Hitting and Hitters Discussion Switch Hitting

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My daughter has made the conversion to the left side, she can slap, swing away or drop down a bunt, is there any advantage to continuing to work on the right side? I know switch hitting is valuable in baseball but doesn't seem to be as popular in softball.

 

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I feel there is no advantage to be gained as I have never seen a coach use a switch hitter in softball other then to put down a bunt. But then again, it may be utilized more by coaches if the player could be effective on both sides. I have just never seen an athlete be successful on both sides. I know if I had a player that could drive the ball and hit for power from both sides of the plate she would never come out of the lineup...so maybe your DD should continue to work some on the right, but I feel it would take a tremendous amount of work to become really good on both sides. FWIW

 

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My DD does both. I know thats not the popular vote out there but I feel that the more arsenol a hitter has the better. Certain situations call for certain strategies. Now if she goes on to play college and the coach desinates her to one side then so be it. But as long as she plays for me she will do both. If your DD is talented enough to do both, then why restrict her? JMHO!

 

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Slapperfan: I prefer for lefty slapper/hitter/bunters to only work from the one side. It is basically a question of how much work can you put in. If you have practice time for 100 swings I think you help yourself more doing the swings from one side than you do by doing 50 from one side and 50 from the other. I think the real key is to teach the full swing to the slapper/bunter. Usually when kids work both sides they hit from one and slap/bunt from the other. Why let the defense know what you are going to do?

Lady_Knights: if you have a player that can drive the ball and hit for power from only one side, will you be removing them based on whether the pitcher is left or right handed? I think it is easier to teach someone to hit left or right handed pitching from one side than it is to teach them to hit from two sides so they can match up with the pitcher.

 

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My DD does both. I know thats not the popular vote out there but I feel that the more arsenol a hitter has the better. Certain situations call for certain strategies. Now if she goes on to play college and the coach desinates her to one side then so be it. But as long as she plays for me she will do both. If your DD is talented enough to do both, then why restrict her? JMHO!

My dd also does both. But she can hit from both sides, bunt from both sides as well. Just depends on what the coach needs in any given situation. Her new team is working her both ways during practice. She is starting with a new hitting coach that is part of that organization, so I'm not sure what will happen there. All of that is between my dd and her new coaching staff.

 

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Lady_Knights: if you have a player that can drive the ball and hit for power from only one side, will you be removing them based on whether the pitcher is left or right handed? I think it is easier to teach someone to hit left or right handed pitching from one side than it is to teach them to hit from two sides so they can match up with the pitcher.

I agree with you Rick. I have only had one girl that wanted to hit from both sides, and she worked on it quite a bit, but she was not even close to being the hitter on the left side as she was on the right. In her 4 years playing for me I think she only batted a couple times from the left. Think she struck out those few times.

As you stated Rick there are alot of factors when which to the left side. Whether it is a lefty or righty pitcher the ball will be spinning and moving differently. Also take into consideration eye dominance, which is a huge factor in how we see the ball. Not totally impossible to become an effective switch hitter, but its going to take alot of work, and working on different skills.

 

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Baseball and Softball are different. No advantage with pitching by switching back and forth. The release point is different in softball . So name all the elite softball players that switch hit. Softball is a game of speed and if you are fast and can bat left stay there and as Howard Carrier posts, learn to hit ! That is what we did with my dd at 12 and no regrets. What I see coaches doing to kids , they they ought to be shot. Bat left and try to bunt and slap till they have two strikes, then move them to the right side. Now everyone on defense knows what they are trying to do and about 80% of them strike out. Do your job and teach them how to hit from the left side. You can read this on about any softball forum site and they will tell you the same thing, don't switch hit in softball. .

 

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Most softball swicth-hitters players (younger ages) will take a couple of half-hearted swipes form the left side and then jump back to the right for their third strike. This will not work, either the player buys into hitting as a lefty or not. She can not treat it as a hobby.

This back and forth tells the player that if she can't get lucky on the left she can might get a hit on the right side. She must be all in for the left (or the right) side to work. Very, very few kids have the both the physical and mental skills to be a true switch hittter. Most kids will need to go one way or the other.

A left handed power hitter/slapper will have a higher on base percentage than a righty with the same skills and will be more sought after by all travel ball/colleges coaches. There is no meaningful statical advantage in softball of the righty/lefty match-up that I am aware of to be worth the double effort.

( I just saw what SB FAMILY posted and what he said.......)

 

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There are many hitting sites besides this forum. This subject is very common and you can google it. fairman is correct and that is what I have seen over the years. Mine was told when she signed that it was because she was a slapper that could also hit. Many coaches have these type of players right after pitcher-catcher on the list for recruits they want.

 

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Great input everyone, thanks

 

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As a senior in college, my advice would be to become the strongest hitter you possibly can be whether its righthanded or left. as far a slapping goes, you can shine as a slapper with speed in high school and travel ball, but if your not in the top 2% of slappers in D1 college the result 95% of the time is an automatic out.......

 

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Why do College programs recruit slappers if only 2% are successful at this skill (95% fail)? Many top D1 programs carry rosters that include three or more slappers-TN, AL, UCLA, Stanford etc. Based on your OFC name you slap for hits too?

 

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Well I guess I have a freak of nature cause she can hit from both sides. Yes, hit not just slap or bunt. Also the DD is a pitcher. It does take a tremendous amount of work to switch plus pitch. Thats exactly why my DD has played this game all year long since she was 8 years old. While others are working on their sokker dribbling, B-ball shooting, or V-ball smashing skills, we are busting our butt to be the best we can be in the only game we love. For those who know me and my DD, know we are addicts and its work, school, softball. Thats it!

 

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Well I guess I have a freak of nature cause she can hit from both sides. Yes, hit not just slap or bunt. Also the DD is a pitcher. It does take a tremendous amount of work to switch plus pitch. Thats exactly why my DD has played this game all year long since she was 8 years old. While others are working on their sokker dribbling, B-ball shooting, or V-ball smashing skills, we are busting our butt to be the best we can be in the only game we love. For those who know me and my DD, know we are addicts and its work, school, softball. Thats it!

Why would she ever hit from the right side?

 

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I wonder where BouldersDad is on this one, I would like to hear his take....BouldersDad??????...Where are you??????......:lmao:

 

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Couldn't resist, could you?

 

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Baseball and Softball are different. No advantage with pitching by switching back and forth. The release point is different in softball . So name all the elite softball players that switch hit. Softball is a game of speed and if you are fast and can bat left stay there and as Howard Carrier posts, learn to hit ! That is what we did with my dd at 12 and no regrets. What I see coaches doing to kids , they they ought to be shot. Bat left and try to bunt and slap till they have two strikes, then move them to the right side. Now everyone on defense knows what they are trying to do and about 80% of them strike out. Do your job and teach them how to hit from the left side. You can read this on about any softball forum site and they will tell you the same thing, don't switch hit in softball. .

I shake my head everytime I see this.

 

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As a senior in college, my advice would be to become the strongest hitter you possibly can be whether its righthanded or left. as far a slapping goes, you can shine as a slapper with speed in high school and travel ball, but if your not in the top 2% of slappers in D1 college the result 95% of the time is an automatic out.......

I agree 100% with this. Things become just a little bit more difficult at the DI college level. Now you're facing top pitching EVERY game, and the infielders are the cream of the crop from travel ball. Slappers MUST have pinpoint placement, flawless technique and incredible speed - rare combinations. Switch hitters are rarely if ever seen, because they have no advantage - just ask a college coach or a college pitcher.

IMO, if DI college is your goal, why even waste time with switch hitting? Why not spend all those hours perfecting hitting from ONE side. The time you spend on switch hitting practice could be spent making a great hitter into a fantabulous hitter! While it might work somewhat against decent (not great) travel teams, it generally becomes a fail in college. Pick one side and become an expert at the "big three" - power, placement and bunting. You gotta have ALL those to play college ball.

 

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Does anyone know coaches dont utilize lefty right matchups? Im interested in the physics behind it.

 

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I wonder where BouldersDad is on this one, I would like to hear his take....BouldersDad??????...Where are you??????......:lmao:

DD does go to Tim...Yes, from both sides...adventually would like to see her go lefty entirely...but half the battle in a young athlete is upstairs...if she gets in a slump...she switches sides and it helps her out...can't understand why everyone thinks every athlete has to fit a mold...I truely feel that if an athlete can do both to help her team then why not?...more of a power hitter from the right but a place hitter from the left...you know sometimes its just about advancing the runners 60 feet and not swinging for the fences...as a coach I will always do what works...and it works!!!....ps....Tim...been working alot on pitching...ready to get Boo back in the swing of things...please text me with some available times...Thanks!