Hitting and Hitters Discussion Slap or Brute Force

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Just wondering about other coaches opinions about slappers.
I myself have seen defenses that try so hard to shut down the slapper that a true power hitter can exploit that defense. If the batter is not an excellent slapper than even an average defense will take the slap away anyway which almost always results in an out. Teams these days in the elite level make it almost impossible to slap against because they have seen the best and prepared for it. Any thoughts ?

 

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My experience with teams that slap is that their main goal is to constantly put pressure on you. If you have a team that excells at the short game I feel you will be in for a long day. In a close game, teams that can execute the short game will be at an advantage.
I will also say that teams that live and die by the short game will usually not be around late on Sundays if your talking travel ball or not going far in the tourney if your talking HS ball. There has to be a nice balance of small ball and the power game to be successful.
If your working with a slapper, be sure to let them swing away at times to keep the defense guessing even more. Really wakes up those corners that cheat in when that lefty slapper turns on a good pitch and launches one by their head.

 

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I agree with you Lady_Knights. I have played teams that play to defend the slap everytime and their corners were scared come later innings when they almost took the big shot from a real power hitter. There has to be some balance as you say. The short game might get you through pool play sometimes, but against a strong defense it is my opinion to go with the power when they play to stop the slap.

 

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My dd team has played against teams that use the top three hitters in their line up to slap and that was on every pitch every game. ? I am not a big fan of this since it seems you are teaching the girls something that they won't do much as they get older. ? My experience may be unique but during the high schools season I saw very few effective slappers. ? The pitchers seem to be too strong. ? Even my daughter, ?after a very good slapper on the other team got on two times, ? came off the field and said " hey if I keep the ball inside she can't slap like she wants too". ? ?She learned something. ? ?I think that is why you see less effective slaps at the older levels. ?

 

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i think you would want a nice blend of both kind of hitters to keep offenses off balance. just like in baseball, you have your "tablesetters" who can slap and beat one out, and your power hitters who drive them in. you wouldnt send a Albert Pujols up there to slap.
i think it just depends on who you have at bat at the time ( whats their strength) ,at what game situation , that dictates what you do.

 

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In my experience there are two types of slappers now. The tap and runers and the power slapers. The power slappers take advantage of the drawn in defense by using the RT or other double wall bat to shoot balls past the infield. A team at any level with 2 good slappers and a power slapper in the lineup will win you games.

Many girls that are slappers my not have the power to be "brute force" hitters anyhow.

 

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We use slappers to slice a defense and base their instruction on control, contact and placement. Practice sessions for this use actual targets that the girls are expected to hit or at least get close to.

Targets are placed on all points of the field so we are not just working the right side. They are also taught to swing away from the left and when to do so.

Even though we teach all of the girls to be slappers and work from the left side, we are not going to give up our power. It takes a good balance to win a game - it is just another tool in our arsenal.

However, last year in York, PA, we ran into a couple of umpires who gave the way outside strike. I mean WAY outside. We moved everyone to the left side just so that we could stay in the game and not get wrung up.

 

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I have noticed even at the college level that some of the great teams have their outfielders follow their infielders. meaning if the infield moves in to take away the slap, the outfield moves in a lot also, so as not to let the power slapper burn them. Some teams actually had their right and left fielders only 4 or 5 steps behind the infield line in a slap situation. I agree with Timac4 in that as the girls get older the defenses can take away the slap for an instant out.
I do think it has it's place sometimes maybe, but if you use it a lot, you will not play late on Sundays. A good pitcher can take the slapper or bunter almost out of the picture especially if the ump is calling the outsides and high pitches often.

 

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The job of a slapper is to put pressure on the defense and to move base runners. No matter how good a defense is they are going to make mistakes. When they do the slappers will run them to death. I've seen it at every level from 10u through pro teams. I've spoken with a pitcher that has been an all-star in the pro league a number of times, who says the real slappers (Whatley, Mendoza etc.) are the hardest out for her. They just find ways to get on base.

 

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Yes the true job of a slapper is to move runners. This can be done with a simple bunt/run. At the rec level it seems that a slapper is very valuable because of the weak defense. Yes a very good slapper(which there are only a few very good ones) can Sometimes get on because the defense might make a mistake, but I won't take the risk of the defense making a mistake especially with the very good teams. If your playing a solid defense who has played at the national level a lot then the slap may just get you burned more times than it works. On the other hand if I have a Whatley or Mendoza type player than I will take the risk more often. ?

 

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IMO (my daughter is a talented slapper) in order to be truly effective a slapper must:

1. Be fast enough to slap and get to 1st base in 2.8 secs or less (this allows them to beat the throw to 1st much of the time).

2. Be able to drag bunt (bunt for a base hit) without giving away the play.

3. Be able to power slap over the outfielders heads when they move in close to the grass line.

4. Be able to hit situationally depending on what the defense is doing (no point in slapping a small ball if every infield position has moved up and is ringing the player).

A slapper cannot slap every at bat or they quickly lose their effectiveness, no matter how speedy they are. They have to keep the opposing team guessing. A talented slapper with speed generates an amazing amount of errors by the defense, because they cause them to make more panic throws when they see how close to 1st the slapper is by the time they have fielded the ball. I believe the most important statistics for a slapper are OBP, OBP+errors, and runs scored....that's where you see just how much they bring to a team.

 

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Well said. I agree it's about OBP and scoring runs. My DD is also a slapper. She is not real fast at 2.9 - 3.1, but has great bat control and a head for the game. She scored more runs than she had hits last year. Anyone that feels the small game is not effective at higher levels needs to look at the Olympic team. Although they had plenty of power, they were stacked with slappers.

 

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I think my comments may have been taken the wrong way. I agree that there are a few good slappers out there. My point was just that great defenses practice against the slap, at almost every practice. A great defense will not make a "panic" throw. Great defenses realize that people are sometimes going to get on base and that is O.K. so don't make the bad throw. A speedy, heads up outfielder can also rob a slapper of the over infielder hit if played right and If the defense practices a lot to defend it. I DO think the short game is very, very, important against SOME defenses, but just asking for trouble against others. Can a defense stop Every slapper ? NO. ?But.....A well practiced and coached defense can shut down a lot of them.....Sometimes. Every team needs some sort of balance between short and long, but teams who live by the slapper sometimes die by the slapper.

 

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I don't disagree -- a good slapper is just one part of a much bigger picture on what makes a team successful at the plate. Unfortunately there are some coaches who ignore the "small ball" game believing if it's not hit into the grass, it's not a "good" hit. That is so untrue. Coaches who rely entirely on brute force often find themselves with batters hitting a lot of LONG outs....but they are still out. Good defense goes both ways, and good outfield coaching makes a lot of those hitting the long balls very ineffective too.

A successful slapper is good at reading the defense and hitting the ball where they are not, no differently than a top notch power hitter. That is what makes a hitter valuable, not how they are hitting it -- but where.