When DD turned to the left side at 11yo, I followed the advice of those recommending that she become a 'switched' hitter and not a switch hitter. Two mediocre years later she finally became the top BA on her TB team, hitting in the upper .500's...swinging away.
Yesterday we went to the park to hit for a while, because my 11yo boy wanted some long front toss with a HR fence (he has great power for his small size). The boys were hitting baseballs and the girls using softballs, and at some point my 13u DD and 11u DS start talking smack and a 'home run derby' of sorts ensues.
Well, leftie DD hits a few baseballs and doesn't quite clear the 201' fence, while little bro hit a few out. She asks if she can hit 'righty' and says "I can hit further from the right, even though I hit better from the left." HuH? Sure enough, she turns on a pitch and hits a dinger. (small kid and baseballs mind you)
DD has hit exclusively from the left in games and practices for three years. About 18 months ago she commented that a RH swing now feels 'weird' or wrong and she was comfortable from the left. She had her best power year ever this season. "So how can you hit for more power from the right now?"
Well, the story goes like this... my back yard is a continual wiffle ball game for 7-8 months per year. It is quite literally like watching the movie 'The Sandlot.' My six kids plus the three travel ball neighbors and some other neighborhood kids probably average 4 hours per day, seven days per week during the summer. (They haven't heard about tv and video games, lol). Anyway, there has always been one hard-and-fast rule when the kids are playing these pickup/barnyard games...NO adult input unless we see a safety issue. The parents just let it all play out and take care of itself and it is a thing of beauty how well a bunch of kids makes it work. This is THEIR time. It is not practice or training. It is just FUN. They have a blast and the parents pretend not to even pay attention.
Since the kids playing vary in age by many years, they decided that to make things more 'fair' that the older kids have to bat from the 'wrong' side...whichever that may be. Further, the size of the sandlot is constrained by trees such that they get in the way of the longer hits, so the kids often play 'TCB ball', not 'wiffle ball'.
DD is one of those older kids that has to hit from the right, since she is a LHB now. She has been getting reps, and a lot of 'em, from the right and often with tcb's (the smaller ones). I have now discovered that I have a switch hitter on my hands, even if inadvertently. Given her age (turns 14 in a few weeks/grade 8), I think it may be best to let her be a 'switch' hitter, and not just a 'switched' hitter. She claims that her average and the 'feel' is best from the left, but that she can go deeper batting right.
I'm not exactly sure what to do here, but it seems to be a 'good problem.'
Thoughts? (and no, they do not throw the tcb balls. Once put in play it becomes a game of fetch and tag with tcb's.)
VW
Yesterday we went to the park to hit for a while, because my 11yo boy wanted some long front toss with a HR fence (he has great power for his small size). The boys were hitting baseballs and the girls using softballs, and at some point my 13u DD and 11u DS start talking smack and a 'home run derby' of sorts ensues.
Well, leftie DD hits a few baseballs and doesn't quite clear the 201' fence, while little bro hit a few out. She asks if she can hit 'righty' and says "I can hit further from the right, even though I hit better from the left." HuH? Sure enough, she turns on a pitch and hits a dinger. (small kid and baseballs mind you)
DD has hit exclusively from the left in games and practices for three years. About 18 months ago she commented that a RH swing now feels 'weird' or wrong and she was comfortable from the left. She had her best power year ever this season. "So how can you hit for more power from the right now?"
Well, the story goes like this... my back yard is a continual wiffle ball game for 7-8 months per year. It is quite literally like watching the movie 'The Sandlot.' My six kids plus the three travel ball neighbors and some other neighborhood kids probably average 4 hours per day, seven days per week during the summer. (They haven't heard about tv and video games, lol). Anyway, there has always been one hard-and-fast rule when the kids are playing these pickup/barnyard games...NO adult input unless we see a safety issue. The parents just let it all play out and take care of itself and it is a thing of beauty how well a bunch of kids makes it work. This is THEIR time. It is not practice or training. It is just FUN. They have a blast and the parents pretend not to even pay attention.
Since the kids playing vary in age by many years, they decided that to make things more 'fair' that the older kids have to bat from the 'wrong' side...whichever that may be. Further, the size of the sandlot is constrained by trees such that they get in the way of the longer hits, so the kids often play 'TCB ball', not 'wiffle ball'.
DD is one of those older kids that has to hit from the right, since she is a LHB now. She has been getting reps, and a lot of 'em, from the right and often with tcb's (the smaller ones). I have now discovered that I have a switch hitter on my hands, even if inadvertently. Given her age (turns 14 in a few weeks/grade 8), I think it may be best to let her be a 'switch' hitter, and not just a 'switched' hitter. She claims that her average and the 'feel' is best from the left, but that she can go deeper batting right.
I'm not exactly sure what to do here, but it seems to be a 'good problem.'
Thoughts? (and no, they do not throw the tcb balls. Once put in play it becomes a game of fetch and tag with tcb's.)
VW