Slap hitting

Was wanting to try and develop a couple slap hitters on our high school team.Was wondering if anyone would be willing to give some insight as far as a great technique with this and how to practice on it in practice if there are some drills and when is it a good time to utilize the slap in game situation???Thanks!!

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To be honest, you're better off going to YouTube for the drills. It would take me all day to type up what I do with my slappers.

I am a pretty solid believer that if you are a right-handed hitter who wants to slap, you must accept the fact that you are no longer a right-handed hitter. Ever. Then, you need to prove to me that you can get down the line in the 2.8s or better. Just have 'em bunt a ball from the left side and time them. I go from the instant of contact with the ball until the instant of contact with their foot on 1B. I might let that be a bit slower if the girls are younger but in high school aged kids, the 2.8s are the price of admission. Even faster is better. The fastest one of my 14U girls has been clocked in a game is 2.74 seconds. She is a bonafide track star and one of the fastest girls in the section for her age group. She will get faster, too.

In all honesty, just about any time is a good situation for slapping. It works by putting pressure on the defense and that is always a good thing. One thing I will say, though, is that I make sure all my slappers can stand in and hit away with some pop. You might need them to drive in a couple of runs every once in awhile or your opponent may pull in their outfield a little bit too much from time to time and they need to pay for that.

You can probably get away with part-time slappers in high school ball. They basically need to work the footwork and learn how to bunt from the left side. However, a true slapper who can bunt, slap, hard slap, and stand in the box and take her rips left-handed is the true slapping weapon. I think sub 3.0 home to first (60 foot dash) speed is the preferred speed. That will translate to a somewhat faster contact to first time when slapping. We use slappers in almost any situation. DDs played on a showcase team and I think coach led one game off with six straight slappers. It was fun to watch.

I used this video to teach my daughter. It's old, but there are solid fundamentals and drills. Linda Wells slapping 101

At HS level, I agree 3.0 is probably more acceptable than 2.8. With the time you have, I'd take a 3.0 who is picking it up faster than a 2.8 struggling with the mechanics because poor execution will negate any speed she might have.

There are 4 major slaps (standard, soft, chop, power) in addition to bunting and hitting away that a lefty should have in the tool kit. The when and which to use really depends on the game situation and defensive positioning. Sometimes the batter is slapping to get on base, to move a runner, or to score a runner.

If a girl has never slapped, it may be tough to get her ready for this season depending on how much time you have. DD switched over as first year 12U. As a first year 14U, she finally has her fundamentals down well and is now learning the intelligence side of the game because a coach can't have a signal for every situation and slap type. Luckily she has a coach that let's the girls make there own decisions so they can learn from choices. A well-executed slap in the wrong situation can have worse results than a poorly executed slap in the right situation.

I enjoy watching her (and 3 teammates) go through this learning because there is so much to process from pitch to pitch and it makes the game a lot of fun to watch when the slappers come up to bat. good luck!

let it be fun said:

coach led one game off with six straight slappers. It was fun to watch.

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I'm jealous. We only have four! It is fun to watch, especially if you can get the defense to start throwing the ball around and all chaos breaks loose!

There are actually many steps to teaching a girl to slap. I recommend the book "High Scoring Softball"by Ralph Weekly. It has a great chapter on how to teach the slap, from teaching the footwork then progressing through the various types of slaps.

High-Scoring Softball: Ralph Weekly Jr., Karen Weekly: 9781450401395: Amazon.com: Books

#7sDad said:

I'm jealous. We only have four! It is fun to watch, especially if you can get the defense to start throwing the ball around and all chaos breaks loose!

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It was fun to watch. It was a game against some 18U Platinum, Gold, Elite, Select, Premier team from Alabama full of big strong girls and our team was a a first year 16u with some 14u girls. We overheard some of the 18U players telling their parents that the coach told them they could play any position they wanted to after they got up by ten runs on the "little girls". Four of the slappers were sub 5 foot at that age so they were small. Our coach lined up the slappers all in a row to lead off the game and the "little girls" scored 6 runs in the top of the first and then hung on to win 8-6. That is one of my favorite softball memories of all time.

#7sDad said:

As a first year 14U, she finally has her fundamentals down well and is now learning the intelligence side of the game because a coach can't have a signal for every situation and slap type. Luckily she has a coach that let's the girls make there own decisions so they can learn from choices.

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A good slapper who is a triple threat and can read the defense is fun to watch. They can only learn that through trial and error so it is good to hear that she has a coach who is letting her use her judgement.

As for when to slap, some of it depends on how good the slapper is, particularly on where she can place the ball, and who else is on base. I was watching a college game on TV yesterday (Mississippi Valley State v Texas Southern, I think) where MVS had a big, slow runner on first and a slapper at the plate. The slapper hit a slow grounder directly toward the SS who came in, fielded it and easily threw out the runner at second. So in that case bad time to slap unless you're sure you can get the ball between SS and 3B.

Another tough one is with bases loaded. If the ball doesn't get through you're probably going to have an out at home. That's why it's important that slappers be able to do more than slap. If the infield is pulled in for the play at the plate (and the slap), and the hitter drives the ball into the outfield you can score one, maybe two depending on the outfield.

I agree with Little Angels as far as commitment to the left side. I always refer to it as burning the ships. If you're going to move to the left side, that's your permanent home. None of this two strikes and we go back to the right side. Take away the safety net and make the commitment and you will produce better results.

My DD is fast and light, 120# in 10th grade. She started learning slapping over the winter before 9th grade. It isn't easy and takes a lot of time commitment and frustration, because initially the hitter will not be successful, so the coach has to be willing to invest a few outs in her til she has the timing right in games.
She was a generally good hitter, but while learning to slap her batting average dropped below.250 for about 10 games. She still had an OBP over 400 because she drew a lot of walks from confused pitchers, but this was hard on everyone.

By the end of the season she had gotten a lot better, even slapping a triple on our last game, but it takes a patient coach and a patient girl. Three other girls started at the same time as my D, one already a lefty, and gave up on it.
I agree with staying on the left. Her JV coach made her switch sides after 2 strikes, and she said it really hurt her ability to judge the strike zone.