Slapper batting strategy

[#7sDad]

I've seen many more triple threats nowdays. Bring your infield IN, they bloop it over their heads, keep the infield back, they drag bunt or a slow roller, bring the outfield in playing for those bloops, they boom one over their heads.

The best slappers now can read the defense and react to what is given them... one thing they have in common.... they are crazy fast!

^^^^ Part of being a good slapper is changing what she'd doing depending on the situation and what the defense is giving her. Nothing wrong with showing slap on the first pitch. She hasn't shown if it's a power slap, chop slap, soft slap, or even drag bunt. Sometimes the slap also sets up the opportunity to swing away.

 

[ANNASDAD]

"you can't routinely give away a strike on every at bat"


I think I'm going to have that quote printed on a shirt and wear it at every tournament!

 

[coachjwb]

Don't give away what might be a great pitch to slap just to potentially hide you're a slapper for one more pitch that might not be a great one. Chances are they know or highly suspect it anyhow from having seen or faced you before, the fact that you're batting left-handed and quite possibly where you're batting in the order.

 

[RichK]

IDK, I might be new school.

If you have the bat control to foul balls off just hit the ball hard.

Foul off balls at edges of the zone. Pretty standard slapper action. Until you can get a ball that you can put where you want it.

 

[canyonjoe]

Depending on the situation I would advise two different approaches to the first pitch.

1. Pick a place you want to hit the ball and if the pitch is conducive to doing so hit it hard. If it's not where you like let it go.
2. Try and guess location and if it's where you expect do some damage.

Really not much different than any hitter.

 

[Sparky Guy]

What I tell my leadoff slapper to do is to take a run up to and out of the front of the box on the very first pitch of the game. See what the defense gives them and make any adjustments from there. That is the only pitch I will tell them to take. After that I want them working the rest of the game on every pitch to try and find the weakness in the opponents defense.

 

[Chris Delorit]

Have a strategy. Your strategy will depend on real-time adjustments and can often change from pitch-to-pitch. The batter should be versatile and able to process information quickly.

A major misnomer about slap-hitting is that the batter must always be in full run-through motion, which could not be furthur from the truth.

 

[go4um]

For a skilled LH batter with slap,bunt and full swing skills, the chances of getting on base via contact is much better than the chances of walking unless the P is terribly wild. Be aggressive on the first P if you like it for the skill you choose to use.