Hitting and Hitters Discussion Slapping Questions

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Ok, its safe to ask now lol

DD is a natural right hander who in her 09 season hit the ball fairly well. Doubles and even triples on reg. basis in her second season of 14U. First season of 16U she chose to go to a new organization. One in which decides to make her a lefty, slapper. Two tourney into season dd is really struggling with confidence issues (totally agreed) and coach decides to put her back on right side.

First question, Was nine months a long enough period to see dd's potential on left side?

Second question, Would you ever switch a kid at the age of 15? With only a few years left to really develope before College?

Third question, DD hasnt giving up on the left side but is having a hard time with the struggle after what it took to become a hitter on the right. She is discouraged! Is it ok to let her switch hit? Say for fall ball or even High School until her confidence is where it needs to be on the left. She is no longer with the team that wanted her on the left and new coach is open to her switch hitting....Just want to do whats best for her

 

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One question I would ask how fast is she to first? Very few switch hit in softball. Think about the reason you switch hit in baseball, softball is not the same sport. Pitcher throws underhand. At that age , I would ? switching her. My dd switched at 12. It took a year of lessons learning how to hit first from the left side , because learning how to bunt and slap is easy if you practice and have speed. She now can do both, but the first year she stuggled hitting. Now if she is only bunting from the left side, I wouldn't call that switch hitting, but any good coach will know how to play defense against her if they see her on the left side.

 

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Our experience was similar to sbfamily's. The first year she switched to left was 2nd year of 12u and the batting average suffered. She still put the ball in play, so we stuck with it. 2nd year of the switch to the left side saw the average and on-base percentage increase, but the power numbers (slugging) were still behind. 3rd year about the same as year 2, but she also jumped up an age bracket. This year I can see her power numbers increasing as she is hitting the ball to the fence now .

As far as switching at 16 yo, I wouldn't recommend it. Everyone I've talked to who has switched has struggled in the first year.

 

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I switched my oldest DD last year when she was heading to 12U. We went to Cassie Cunningham. In the Fall after only about 8 lessons she struggled and was discouraged. Cassie kept telling her it would take time. Spring was a LITTLE better, DD still discouraged and Cassie still saying it took time. We stuck with it and by May she was doing much better, Avg over .400 and OB% over .950 I think. We are still working at it and will see Cassie a little less often this winter. It does take a while to get the timing down.

As far as switching a 15/16U player, Look at Tennesee, they switch a lot of girls when they get there as freshman.

 

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Had two that were switched about 8th grade, average drops 100 points the first year. If you are going to do it, commit 100% to do it. Don't flip flop. Average will come back around. It's also a role player position that usually has a certain job to do. Many sac's and minimal glory. But if they are competent at it, those bang bang plays at first usually go their way. Many due to errors on the defense from pressure, but their role is to wreak havoc.... Cassie is a master at it and by the way a Hilliard graduate!!

 

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I gradually work with my team; At first they said there was no way we can do it. About 3/4's into the season we have half our girls doing it okay (some pretty darn good). Most of my girls stayed so we wil continue the work this winter and I guarentee most will be able to do it. Slapping/bunting on left was easy its the hitting that take time. Even in games I would put them left at first to swing away; that really throws the defense off becasue now they do not know what you are doing.

 

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The best video on the market for a slapper, bunter, and anyone that coaches small ball is by Team USA and Catlin Lowe And they demo each type of bunt and slap. Mike goes thru how to coach a slapper. Many coaches do not undersand small ball. Example you have runner on first who is stealing. You have a very good slapper bunter at bat. Do you show bunt and why not? Goggle team USA and then look at Video they have listed. They will talk about the foot work and why most on team USA do not use the drop back step. That is the only thing Cassie and I disagree on, but she allows my dd to use the cross over, which gets you out of the box faster, but requires more work on timing.. Plus it goes in detail on grip , where you place the ball ( example you do not drag bunt down first base line like some coaches tell you. ) and where you contact the ball on the bat. Cassie is good with young girls. I would post the web page, but Jim Clark has the video at present, if I find it later I will update my post..

 

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If I was her coach and she hit doubles and triples on a regular basis, I wouldn't be messing around having her bat left handed and trying to slap.

Girls that are are good candidates for making into slappers are -
1. if they are fast and lefty to begin with or
2. if they have exceptional speed (like a 2.8 home to first) or
3. if they have good speed and don't / can't hit for power

Sounds like your daughter does well hitting for extra bases - why give that up for a chance to beat out an infield hit? And you will find as they get older, they will need to be great at slapping (not just good) to maintain a decent average because defenses are tougher.

 

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... OB% over .950 I think.

Really???

 

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I agree with Will completely.

 

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If I was her coach and she hit doubles and triples on a regular basis, I wouldn't be messing around having her bat left handed and trying to slap.

Girls that are are good candidates for making into slappers are -
1. if they are fast and lefty to begin with or
2. if they have exceptional speed (like a 2.8 home to first) or
3. if they have good speed and don't / can't hit for power

Sounds like your daughter does well hitting for extra bases - why give that up for a chance to beat out an infield hit? And you will find as they get older, they will need to be great at slapping (not just good) to maintain a decent average because defenses are tougher.

Thanks for all of the advice everyone!! My dd is small for 16 but her Home to first is only 3.23.....That left her somewhere in the middle of the pack on her team last year as far as speed. Alot of people questioned the switch last year giving she was hitting well on the right but I didnt feel it was my place to question the coach. He's a good coach and I do feel his intentions were good,,,,It just didnt work out for the best for my daughter. The girls who made the switch last year were taught to bunt,slap,drag before let to work on hitting away...I've noticed that some of you have stated that your players first learn to hit away. I think this is where my daughters struggle began last year because we took a player who hit away well (had confidence) from the right and all of sudden that same kid is stuggling to swing away on the oposite side..?? Not sure I would do it all over again if given a chance, I feel almost like she lost a season hitting because of the change.

 

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The girls who made the switch last year were taught to bunt,slap,drag before let to work on hitting away...

Yeah - i don't get that. Maybe if you're playing like 10u or 12u, I can maybe see the coaches pressing players to learn how to slap because they can often get away with just putting it on the ground because of defenses being softer. But when you get up to 14, 16 and 18u, the D is quicker and a good coach will shrink the field on them and take away the soft slap. Then your kid has to be able to dink it over an infielders head or be able to rip it through. My kid is a lead-off and she is pretty good at slapping and she is pretty fast (about 3.0) but teams tighten up their infield and she's not good enough to swing away from the left side yet to keep them honest. I just scratch my head when coaches have her slap because she hits .450 from the right and i would guess about .275 from the left.

I'm torn weather to make her abandon it because like you said, it takes time away from perfecting her swing from the right side. If I do continue to let her slap, i want to make sure she learns how to swing for power from the left side also to keep defenses honest.

Funny thing is she likes to slap because she thinks it's cool.

 

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I'm still confused on why anyone would switch hit and only slap-bunt on the left side. Wouldn't ever team you play know what type of defense to play against this type of hitter. Pick a side and stay there. Learn to hit first. Like most have posted, most college will not even look at a slapper unless you are 2.8 or better to first base.

 

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Funny thing is she likes to slap because she thinks it's cool.



LOL Mine thought is was pretty cool too! and still wants to work on the left side but after reading through all of these posts I'm starting to think she may be better off to stay on the right side...I dont think slapping is for everyone, wether the speed is there or not.

 

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Here are a few questions to answer to before I'd switch a successful righty to the dark side.
1. Is she really really really fast. The fastest kid in her school, is a threat for a state championship fast, on the track team fast. If she is NOT the fastest then this is silly. Let her work on stretching those triples into home-runs.
2. Will she commit the time needed to learn and practice the left side work. This skill will be twice as much work as the right side and be 4x the frustration level. No commitment no success.
3. Will she be taught by coaches that really know what they are doing. This is a very specialized skill and if she is committing the time she must be in good hands. Very few coaches really know to teach this skill. She needs to learn this skill set during the upcoming off season . If her travel team is going to give her maybe 20 pitches and move on then you must find a dedicated coach. She'll needs thousands of pitches to master this skill.

 

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Converting a hitter at 16 yrs. old is a tough task. In my opinion, the only reason to do this would be if the athlete has exceptional speed to begin with and not much "pop" from the right side of the plate. It wouldn't make much sense to convert a player that is a contact hitter from the right side with average or below average wheels. I would say to that player, it would be best to focus on weight training to improve bat speed and power and stay with your original side. Now "if" this player has crazy speed, then this asset must be exploited from the left side. Teaching a "slapper," has to begin with foot work, then bat control. Putting all the elements together at once during competition will not garner great results typically, unless the athlete is a freak and has crazy coordination. The player's "eye" will adjust quickly. I would begin with the bunt, drag bunt from left side. If the player can competently lay it down with good foot technique, then striking the ball Or slapping will come. Begin this transition during the off-season on a batting tee then progress to a toss. I never agreed with just bunting from left-side then transitioning to the right side to finish the at bat when learning. This makes no sense at all. Don't show it, unless the technique is polished enough to make contact routinely. Placement of the slap will come over time. Maybe a whole year of hard work. When my daughter began playing at 8 yrs old, I immediately made her a lefty "contact" hitter. Then after a season, we started to learn the slap technique. She has progressed after a few seasons into a threat with better then average speed and is a great bunter from the leftside. Keep at it.

 

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Converting a hitter at 16 yrs. old is a tough task. In my opinion, the only reason to do this would be if the athlete has exceptional speed to begin with and not much "pop" from the right side of the plate. It wouldn't make much sense to convert a player that is a contact hitter from the right side with average or below average wheels. I would say to that player, it would be best to focus on weight training to improve bat speed and power and stay with your original side. Now "if" this player has crazy speed, then this asset must be exploited from the left side. Teaching a "slapper," has to begin with foot work, then bat control. Putting all the elements together at once during competition will not garner great results typically, unless the athlete is a freak and has crazy coordination. The player's "eye" will adjust quickly. I would begin with the bunt, drag bunt from left side. If the player can competently lay it down with good foot technique, then striking the ball Or slapping will come. Begin this transition during the off-season on a batting tee then progress to a toss. I never agreed with just bunting from left-side then transitioning to the right side to finish the at bat when learning. This makes no sense at all. Don't show it, unless the technique is polished enough to make contact routinely. Placement of the slap will come over time. Maybe a whole year of hard work. When my daughter began playing at 8 yrs old, I immediately made her a lefty "contact" hitter. Then after a season, we started to learn the slap technique. She has progressed after a few seasons into a threat with better then average speed and is a great bunter from the leftside. Keep at it.

Thanks Slap Doctor! Crazy thing...DD played first two games with new team this weekend. Coach let her make decison on wether she hit from the left or right on her own this weekend. She's second in the lineup so depending on scenerio when she got to the plate she decided left or right. She went 6 for 6!! A few very nice hits from the right, a few sacrafice bunts from the left and the best slap she had all summer. I think the more confident she gets on the left the less we'll see her on the right but she really did well mixing it up this weekend. Time will tell but I'm happy she is not giving up on the left side.