I love having lefties in my lineup and have turned several around. With this said, I would leave your daughter on the right side and work on her hitting.
Why go lefty?
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Help us help you. Post a link to some youtube at bats so that we can see some swings, the level of pitching she is facing, and how she gets down the line.
If you do this, note that it would be best to NOT post a highlight reel of DD's batting. You'll get better feedback by showing some outs too since those are 70% of the at bats currently.
In the absence of that:
I don't see a compelling reason NOT to switch to the left, but I don't see any compelling reason to do so either...with the information we have. It seems that you'll either have to teach her to hit better from the right or teach her how to hit better from the left. "Mr. Obvious," I know, but consider the number of years she has been working from the right. Are you happy with her BA?
Ask yourself and answer honestly some things like:
Could you teach her how to hit better from the left than she is currently doing from the right? Are you/she ready for the work?
Would it be easier to do than fixing what currently needs fixed? Or, would a similar investment of time and effort from the right pay better dividends?
The answer, in part, depends on which eye is dominant IMO. Do you know which EYE is dominant?
More random toughts to confuse you
...
--It isn't too late in her career to make the switch. Just because she didn't do it yesteryear doesn't mean she shouldn't do it now.
--I assume your DD is a frosh? If a frosh with a BA of .300 won't make the varsity team, then this may be the right year for a 'down' year as she learns. Get it out of the way playing JV. This is especially true if her HS coaches are among those telling her to consider it.
Good luck, and where is that video?
VW
If you do this, note that it would be best to NOT post a highlight reel of DD's batting. You'll get better feedback by showing some outs too since those are 70% of the at bats currently.
In the absence of that:
I don't see a compelling reason NOT to switch to the left, but I don't see any compelling reason to do so either...with the information we have. It seems that you'll either have to teach her to hit better from the right or teach her how to hit better from the left. "Mr. Obvious," I know, but consider the number of years she has been working from the right. Are you happy with her BA?
Ask yourself and answer honestly some things like:
Could you teach her how to hit better from the left than she is currently doing from the right? Are you/she ready for the work?
Would it be easier to do than fixing what currently needs fixed? Or, would a similar investment of time and effort from the right pay better dividends?
The answer, in part, depends on which eye is dominant IMO. Do you know which EYE is dominant?
More random toughts to confuse you
...--It isn't too late in her career to make the switch. Just because she didn't do it yesteryear doesn't mean she shouldn't do it now.
--I assume your DD is a frosh? If a frosh with a BA of .300 won't make the varsity team, then this may be the right year for a 'down' year as she learns. Get it out of the way playing JV. This is especially true if her HS coaches are among those telling her to consider it.
Good luck, and where is that video?
VW
Thank you, kindly VW and everyone else so far. Very good meat to chew on.
Lots of vids from right side but nothing lefty as of yet. I'll post when I get some.
Her dominant eye is left eye.
She's only 8th grade.
My conclusion so far...we're at a very significant crossroads. Seems like she could have equal results putting in the effort working one side of the plate or the other.
Another way to phrase our dilemma in a question...all things being equal, would you rather have a strong right or lefty at the plate? Think I know the answer but curious nonetheless.
Lots of vids from right side but nothing lefty as of yet. I'll post when I get some.
Her dominant eye is left eye.
She's only 8th grade.
My conclusion so far...we're at a very significant crossroads. Seems like she could have equal results putting in the effort working one side of the plate or the other.
Another way to phrase our dilemma in a question...all things being equal, would you rather have a strong right or lefty at the plate? Think I know the answer but curious nonetheless.
Natural righties who are FAST and struggle hitting for power from the right side may be a good candidate to learn to slap from the left side. The best slappers are "triple threats" - they can slap, bunt or hit for power, it is very difficult for a defense to adjust to a "triple threat". A 3.0 home-to-first is quick, but not FAST in high level TB.
This tells me all I need to know. I would suggest having her hit lefty in batting practice just to see how much natural ability she has from that side. Does she seem comfortable or does she look like a real project? If she looks like a project from the left side, she will need to be an "eat, breathe, and sleep softball player" in order to develop. If softball is not that type of priority for her, it will be extremely difficult to switch and be successful at it. You state that she has been increasing her batting average as she ages, and that is a good thing. While .300 may not be an average that will get her looked at by colleges, it is respectable. My question for you is simple. Is she willing to put in the necessary work to develop from a .300 hitter to a .350 hitter or a .400 hitter? If the answer to this question is no, I would also guess that she won't have the patience to develop as a lefty hitter from scratch.
Please don't take this the wrong way. I am not trying to knock her in any way. Softball does not have to be a kid's top priority in life in order to have fun playing the sport and even having some success. But very few make it to the college level without working VERY hard at it.
Hey 4K, I meant that you should post some vid of RH AB's. Posters will tell you if they think she has .450 potential from the right or if you should be thinking left as her coaches suggested.
I've helped about a hundred players switch to LH hitting with slap/bunt skills. Improvement in high school BA is usually about 100 points for those with decent speed and more for the very speedy ones.
You never said if she left or right eye dominant.
RB in post 13 he says left eye is dominate. Just here to help
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