rehcnif

What is the best way for a slapper to handle the inside pitch seeing that almost everything in a slappers movement is geared towards hitting the outside pitch

ArmWhip

I am not so sure that slappers look for the outside pitch. When I was at the NCAA regional it was obvious that all slappers were pitched on the low outside corner. A lot of slappers struck out on the outside pitch either looking at it or swinging trying to protectively foul it off. It seems to me that if you are trying to get a running start toward 1st base the outside pitch is the one that will give you trouble because you are going to have to hang in there longer to make contact.

Strikker

One way I work with slapping to address both inside and outside pitches is to address them as strikes just as if you were hitting away. When we are slapping we are playing the game “ugly” and using speed to beat the defense but we are still hitters.
When a hitter is in the batter’s box she positions herself to cover the strike zone for success. We do the same thing as a slapper. When a slapper moves forward the line they take should remain the same giving the slapper the best chance to put a strike in play. This line stays in play until after contact when the rotation of the bat turns the shoulders to first base, not the legs changing the path.
To help teach this, work on a field and line out the batter’s box with the lines extending about 3’ greater toward the pitcher (remember contact must take place in the batter’s box”. Place a cone at the end of the batter’s box just behind where the slapper would be if she takes a straight path toward the pitcher. This cone is there to make the slapper stay on line as she will want to go past the cone before altering her path to first base. Sometimes I will also draw a line in the center of the batter’s box also 3’ past it to illustrate the line we wish to run (the slapper does not need to go 3’ past the box, again this is just an illustration).
Take a rake and rake the area behind the batter’s box toward first base that you do not want the slapper to go through. This is “No-Man’s-Land”. There should be no foot prints in this area if the slapper is taking a good path. Again just an illustration but it will help.
Set up your pitching machine throwing a pitch inside, both high and low to practice the pitch. Use a glove on the left hand at first and go at half speed. Concentrate on tracking as well as holding the line through the contact point and allowing the natural rotation of the bat to turn the slapper’s body toward first. Then take this to the next stage by using a bat. You can repeat this with outside pitches.
This set-up will work well for dragging and power-slapping. Once we work this drill on all phases I like to have the slapper do count-fours, drag, slap, power-slap and hit away to let the slapper work on the changes needed for each task.

Good luck to you,

Strikker

bgecoach

i agree. my dd'd best pitch is her screwball and we threw it against slappers with a lot of success this summer. when her screwball was working, we saw a lot of lefties and slappers change sides of the plate during the game.

shockcoach

If the slapper is striking out on the outside pitch, then they have a bad habit of running towards 1st too early. Their initial movement needs to be straight at the pitcher and they shouldn't break towards 1st until after the ball is hit. The outside pitch should play right into the hands of a disciplined slap hitter and they should be hitting at the 5-6 hole.

Stikker has some excellent drills listed for this.

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rehcnif

Strikker thanks for the tips

Rick Pauly

Heard Larry Ray the "slapping guru" from the University of Arizona speak on slapping. He said they pitch riseballs to slappers---attempting to get them to pop up. This was definitely opposite from my previous thinking----tried it last year and was relatively successful. May have learned something .
Rick

Coach Stan

When I pitched to slappers in the mens game I used the curve drop and drop along with the rise. I found that men slappers had quicker hands thru the strike zone and the down pitch worked better for me.

When I was the pitching coach in college we used the same strategy except we also used the curve. Unless the pitcher missed her spots we were able to get most slappers out with easy pop ups or routine ground balls. We also worked a change up when we saw a slapper who ran very fast thru the strike zone and bailed out.

Mark H

I think it was Ernie Parker who said he like a rh drop curve into a slapper. I like that. I like a rh curve in on the hands. I like the rise in on the hands. I'd really like to have a lefty with a nasty curve though.