Help With Slap Hitting!?

[quincy]

Slapping is miss understood in my opinion. Best slappers can hit it to or over the fence, that is thier best weapon. Not dink hits. Only have faced a couple good slappers, I hate them all because they have a bad habit of beating our defense. You can tell they put a LOT of work into it. Bad ones, seen a lot and we will get them out.

Over the years I have changed my opinion, for lack of better term, switch hitting. Time becomes an Issue, why not pick a side and stick with it.

 

[CanOfCorn]

I am late but one of my DD swapped freshman year in HS. It took a one offseason with lessons to be decent, two to be good and three (she is now senior) to be the player Quincy hates.

I would not expect your daughter to lose power after some training and she will gain tools. That said, it is a ton of work because you practice several kinds of slaps, couple kinds of bunts and you still have to hit.

It is a commitment.


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[Gags]

Are there as many misconceptions about slapping technique as there are about a normal swing? Are there videos beginners should watch? (or perhaps more importantly, avoid?)

 

[Jordan]

I am late but one of my DD swapped freshman year in HS. It took a one offseason with lessons to be decent, two to be good and three (she is now senior) to be the player Quincy hates.

I would not expect your daughter to lose power after some training and she will gain tools. That said, it is a ton of work because you practice several kinds of slaps, couple kinds of bunts and you still have to hit.

It is a commitment.


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Thanks for the response. Slapping does seem like a large commitment so I’m a little worried to have dd start so late. I’ve talked it over with Dd and she seems interested in learning but she’s not sure if she’s ready to commit to something completely new when she’s not even sure if she’ll be any good at it.

 

[CanOfCorn]

Thanks for the response. Slapping does seem like a large commitment so I’m a little worried to have dd start so late. I’ve talked it over with DD and she seems interested in learning but she’s not sure if she’s ready to commit to something completely new when she’s not even sure if she’ll be any good at it.

Only you and your daughter can gauge how quickly she picks up stuff and what strengths she has now that can translate. If her swing is solid from the right side turning it around is not going to be too bad, in fact she may lose any bad habits. If she is good at bunting then that might not take long to master. If her bat control is solid (she makes good contact) then the hand-eye won't be bad. For example, my daughters can both push bunt, so drag bunting was not a large leap for the one who turned around. That DD who went to slapping seldom struck out when she was 11-12 although she didn't always hit for a high average like she does now. So her hand-eye was excellent and she is actually a great bad-ball hitter.

Then it is a matter of footwork which is the key. That is just practice, practice, practice but one committed off season she could probably get down a solid foundation. If you have anyone local as a teacher then it will speed up the process. One thing to think about is that at 15-16 she is way more in control of her body and more athletic than at 10-12 so the learning curve won't take quite as long as you probably anticipate.

As a recruiting tool, DD's ability to bunt, slap and also hit with some power while using her speed is a large difference in interest. If your daughter can play a number of positions that is also a big factor.

CoC

 

[CanOfCorn]

Are there as many misconceptions about slapping technique as there are about a normal swing? Are there videos beginners should watch? (or perhaps more importantly, avoid?)

Not sure that misconceptions to which you are referring. Is this technique? The only thing I had trouble with was terms as people call them different things and sometimes mix them. We did in person lessons with Olympic SB player so can't speak to videos but it is 100% foot work and building up to getting yourself in the right position. I do think that instruction has given my DD an advantage over others I have seen because she understands the approach and hears her body when she is off so she can make corrections quickly.

As in your normal swing your base is key, bad base, bad swing, so in slapping, bad feet, bad slap.

 

[BigSkyHi]

Hey so recently my younger DD (16) joined a new 18u B team. They just had their first tournament and dd did pretty good. She did well at CF and had a triple and a 500 batting average. After the last game though dd’s Coach went up to me and her and said he thinks dd should try slap hitting from the left side. I wasn’t really expecting this cause while my dd is small (5’2) and pretty quick but not super fast (consistently runs a 2.9-3.0 20 yard dash) and she hits the ball decently well. Last year dd had a 350 batting average. Is it worth doing or should dd just stick to her normal hitting. Dd is ambidextrous so the hitting from the left side isn’t a problem (she often bunts from the left) and while she has slap hit every now and then she never had much success with it.

If this is a path she chooses, Natasha Watley has a program

https://www.natashawatley.com/

 

[Jordan]

Only you and your daughter can gauge how quickly she picks up stuff and what strengths she has now that can translate. If her swing is solid from the right side turning it around is not going to be too bad, in fact she may lose any bad habits. If she is good at bunting then that might not take long to master. If her bat control is solid (she makes good contact) then the hand-eye won't be bad. For example, my daughters can both push bunt, so drag bunting was not a large leap for the one who turned around. That DD who went to slapping seldom struck out when she was 11-12 although she didn't always hit for a high average like she does now. So her hand-eye was excellent and she is actually a great bad-ball hitter.

Then it is a matter of footwork which is the key. That is just practice, practice, practice but one committed off season she could probably get down a solid foundation. If you have anyone local as a teacher then it will speed up the process. One thing to think about is that at 15-16 she is way more in control of her body and more athletic than at 10-12 so the learning curve won't take quite as long as you probably anticipate.

As a recruiting tool, DD's ability to bunt, slap and also hit with some power while using her speed is a large difference in interest. If your daughter can play a number of positions that is also a big factor.

CoC

Thanks. Dd is pretty good at bunting and she does have good coordination so I think we’re gonna give slapping a shot.

 

[radness]

Consider.
Bunting right/left draws the defense to have to start moving to the ball to make the play.

Lefty Run & Slap/swing/bunt gives the advantage of hopefully getting out of the box quicker starting closer to first. But a weak slap gets the ball to the defense doesnt help much.

The ACTUAL bonus in either right or left handed bunt/slap/swing...
is elusive strategy to be able to mix ANY of them in and not give it away to soon!

Good luck!

 

[txfastpitch07]

My DD just moved up to 14u. She's always been a light hitting speedy outfielder. About a year and a half ago she moved to the left side exclusively and has been slapping full time and going to weekly slap specific lessons. She went from batting last (or nearly last) with "ok" numbers, to batting leadoff with a average north of .600 and an OBP to match. Her switch to slapping was transformative! She went from being a totally average ball player to an on base and hitting machine! She's fully embraced slapping and loves it.