To slap or not? That is the question.....

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May 11, 2012
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I have a 9 year old dd who just finished 3rd grade. She is a good athlete and physically she has a lot of potential. She played with primarily girls 10 and 11 years old this year and she was very very good pitching and very very good in the middle infield. She is a very fast kid. Physcially she is not huge but definitely above average and she has A LOT of power battng. She quite frequently drives the ball to the outfield and potential wise she should be a 4 spot type hitter next year and when she is older.

Here is the dilemma. She struggled BIG TIME this year batting. She is a kid who talent wise should be batting about
.700-.750 in REC ball and in practice the kid is a machine. She destroys the ball and is very consistent. However, for whatever reason in games this season she has been a .250 type batter. She has definitely struggled with slow pitchers especially. She does better against faster pitchers. MUCH better.

She has asked to practice slapping and asked to learn. We have worked on the basics and she is a natural at it. So basically she has the skill set to be succesful as a slapper or a power hitter righty. I know that if I switch her to lefty she can be a solid contact hitter and add the slapping and it will make her a kid who is well ahead of most other girls her age and who will have a huuuuuge tactical advantage. However, at the same time I see the raw power she has and the great swing and it makes me sad to think all that potential would be unused.

So, if a kid has the skill set to do either succesfully, what should we do? After thinking long and hard, Im pretty sure I want to be patient and stick it out another year righty and just hope she settles in and starts batting to her potential. Maybe another year experience will do that for her and finally playing against girls her own age will help her cause as well. Then if she continues to struggle next year, we can switch her to lefty and start slapping full time with her. Thoughts on this? OR should I just consider switching since right now? so she can start getting great at it ASAP.

Also, before its asked. Yes she has seen a HC and in fact 2 of them. They have both been very impressed on where she is at her age and cant seem to figure out the struggles during games either. Like I said.........it might just be a comfort thing. She is ridiculously competitive and her own hardest critic, so she may be putting too much pressure on herself. However, that would be hard to understand too because when she is pitching( which IMO is MUCH more stressfull)........she is cool as a cucumber.

BTW sorry for the rant. Im obviously unsure and just a little frustrated for her right now. She works very hard. Your opinions will be much appreciated.
 
Apr 6, 2012
192
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My question is about how fast she is. If she does not have AT LEAST above average foot speed for her age, the advantage of slap hitting is not there. Slap hitting should not be an alternative just because a batter is struggling right handed. It really is for those kids who are fast.

Your daughter is young and I agree with you, have patience. Let her play against players her age next year and see what happens. Work on her mental game with her (there are plenty of books and programs that will help with that.) Give her time to work through it. I have players on my team who didn't hit well last year and now they are starting to come around and are hitting very well.
 
May 11, 2012
121
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She is fast. She runs track and is one of the fastest kids her age in the state. Your right though. It almost seems like common sense. I mean I coach a kid who last year had one hit all season and this year she hit the ball 13 times and only struck out 4 times all year. I guess when its your own dd, you just want to make sure you have the right train of thought and worry a little more too fast.
 
Aug 4, 2008
2,364
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Lexington,Ohio
Just because you switch her to being a lefty doesn't mean she cannot learn to hit for power. My dd was at the district all star practice and many of the lefty slappers can only bunt or slap. She was 11 when we switched her. She went through the routine of hitting some to the fence in each field, then slap, then bunt. The coach just stood with his mouth open. Teach them early and teach them how to hit. Make sure they are fast and will be fast when they get older. The body does change. She worked with some very good hitting coaches that all taught her to hit first, slap second. It took around 14 months , so be patient. If you watched college softball this week, I'm sure everyone noticed the slappers. On a hard surface, the down slap can be deadly.
 
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Apr 6, 2012
192
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This is true. My point was that too often, we assume we should turn a kid around to the left side when she is struggling on the right side. My daughter learned to slap when she started high school because she was fast and because she had great bat control. On the right side, she was a good singles hitter, but wanted to take advantage of her speed. It took about a year. She is now playing D1 softball and is a good slapper and a good hitter. We are glad we made the change with her.
 
This is true. My point was that too often, we assume we should turn a kid around to the left side when she is struggling on the right side. My daughter learned to slap when she started high school because she was fast and because she had great bat control. On the right side, she was a good singles hitter, but wanted to take advantage of her speed. It took about a year. She is now playing D1 softball and is a good slapper and a good hitter. We are glad we made the change with her.

I was just thinking about this the other day...DD took a few slapping lessons, but we decided to iron out her challenges in her swing before moving onto slapping. So she started rebuilding her swing this season. It has been frustrating for her, but she is starting to reap the benefits. Lots of singles, but she has started hitting some bombs out to the fence lately as she learns to trust the new stuff she has been taught. We originally got her staring to look at the left side (she is a right handed batter) because I didn't think she'd ever have the bat to be a power hitter. She a young 14, but it is staring to look more and more that she is going to be able to take it out of the park in a year or so. She attended a D1 camp last week and there was an optional slapping session each morning and she attended for fun and they had a lot to say about what she might be capable of. She run a 3.0 from home to first from the right side and manages to get on base about 60% of the time when she bunts from the right, so I guess there is a possibility that she could pull it off. I was thinking about seeing what her high school coach thought about it, but I'm sitting here thinking if I can afford another night of slapping lessons in addition to her regular hitting lessons. Why not be proficient at both?
 

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