To create a lefty?

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May 10, 2010
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My daughter is 5 and has grown up as "lefty" in terms of softball/baseball. Everything else in life she is right handed. I'm not concerned with the hitting aspect. However, am I creating a problem for her with throwing (not natural, not full potential, etc.)? Perhaps this is just a learned skill like hitting and you're not "missing out on anything"?

Any experinece out there?
 
Apr 8, 2010
97
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my dd was/is similar - writes left, eats left, does most daily tasks left-handed. throws and bats right. we let her dictate whether she was a lefty or righty. i would tell her to just pick up a ball and throw it w/o thinking (not worrying about form - just wanted to see which hand she did it with). once it became apparent where she was more comfortable (took a few practices), we committed to the right side. she was 7 when she first started playing. now she's 11 and throws and bats very comfortably from the right side. she wants to learn to hit from the left side now. we'll see how that goes.

if she looks natural (as natural as any 5 year old can look at age 5) throwing left, go with it. the real problem is what glove do u buy???
 
Sep 3, 2009
675
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I'd let her do whatever feels natural to her. I'm left handed, but do everything outside of writing, right handed. My dd does everything right, except play guitar, and hit. The hititng she learned, the guitar she just said that's the way it feels "right". Southpaw gloves aren't really any more money, just more scarce.
 
Oct 21, 2009
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Batting Lefty has it's obvious advantages so if she can be 'coaxed' into hitting lefty that would be good. From a throwing aspect you would like her to throw Right handed. There are more Infield positions available to RH fielders. Lefties typically play 1B, P and OF. You won't see many LH at 3B, SS, 2B or even C playing at the higher levels.
 
Oct 25, 2009
3,345
48
My daughter is 5 and has grown up as "lefty" in terms of softball/baseball. Everything else in life she is right handed. I'm not concerned with the hitting aspect. However, am I creating a problem for her with throwing (not natural, not full potential, etc.)? Perhaps this is just a learned skill like hitting and you're not "missing out on anything"?

Any experinece out there?

Which hand does she bowl with?
 
My DD is a natural lefty. Never even thought about coaxing her into anything else. Gloves are a little harder to find, but run the same amount as RH ones. I would imagine whichever she feels more comfortable doing, let her do it. Fun thing about having a South Paw....when playing games, other team may not notice lefty aspect - gets up to bat and the infield automatically expects a slapper - drills to fence - beautiful thing! :)

DD plays 1st and RF - has also played 3B. Although it was awkward at first, she got that extra move down pat and did really well there. It's all in how much time your DD is willing to put into learning a position - IMHO. It has been our experience that being a South Paw hasn't limited DD one iota. Once again, may be a rare thing with us and is strictly my opinion.

Have fun with her! 5 is such an awesome age! :)
 
Nov 1, 2009
405
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This is nothing you should even be thinking about. Take the glove off and play catch with a tennis ball to see what hand she prefers. Buy a glove for the other hand and you are ready to go.
 
Sep 3, 2009
675
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You won't see many LH at 3B, SS, 2B or even C playing at the higher levels.

The jury is still out on the southpaw catchers. They have some rather strong advantages, over a right handed catcher. The problem is getting past the 'old boy' baseball stereotypes. There is starting to be more and more of them out there. I know one college freshman who can hold her own with the best of them.
 
Last edited:
Nov 29, 2009
2,975
83
The jury is still out on the southpaw catchers. They have some rather strong advantages, over a right handed catcher. The problem is getting past the 'old boy' baseball stereotypes. There is starting to be more and more of them out there. I know one college freshman who can hold her own with the best of them.

The Head Coach for UIC, Michelle Venturella, played on the US Olympic team in 1996 & 2000. She was a lefty catcher. There is nothing wrong with a lefty catcher. All of the mechanics are the same, only reversed.
 
Nov 8, 2009
8
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midwest
as far as catcher position, it has nothing to do with mechanics. it's all about opposing team line up. as you get to the higher levels of play in both travel ball and college you will find more and more opponents with left handed hitters. most of these are actual right handed hitters that converted over years earlier because of 60ft bases. for example, last year team USA started a game with 7 left handed hitters in the line up. now who has the best chance of throwing team USA runners out at second when they steal? A right handed catcher will have to throw around the left handed batter, while a lefty catcher has no one in her way as she attempts to throw the runner out. all boils down to what level you wind up playing at. lefty or righty is fine at lower levels of play, however, with the current trend of "the more lefty batters the better," that makes good productive lefty catchers a hot commodity at the higher levels. so, back to your original question, unless they are going to move the bases back another ten feet, you are better off having her hitting on the left side of the box if she is willing to put the hard work of converttng in. as far as fielding and throwing that's really more of whatever she is more comfortable doing. again keep in mind at the higher levels most coaches will tell you "its nice to have a lefty in the pitching rotation."
 

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