Drills for Increasing Bat Speed - Slappers

[wave_twister]

Are any ole' bat speed drills applicable to slappers as well? My question being would you have your slapper do "generic" bat speed drills swinging away in place or would that not be advisable.

My DD is 10, born in 05', petite/light weight, and is a quick runner. As you can guess her strength and speed needs work which is why I'm asking about the bat speed part. I know strength will come into play but I *think* speed is something she may be able to acquire quicker than strength because her body size/type is limiting factor for brute force.

My plan was to pick up some hitting drills dvd's from Champion Sports (any rec's from you pros would be awesome). The problem I find with slapping instructionals is that most of it is on breakdown of technique(s), drills for hitting certain pitches etc. but I don't see much in the way of focused bat speed or strength drills for a player on-the-run.

Opinions? Absolutes? Obviously I'm not your veteran coach, I'm a bucket dad that assists the head coach with running stations, catching, running bases, only basic knowledge of game/strategy/rules etc.

 

[quincy]

Absolutes, she needs to be able to hit it over the fence if she wants to.

Start there and also work on slapping.

 

[FastpitchFan]

Here's a good DVD that can help you available on Amazon:

Winning the Short-Game: Slapping

 

[mann]

Are any ole' bat speed drills applicable to slappers as well? My question being would you have your slapper do "generic" bat speed drills swinging away in place or would that not be advisable.

My DD is 10, born in 05', petite/light weight, and is a quick runner. As you can guess her strength and speed needs work which is why I'm asking about the bat speed part. I know strength will come into play but I *think* speed is something she may be able to acquire quicker than strength because her body size/type is limiting factor for brute force.

My plan was to pick up some hitting drills dvd's from Champion Sports (any rec's from you pros would be awesome). The problem I find with slapping instructionals is that most of it is on breakdown of technique(s), drills for hitting certain pitches etc. but I don't see much in the way of focused bat speed or strength drills for a player on-the-run.

Opinions? Absolutes? Obviously I'm not your veteran coach, I'm a bucket dad that assists the head coach with running stations, catching, running bases, only basic knowledge of game/strategy/rules etc.

I normally do not give advise, but I thought I might share something with you about slapping.

So I have done pretty well over time with my slappers, I like power slapping,(so do the girls), lay it down, whatever, all parts,
But recently I have been using stretch and fire for my slappers, in the box front toss, then incorporating that into the 3 step slap.

Holy smokes, now the smallest can DRive the ball.

So on the crossover step, landing soft bent and sinking, and using the core movements many are talking about around here and other places , stretch and fire, scrunch power.

 

[Fastpitch86]

I normally do not give advise, but I thought I might share something with you about slapping.

So I have done pretty well over time with my slappers, I like power slapping,(so do the girls), lay it down, whatever, all parts,
But recently I have been using stretch and fire for my slappers, in the box front toss, then incorporating that into the 3 step slap.

Holy smokes, now the smallest can DRive the ball.

So on the crossover step, landing soft bent and sinking, and using the core movements many are talking about around here and other places , stretch and fire, scrunch power.

Can you provide a video demo?

 

[mann]

Can you provide a video demo?

I will as soon as I can, like a day with no rain.

this clip was part of my inspiration

Stretch and fire to me represents the pause in this Ortiz clip, in which he is in the stretch and fire crouch.

I have the girls stand 45 in the drill I use.
The slap clip above would represent the 90 degree version SNF drill.

 

[wave_twister]

@mann - thank you for the gifs! That first one of the girl has an unorthodox slap steps but I bet she sure cranks that ball pretty good. The only thing about that gif is how she holds the bat on her shoulders and drops it on plane to the ball. My headcoach would have a fit because he favors the high hands near the ear. He says dropping the hands/bat before creates a loss in strength.

I'm going to have a lot of fun digging around here reading and learning about the stretch and fire, scrunch.

@Coach Marc - Thanks for the rec but I have a pretty good double set on slapping from Ehren Earleywine. Very good instructions and drills. I think the dvd you recommend is also a good place to start.

 

[mann]

@mann - thank you for the gifs! That first one of the girl has an unorthodox slap steps but I bet she sure cranks that ball pretty good. The only thing about that gif is how she holds the bat on her shoulders and drops it on plane to the ball. My headcoach would have a fit because he favors the high hands near the ear. He says dropping the hands/bat before creates a loss in strength.

I'm going to have a lot of fun digging around here reading and learning about the stretch and fire, scrunch.

@Coach Marc - Thanks for the rec but I have a pretty good double set on slapping from Ehren Earleywine. Very good instructions and drills. I think the dvd you recommend is also a good place to start.

No kidding. Heres the twist, I first saw this clip years ago, posted by those that were well ahead of me knowledge wise, showing me core usage.


So this last fall I was in Arizona playing regionals, and I brought the team into a cage near the Arizona campus(Tucson)

I saw some Arizona players working with younger slappers and asked them if they work with a couple of mine, as I was busy with the rest.

I looked over and they were asking my slapper why she dropped her foot back(that would be me), and asked if she could try something else.
No drop step, just back leg through. Anxiety attack, we had a game in 3 hours, something NEW?

They struggled in the game , darn it.

But, with this clip I now SEE what they were trying to show my young slappers.

I still use the 3 step slap, but, I will sooner or later have someone try like the girl in the clip.

I would tend to agree about keeping the hands up, along with the barrel, but, it was a home run.

 

[go4um]

I normally do not give advise, but I thought I might share something with you about slapping.

So I have done pretty well over time with my slappers, I like power slapping,(so do the girls), lay it down, whatever, all parts,
But recently I have been using stretch and fire for my slappers, in the box front toss, then incorporating that into the 3 step slap.

Holy smokes, now the smallest can DRive the ball.

So on the crossover step, landing soft bent and sinking, and using the core movements many are talking about around here and other places , stretch and fire, scrunch power.

You are right on with this notion of flexing both the back step leg and cross leg to help generate power. In addition, the idea of using core to coil the belly button back towards the plate at the start of the cross should be worked on. Also, the cue of "both feet on the ground" at launch helps timing to keep some weight on the right foot at launch. Weight will completely transfer during swing.

 

[FastpitchFan]

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