We move on to soft toss from the front using smooth strokes then hard. Her hard strokes are her "no strikes" swing and her smooth strokes are the normal swings she takes in a game with one strike on her.

Those two things are the staples of my one armed training. Occasionally we will do some other things if I am trouble-shooting her swing but that is as needed.

Next post.... arm/elbow slot

 

[default]

SB Family's daughter Swifty is a student of ours and when switching her over we began by using the ball in the hand drill. From the left side of the plate bend at the waste and soften the knees and hold a ball in you top hand and interlock the index finger of the right hand with the baby finger of the left hand. The hitter loads and goes to toe touch and separates the hands slightly rearward and then lowers the back elbow or slots and then makes a good first move with the lead arm elbow of about 2 to 4 inches and throws the ball directly forward. We point out we throw the ball to the direction of the belly button and point that out. Then we mark the net where the short stop plays and rotate as needed ( belly button pointed at the mark) and throw the ball and repeat to the second baseman's playing position and show them where the belly button is pointed. We usually put a piece of tape on their shirt. Once they get the throwing portion integrated with the load, toe touch and separation down we then go to the one handed drills. We use the schedule 80 gray PVC and cut the bat to full length and put a wooden dowel rod 14.5 inches from the knob end and then cap it and put a grip on it. From the top we add 3 ounces of number 9 bird shot and it works better than B/B's or sand etc. and we put a cap on that end. This gives her the feeling of using a real bat without using a short bat. We have them hit tennis balls and start with the back hand first and there is a target on the net with a line 51 and 39 inches horizontally and a vertical line in the center. In the beginning we want the hitter to put the ball exactly in the middle of the net. When working the hands individually especially the back hand as they have a tendency to take it back further than they normally would if both hands were on the bat so we have them make a fist with their lead hand and just touch the bat with it so they have a gauge so to speak of how far back they are actually separating the hands rearward. The lead hand emphases is on making a good first move by the lead elbow moving slightly forward and upwards like going up a ramp with the knob of the bat leading the barrel head and releasing the barrel head to the ball. As she starts to release the wrist angle the number 9 bird shot begins to slide and is moving towards the end of the bat to generate centripetal force and the bat at this point will almost will swing it self and the muscle memory has begun. We converted 3 lefties at Colerain this year by doing this plus with the help of Catlin Lowe and their contribution and hard work paid off for the team as we had only one lefty. The huge factor was understanding to rotate as needed to direct the belly button to the position we wanted the ball to go and then releasing the wrist angle next and once they could hit it in that direction we progressed to stepping forward only after they started hitting. The next step was the power slap and then the downward angle was introduced. In practice it was always hitting first, power slap and then slap in that order.

 

[default]

I'm going to have to read that a few times to get my head wrapped around it.

 

[default]

My daughter threw lefty until she was 9, then I switched her over to throw right. After having a son who threw left, it limits their defensive positions to 1b or of. After hitting right handed until she was 12 she switched over to bat left handed, and has done very well. Hundreds of swings over the winter and it's payed off. She lead off and started shortstop for her High School team as a 7th grader, and is having a good year at the plate this summer. It takes a lot of supervised swings to switch over. The slapping part IMO should be taught after.

 

[default]

I disagree with the whole anti flip flop thing. As a 10u player not many slapppers possess the power to take it up and over the infield on a consistant basis. So what do you do when a team who knows how your dd hits decides to charge 3rd and SS and keep 1b back at the bag? You flip her back to the right side and have her push a bunt down the 1b line. I tell my dd constantly to scan the field and take what the defense gives you. that means when you square up or attemp a slap/ drag to pay attention to what the defense does. IMHO it is just one more weapon in her bag of tricks. However she NEVER switches sides during an at bat.

 

[default]

I disagree with the whole anti flip flop thing. As a 10u player not many slapppers possess the power to take it up and over the infield on a consistant basis. So what do you do when a team who knows how your dd hits decides to charge 3rd and SS and keep 1b back at the bag? You flip her back to the right side and have her push a bunt down the 1b line. I tell my dd constantly to scan the field and take what the defense gives you. that means when you square up or attemp a slap/ drag to pay attention to what the defense does. IMHO it is just one more weapon in her bag of tricks. However she NEVER switches sides during an at bat.

The key to power comes from the legs and in my opinion if a girls hits ugly (not using the legs) she throws without power also. This is why we teach throwing first and then hitting becomes easy as you can draw analogies off it. We had a girl here last week who showed little weight shift or momentum for hitting so I ask her to throw and said you are not throwing very hard. I said I wished I had a radar gun so I could prove it to you and her coach had one so we gunned her at 44 MPH and I said within 10 minutes we could improve her throwing speed by 5 to 8 MPH....it took 6 minutes and we had her at 51 MPH. By the end of the session she was hitting much harder also.

The point I am trying to make is that most of the girls have never been taught how to use their legs properly so they never get the full potential as to power when it comes to hitting or throwing in my opinion. We teach our slappers how to hit first from the left side and rotate as needed using their belly button as an indicator of how far the hips open and build from there. Next we teach the power slap and then we progress to hitting down on the ball and by that time the belly button is understood and away we go.

Power can be increased no matter what age as we had a 10.5 year old hit an over the fence 200 foot home run last fall and she is not a big kid (90 pounds) however has great technique...when she hit it everyone wanted to know what bat she was using and the father proudly said, "It is a $59.95 Walmart Special!"

 

[default]

hey, i'm a leftyy but my dominance is hitting right handed, my mom wants me to hit left handed, but i just can'tt. everybodyss differntt

 

[default]

hey, i'm a leftyy but my dominance is hitting right handed, my mom wants me to hit left handed, but i just can'tt. everybodyss differntt

I have several that throw left and bat right....whatever YOU want and what makes you comfortable.

If you have speed then consider converting if not pound the ball from the right and have fun doing it.

 

[default]

The whole key to slapping is to wreak havoc on the defense by making them hurry to field and rush their throw. If a fast slapper can get a good two bounce hop, she is usually on base. Also a slapper/ bunter role is also to move the runner ahead of her, is it a glorified spot to be in, not always, but it is about getting the job done.

It's also like the triple threat position in B-Ball, you can slap, drag or sneaky one handed bunt and keep them guessing. If you master it, you will be noticed and get much playing time...

 

[default]

Ask any coach that faces this type of player, how they like playing defense against them. They are also a weapon when they get on base. Try to throw a change up and they have a green light to steal. So they are a power hitters best freind, when they are on base. The good ones can bunt, slap, power slap or hit for power, based on the defense and runners on base. Whatley does this the best of any player I know.

 

[default]

who would know of good hitting coach in northeast ohio? naturally a righty but i have switch dd to left side to teach how to slap. dd is small in size with good speed