DD going lefty

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Feb 3, 2016
502
43
Proud my DD decided on her own to switch to the left side. A great move and looks great
Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
May 1, 2018
659
63
Looks good. When I started my daughter swinging a bat (at 3) I had her do it left handed. She is full righty.....I used to switch her in games were we were up by a lot. Now she bats lefty all the time. At 3 I didn't know if she was going to be fast like I was or not...so might as well get her used to that side. Turns out she is slow as dirt but has all the power in the world.
 
May 15, 2014
135
16
Atlanta
Mine went lefty at the beginning of 2nd yr 12U, she is really fast so her PC wanted her to start slapping. I won't lie, it hasn't been easy and my only regret is not switching her when she was much younger.
 

ez_softball

Life at the diamond...
Apr 14, 2017
158
28
Mine went lefty at the beginning of 2nd yr 12U, she is really fast so her PC wanted her to start slapping. I won't lie, it hasn't been easy and my only regret is not switching her when she was much younger.

In a few years you'll be saying why didn't we just stay on the right side.

IME, the number of players that truly master slapping is pretty poor... we have a girl on Varsity that is a slapper and she has ended up being a flex player because she strikes out 40-50% of the time... we have 4 girls that switched to the left side to be slappers on travel ball... one is decent and the other 3 are at the end of the order when they are not on the bench. Also, I believe defensive strategies have gotten better and slapping is not a as big of an advantage as it was in the past. I know that 2 of the 4 we have on travel ball have questioned why they ever switched.

My daughter is the prototypical slapper physically and has the speed to make it worthwhile... we resisted the urge to switch when she was young and now at 16...she is the top power bat on her travel ball team and top 3 on HS. Couple that power with great contact and OBP and you have a pretty dynamic offensive weapon staying on her strong side.

Sometimes I think people outsmart themselves... :p
 

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
Is your DD FAST? Not average or quick, but FAST? If your DD wants to play in college, and is not FAST, then keep her on the right side. I cannot tell you how many girls who have been slapping from the left side for years get converted back to the right side because in college they are average speed, and average speed slappers are easy outs...
 
Jun 11, 2012
741
63
My DD is a natural lefty who batted righty and writes righty but does everything else lefty. She says she was told to hold the crayon in her right hand at preschool so that’s what she did.
She was never a power hitter as a righty batter and she’s pretty fast so we switched her as a first year 14. To our surprise she has so much more power as a lefty and very rarely slaps or bunts anymore. It’s worked so much to her advantage because she’s built like a slapper and that’s what people expect. They don’t expect a power hit to the fence and that’s what she does. Looking back I wish we had switched her sooner
 
Feb 3, 2016
502
43
Apparently going lefty worked for her. She hit her 1st OTF HR when I was a state away! Always hoped to be there and get that ball for her little collection of mementos. Hopefully the other softball parents on the team snagged it for her. :)

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,481
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top