WHO should learn to slap?

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Nothing wrong with knowing how to do it. That said, I see too many kids trying to do it far too often without enough of the first three requirements. (Speed, speed, or speed) Turns them into a 220 hitter with no threat to do anything but punch an occasional seeing eye single in there someplace. A good slapper is exciting to watch. A wannabe slapper is just painful. Learn (practice practice, practice) how to be a good-great bunter, that's a tool you can use far more often.

I suspect Bustos can slap because she has such well practiced hand eye coordination, she can get away with working on it 5 minutes per year.

 

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Boulder, the only harm is, as I said, it takes away reps from the right side. A common theme among the myriad of experts we heard from over the years was to go lefty all the way if you wanted to slap. Don't split time going right and left.

For those of you with DD's that naturally swing away from the left side (like your's and WM's), it's probably not as big a deal since they are still in the same batter's box.

Has Crystal ever lefty slapped in a competitive game?

 

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From the left I would assume not, my point was she could still slap, not that she would ever be asked to. Theres a common sense question there about how much time would be spent on trying to become a slapper. and by that time they are old enough they know their role, my point was and still is what does it hurt to learn it. in the 6 or 7 years of hitting and all the time my dd has spent on the Tee trying to perfect her game, the time she spent slapping ( or making an attempt at it) is insignificant in the over all scheme of things. But it was time spent hitting and time spent with a bat in her hands, focusing on tracking the ball, which in its self is a plus in my book. To me its like anything else you do if you like what you do and enjoy it youll try and learn as much about it as you possibly can, slapping Left or right handed is just another form of hitting, not her strong suit but defiantly never hurt her in her over all ability at the plate......... just a different take on things

 

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Will she ever use it. probably not, but when she attends a college camp and they ask her to bunt or slap it sure wont hurt her in the eyes of the coach to know how to be able to do it.
Ask Bustos to slap and watch her reaction, the First thing she would probably ask is where do you want it?

This in the back of my mind when going from "I'd like for her to work hard on it" to "Maybe she should at least be exposed to it". I could give her half a bucket at the end of our normal hitting. I'm thinking tryouts are towards the end of summer and even though I don't think any evaluator is going to see her as the speed burner slapper girls I want her to at least give a fair showing when they do the station.

I'm thinking if I take her to two quality lessons then give her that half bucket at the end of a session it surely can't hurt. When we are done with normal hitting (and bunting, etc) she would probably quickly freshen up for some slapping.

And you never know... she may be facing an overpowering pitcher and doing a modified slap is the only way she can put the ball in play aside from bunting.

 

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I'm also thinking that in a game that we are winning big it would be a special thrill for her to slap once. I'm agreeing big on her not spending a ton of time on it but here and there for something different I'm ok with.

So far today I've gone from "Hey I need to add this as a serious tool" to "I'll expose her to it". I consider the knowledge I've gained from the crowd very valuable. Several differing opinions but also a common base of who should be a real slapper and who shouldn't.

 

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I will give you a game situation, at one tournament in the championship game we were tied and about to go into ITB, 2 outs runner on 3rd. The infield was at the grass and the outfield were back at the fence, her being a power hitter they called an inside off speed trying to get her off balance and on her front foot after seeing screw and fast ball, she stuck out the bat and doinked a very ugly bunt down the first base line, the only 2 people in range to make a play were the pitcher and catcher, it went far enough down first base line to allow her to get to 1st safely , the run scored, game over........ you always think of game winning hit as a screaming shot somewhere......... dosent have to be, the correct circumstances presented themselves, and that was all I was saying, ......you may never need a bunt or a slap but its awful nice to know how to do it if the need ever arrises

 

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I'll bet that was the fastest she has ever ran in her entire life.

 

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The 1st base coach was waving a candy bar,,,,,,,,,,, works every time

 

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Just to voice my opinion, my DD was always told that she was too small to ever be a great player. I began to notice that she was very fast and about 5 years ago we began to have her bunt her way on (worked really well, can't get her out). we then started the slap within the same year. She has now become very stellar at this. Her tourney coach is now concerned if that is all she can do.(first year on this team) "What if we need her to swing away in games? Can she do it?" First thing I thought was if I could take back the last 5 years. This year in high school she mostly just swung away to work on it for tourney play. Thank gosh she could do it.

Just a note to all the younger players' parents. If you have an honest slapper in your grasp, first be realistic with yourself (learning this takes a lot of practice and paying for a great coach) and make sure they can do it all. If bases are loaded and 2 outs, a girl typically must swing away. Don't make your DD get pulled because she's known for her slapping ability.

 

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If this player is batting on the left side she needs to learn to bunt, drag, and slap from that side. The natural assumption of most teams (younger teams) is that the lefty can't drive a ball and will adjust their defense accordingly. Her bread and butter may be hitting but as a coach I would expect that those other skills exist and be available with the touch of an ear.

If she is batting on the right and is as slow as you say I wouldn't waste anymore time on converting her to a lefty. She will still need to learn to bunt and a 'half-hit' but a running slap is pretty silly.

 

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She has been hitting lefty since she was old enough to hold a bat. Hitting righty is foreign to her.

I am going to expose her to slapping with a few lessons then work on it at the end of a hitting session. Other than prolonging the session for a bucket of balls there will be no time taken away from other hitting drills.

Additionally I'm going to keep her pitching after this season even though I don't think she will go forward as a pitcher. Just keep what she has "just in case".

 

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The 1st base coach was waving a candy bar,,,,,,,,,,, works every time

I coach 1B for our travel team now and I certainly don't think I'd give up my candy bar. I think it would be dangerous to wave it then not give it up.

 

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If she hits lefty naturally, then by all means she should a) Hit, b) Slap, c) Bunt ..... no questions asked, in my mind. If she can become a multi threat, she can be dangerous against any defensive alignment.

My dd is under 3.0 ("legit") from the right side, and I regret not switching her to lefty early on, and teaching her multiple ways to attack. We experimented at 12u, but she was a solid hitter from the right, with medium power. Power went away for a few years, but appears to be back now so I am not sweating those decisions as much.

Was told last year that she is a strong DII-DIII candidate, but would be a mid-DI candidate if she was a lefty. Too late to switch now? I don't know, but we are focusing on driving the ball more consistently from the right side, and it is working well so we are sticking with that.

Moral of the story? .... at 10u-12u, I would switch her and keep her committed there if there are good signs of ability, and work hard Hitting, Slapping, Bunting (the full inventory).

I don't know how any of this is going to work out, she may play basketball instead, or choose a school for education that is not interested in her athletic ability (very real possibility). I am only responding, humbly, because I am a few years down the path you are on and letting you know what it looks like up ahead, from my standpoint having been where you are not that long ago.

BTW, you can work on getting out of the box quicker, and also your running speed.

 

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Update to this thread: We did start to slap and I had her get a few lessons to jump-start things. I watched carefully and now I run her through a few drills and let her slap two every 10 pitches I throw to her during BP. I find this does several things: First it resets her mind and body and more closely simulates a game. Second it forces her to track the ball which hopefully translates to her normal swings. Third it does give her the opportunity to develop a tool which may be useful to her as time goes on. We don't know if it will be anything other than a novelty, or a "see if it draws the 3B in" type thing but at least it will be an option.

She will use it this year in games depending on the situation. Probably at first when the game is out of hand one way or the other then based on how well that went. Either way, or even if it isn't used during a game I'll continue to work on it with her just to do it. She likes practicing it as she thinks it is "cool" so I don't mind taking a few minutes of a practice for something she simply enjoys.

 

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I agree with pickledad. We switched my dd at 12. Best thing we ever did. At the Q-KSU the college coaches clocked her at 2.84 at 14. That is why many college coaches are looking at her. If you are teaching her to slap, read hitters post on the TCB balls and slapping. Best new trick in learning to keep the bat on the ball longer when slapping. The other point I will make is teach your dd to play many different Positions on the field. Locking them in ( unless they pitch and catch) to one place hurts them. A D2 coach asked my dd , I thought you played CF, after making a great play at SS at his camp. Her response. " I play where the coach needs me."

 

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Right now she plays both corners and an outfield position. Her head coach gives the girls opportunities to play around a bit which is good for them at this age. As she goes through tryouts (present organization, etc) I don't want her on a team where she is locked at this early age. At some point she may have to accept that but for now I'm glad she is getting the opportunities to move around.

I also agree with PD's points as well.

 

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teach fast girls to slap

 

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SBFamily, do you know the where the post is off-hand. DD is slapping and I want to see how TCB balls come into play.

Thanks

 

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SBFamily, do you know the where the post is off-hand. DD is slapping and I want to see how TCB balls come into play.

Thanks

This might be the thread -

http://www.game-ex.com/vb3/showthread.php?t=32799&highlight=slap

 

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Yes that is it.