DD getting ready to email coaches

[Fastpitch86]

My DD is playing second year 14U for a competitive regional travel team. Se decided to switch to the left side over the summer and is making good progress with bunting and slapping. Looking for recommendations on how to inform the college coaches that she relatively new to the left side as she may struggle at times, which is expected when learning a new skill. TIA

 

[angispeds]

Just say something like I’m excited to share I’m adding left sided action to my hitting


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[radness]

My DD is playing second year 14U for a competitive regional travel team. Se decided to switch to the left side over the summer and is making good progress with bunting and slapping. Looking for recommendations on how to inform the college coaches that she relatively new to the left side as she may struggle at times, which is expected when learning a new skill. TIA

What is her running speed out of the box to First base?

Pending what that # is would be a good detail to add.

Not necessarily important to mention that something is 'new' when contacting colleges. They are looking for what players can produce. Those results are more important.

Btw, if she is still swinging from the right side suggestion to continue with the dedication to that and if you're adding something from the left side that is added time. In other words don't take away any time from hitting from the right side to do something new. Add more time to do the new thing.
Basically saying that if you split in the Box time 50/50 you will be only dedicating 50% of your time to one of the other.

 

[Fastpitch86]

What is her running speed out of the box to First base?

Pending what that # is would be a good detail to add.

Not necessarily important to mention that something is 'new' when contacting colleges. They are looking for what players can produce. Those results are more important.

Btw, if she is still swinging from the right side suggestion to continue with the dedication to that and if you're adding something from the left side that is added time. In other words don't take away any time from hitting from the right side to do something new. Add more time to do the new thing.
Basically saying that if you split in the Box time 50/50 you will be only dedicating 50% of your time to one of the other.

No official time other than at college camps and they are getting her best time was 2.78 but is around 2.8 at the camps and that's pretty consistent with what I'm getting on my iPhone. To try and stay consistent, I'm starting on her time on first step.

Yes, she is still hitting on the right because her slapping skills are progressing very well but not at the level she needs to be for recruiting. We are attending a few fall camps and will probably be on the right side but just wasn't sure if she should communicate that in her emails and/or talking to coaches. Maintaining the right side is taking some time away from her development on the left side, with working in cross country as well.

She's not looking to be a switch hitter as well.

 

[radness]

No official time other than at college camps and they are getting her best time was 2.78 but is around 2.8 at the camps and that's pretty consistent with what I'm getting on my iPhone. To try and stay consistent, I'm starting on her time on first step.

Yes, she is still hitting on the right because her slapping skills are progressing very well but not at the level she needs to be for recruiting. We are attending a few fall camps and will probably be on the right side but just wasn't sure if she should communicate that in her emails and/or talking to coaches. Maintaining the right side is taking some time away from her development on the left side, with working in cross country as well.

She's not looking to be a switch hitter as well.

So in the meantime are you keeping hitting statistics of left versus right hand side?
At what numbers would you stop doing one or the other and focus on one?
Question please...
If developing both sides skills,
but not wanting to be a switch hitter,
why stop using one?

Does it look like potentially she could also be a power hitter from the left side or is she just working on pounding it in the ground? And bunting?

 

[3girls]

Sending coaches a videos seems to be the best communication tool. I would show some skills/drills from the right side and then show some from the left. The drop in some game highlights.

in the email you can say that she is adding left handed hitting due to her speed.

 

[Fastpitch86]

So in the meantime are you keeping hitting statistics of left versus right hand side?
At what numbers would you stop doing one or the other and focus on one?
Question please...
If developing both sides skills,
but not wanting to be a switch hitter,
why stop using one?

Does it look like potentially she could also be a power hitter from the left side or is she just working on pounding it in the ground? And bunting?

She's been on the right for last 4-5 years and hasn't been consistent. The past year she's been talking about going to the left side. Over the summer she hit off the right while ramping up on the left side. Since august been basically full time on left side but hits a few buckets on the right side since not consistent on the left side yet but making very good progress. We are only maintaining the right side till she is better on the left side. She's probably not ready to make her debut on the left side yet but her team is going to all these fall showcases.

She's about 5'4" and skinny but really fast, not considered a power hitter. She's already really good with bunting from the left side.

So my original question would be at what point should we tell the coaches that she's moving to the left side, since she'll probably still be on the right side at least early in the fall season? Like I said, moving over to the left side, eventually won't be on the right side.

 

[Fastpitch86]

Sending coaches a videos seems to be the best communication tool. I would show some skills/drills from the right side and then show some from the left. The drop in some game highlights.

in the email you can say that she is adding left handed hitting due to her speed.

That's what we were thinking. She just wants to make a good impression and doesn't want to confuse the coaches. She's never really been consistent on the right side anyway and was probably should have made the move to the left side last year. At least she seems to be making very good progress on the left side thus far.

 

[Vertigo]

Sending coaches a videos seems to be the best communication tool. I would show some skills/drills from the right side and then show some from the left. The drop in some game highlights.

in the email you can say that she is adding left handed hitting due to her speed.

When my dd switched over at around age 15, that’s what she did. She emailed coaches with links to videos when she was working with her slapping coach. She also had in-game video from school ball which she sent as well. She just explained that she was learning how to slap but still hit from the right side depending on the game situation.

My only word of caution - if she goes to a camp and they use a pitching machine for hitting she might want to hit righty. Dd could never time the machine right for slapping so it made her look very bad. However, she could hit well off the machine from the right side so that’s what she did. All of the other hitting drills and during camp games she’d slap.

Once camps are over I’d have her only focus on hitting from the left side during the off-season so she gets the reps and gets used to “seeing” the ball from that side.

 

[softball dad 6]

You didn't really ask this question but I would suggest you consider "ripping the band aid off" and going only lefty. You have said she is inconsistent from the right side and not considered a power hitter. Unless she is phenomenal in the field the old adage of "if you can hit they will find a place for you to play" will limit her opportunities in college. She sounds truly fast. In my opinion you should commit to slapping full time and see how she progresses. It will take buy in from her tb coaches and good communication from your dd and her tb coaches to potential college coaches to explain things. You need something to make you stand out in the recruiting process. It sounds like showcasing her speed is the best route to do that.