Hitting and Hitters Discussion Slapping

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I have a question. My dd is not a speedy player. You can still use a stop watch to time her, but speed is not one of her attributes. She's a pretty heady base runner, and has aggravated the defense many times into making mistakes to allow her to gain the extra base. Now, we've never pursued slapping because of the speed issue. However, the dd, at her latest travel ball practice volunteered for slapping instruction with her coach, and found herself doing OK. Is it worthwhile for her to add that to her hitting repertoir?

 

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Let's answer a few questions.

1) does she have the speed to beat out a grounder to the SS, or a drag bunt to the 3rd baseman?
2) Is she a natural lefty or Right handed hitter? If she is a natural lefty with a good bat, learning to drag can be a very useful.
3) If she is a right handed hitter, is she good at it?
4) Is she a right handed pitcher? If so are you comfortable with her pitching arm being exposed slap hitting. Some armor can take care of the elbow and wrist.
5) Is she willing to be a full time slapper?

If she is a good, or willing to work to be a good right handed hitter, with average speed and is just like every other kid and wants to try slap hitting, dont waste your time IMO. As the kids get older, (not sure what age level your in) the being pressured into mistakes starts to really tail off, and slap hitting becomes about speed and placement. The Placement, what to do with what pitch against what defense takes a lot of practice. Those good slap hitters you see arent just whacking at the ball and running, its a skill, a specialty and an art lol. (as you can probably tell my oldest is a slap hitter in college and my middle DD with the same skill set as my oldest at this point is a slap hitter at 9u).

As a coach, kid after kid wants to try slap hitting lol. I let them, because #1 its fun and #2 they are going to keep bugging you until you do.

This is just IMO PB, but if she is a right handed hitter with avg. speed I wouldnt screw around with slapping. I've never thought to myself when my gap hitting righty came up, man a nice choppy grounder to the SS would be nice right about now.

But hard hitting leftys should learn the proper foot work for drag bunts. It will come in handy at some point in time lol.

 

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IMHO: if she is good at batting regular then leave it at that. Not sure what age she is or what side she normally bats on. If she is a natural lefty... and is doing well regular batting.. then I would say OK take the lessons...but is she is trying to make a switch over to... I am a firm believer that you must first master hitting away from the left, LONG before trying to learn the art of slapping.

Speed is an issue, however if she is 16U or older, pitcher moves back to 43' this year. Was told by a WISE MAN recently that at 43' if defense has to make move then 3 steps, 3.0 speed has beat the throw. I can attest to that after watching it this fall and my DD. The only throw she didnt beat was a hit directly to the pitcher, and it was only by a step.

Long and short of it is. I would say if 12U and younger already batting from left side... sure add it... 13U-Up... leave it alone, and be awesome at what she already is at.

Just MHO

 

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My little one started batting lefty three years ago. We worked on learning to hit first, then started working on slapping. She has been working on it for a couple years and is just now using it full time in games, she may only swing away once or twice all weekend. She is right at 3.0 to first, and it is tough to beat some throws, she is lucky that at 13u girls still make throwing errors. If she were 1 step slower she wouldnt have the OB% she has. The thing people need to remember is a slappers job is to get on base and put presure on the defense. If you want to work on it seriously it will be a long road. Like said above, learning to drag will be a good start

 

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Some very good advice. A very wise hitting coach stated. Learn to hit first, bunt second, and slap is the last thing you learn. That being said. Bustos has slapped, but it is rare that she needs to. She is also an elite player. Anyone that is serious about slapping or coaching the short game needs to watch this video by team USA. It is the best I have found and goes into detail why team USA teaches the cross over slap and all the different bunts and slaps. Plus the coaching the short game is excellent. I see many coaches that do not understand how to coach the slapper. http://www.softballoutlet.com/shop_vids.asp?t=c&id=1&pid=f14?t=s&id=3

 

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Thanks all. It sounds like my original assessment was correct. She's a 14U righty who pitches.

 

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Slapping should be the last batting technique learned. Remember, your first step is to the pitcher and you can get out of the batters box fast and down the line. If the first steps she takes are quick, she doesn't need to be a speed demon. With good coaching she can just line it over third and hard past short. You don't need laser speed for that. Don't let the fact she is a pitcher and could get hit in the pitching arm be the deciding factor. Being a slapper and a pitcher is killer. I racked up a lot of walks because I knew where I would throw to the slappers. Just my opinion, of course.

 

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I'll take a hitter over a slapper any time.

 

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I'll take a hitter over a slapper any time.

With a name like oldguy, I figured that ;&

 

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WARNING: This is one of my fairly numerous pet peeves.

IMO, slapping is a total waste unless the girl is super-fast**.

A medium-speed slapper may get on sometimes against a so-so infield. But what good is that? Because a good infield is going to shut her down. Period.

I see so many girls encouraged to slap by coaches whose mindsets are stuck in 1995, when slapping was a batter's only hope of putting the bat on the ball.

But now, with the mounds moved back, the great majority of girls ought to spend their time learning to hit, IMO. (There just aren't that many super-fast girls around**.)

(That's another pet peeve -- -- coaches who are all about the speed game, to the detriment of power hitting. A great team needs both. [A high point of the dd's tournament season was beating the brains out of a slap-happy coach's small-ball squad. Score was about 9 to 3. I can guarantee those small-ball girls never scored 9 runs in any two games all year long.])


**By 'super-fast' I mean home-to-1st in 2.8. In other words, super-fast.

 

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With a name like oldguy, I figured that ;&

Actually, in my experience, the old guys are the ones who are the most slap-happy. Because back in the glory days when their daughters played (back when the mound was so close the pitcher's sweat sprayed in the hitters' eyes), the hitters didn't have time to put a full swing on the ball.

Now, it's very different. I find the younger coaches are the ones most hip to the power game.

 

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I may be in the minority here, but I view slapping different. I think too many people simply assume slapping is a weak grounder to the shortstop that you beat out with pure speed. To me slapping can be an effective way to create holes in the defense. When shown it creates movement in the defense creating holes to get base hits through. Even an average speed runner puts pressure on the defense if they do not slap the ball directly at the shortstop or third basement and making her move side to side. This can be very distressing for a team with runners on base. I have also seen girls that can power slap the ball up the gaps for extra base hits, especially when you run into those teams that pull their outfielders way in when they expect a slap.
If there is a mistake being made with slappers it is not teaching them to be able to hit away left-handed. If there is no threat of swinging away with power most slappers can be effectively stopped by a good team.

Give me a solid left handed hitter who can also incorporate some slapping and drag bunting into their game and I can put a lot of pressure on the defense with her in the 2 hole before my power hitters come up.

 

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I loved watching teams **** their OF waaaaaay in against our rather small left handed hitting 2nd baseman, She will show a little slap then BOOM ! then watch them run for like 20 seconds getting to the fence. funny. MD

 

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msutt1,
completely agree. My oldest dd just learned how to slap this past summer, and she plays what the defense gives her. They play her up, she will either blop it over, or drive it. If they play back, she slaps. She's hits both ways, so she's effective with what needs done.

 

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Good slappers can power slap or hit. So not sure I agree with the comments on slapping. All you have to do was watch the College play offs and see UCLA or AZ play and understand how the slapping game is coached. My take is most coaches in the Midwest have no idea how to coach the short game.

 

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All you have to do was watch the College play offs and see UCLA or AZ play and understand how the slapping game is coached.

Agreed. And all of the slappers you see on those teams are screamingly fast.

My take is most coaches in the Midwest have no idea how to coach the short game.

Totally agree again. Mostly because they have way too many girls slap. Again, IMO, a good-fielding team will shut down slappers who are not super-fast.

As evidence, I would also point to the college game. On the elite teams, you never see a hitter with so-so speed slapping. Only girls who can break the sound barrier.

:cap:

 

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http://www.softballoutlet.com/shop_vids.asp?t=c&id=1&pid=f14?t=s&id=3

Here is a training video by Team USA on the subject. It covers the short game and how to coach it. Coach B when he was at WSU, used 2.80 as the cut off for a college slapper. We are lucky to have 3 kids on our 16U travel team with that kind of speed.

 

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By 'super-fast' I mean home-to-1st in 2.8. In other words, super-fast.

http://www.softballoutlet.com/shop_vids.asp?t=c&id=1&pid=f14?t=s&id=3

Coach B when he was at WSU, used 2.80 as the cut off for a college slapper.

**Bowing gracefully to a smattering of applause, says:**

Asking girls with so-so speed to slap is a disservice to the player and the team.

Coaches need to get up-to-date. There is no reason why teams shouldn't be pounding the ball now. The 43' rule makes all but the top 1 percent of pitchers hittable.

:cap:

 

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I think it's so funny to hear everyone's opinion on "slappers". The reality is not all girls are built for power...some never will be...so I guess maybe they should just quit the game? Sure, all we see in college now are balls over those DEEP 200' fences....Although it is a reality of today's game, it looks more like a beer league on a weekend than fastpitch softball.

My opinion is this - If your daughter is young and wants to learn a new skill, teach it to her - A couple of things could happen

1 - She could love it, which will keep her motivated to practice....In the meantime, she grows 6 inches, is now all legs, and runs like the wind.

2 - You can keep working on her right handed swing...She can continue to hit ground balls to the shortstop (and get thrown out by 3 steps) or weak fly balls to short center field and decide to quit the game all together.

3 - She tries it for a while, doesn't stick to it as an everyday hitting approach, but has the ability to flip over and drop a bunt or put a ball in play with a slap when the scenario presents itself.

As one of the early posts says, a slap is not just a ground ball in the 5/6 hole - There are many things that can be done from that side of the plate - Girls with sub 3.0 speed have an advantage because they get away with not being that skilled as a slapper, however those that can REALLY slap (soft slap, hard slap, high hop slap, swing away, bunt, hard bunt) can get the job done without being blazers.

Until then, we will continue to tell all the great athletes that don't bring a lot of pop to the plate to move on to ******...Because today's fastpitch is built for girls that can swing a rockettech and pound it over those deep 200' fences.

 

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With a name like oldguy, I figured that ;&

lol!!!! Guilty!!!