Hitting to opposite

[Longshot]

Hey Guys/Gals
Sorry in advance for the long post.
My daughter has been going to a hitting coach for the last 3 years (currently 12u). She is by far the best hitter on the team and I have been very pleased with what he has done with her. She is a power hitter who consistently drives the ball deep left/left center/center. About 2 months ago he went to a hitting clinic for hitting instructors and came back with some new thoughts on hitting. For the past 8 lessons he has been changing the way she swings trying to get her to hit to RF. She has gotten to where she can do it but she honestly doesn't have the same kind of power like she does when she is not trying to direct the ball to RF on every pitch. I am not sure what to think about this. Is her ability to hit opposite really that important? He seems to think it is.

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[tmolina]

On my DD team we have three girls that go to the same hitting coach(18u gold team), he preaches that a good hitter should be able to consistently demonstrate the ability to drive the ball to opposite field on a regular basis. He teaches them how to do this in lessons, but it is not the only focus. They still work on hitting inside pitches and he tells them the reasons why an all around hitter should hit to all fields.
One of the girls hits to all fields with authority(leads team in average, slugging, RBI's, bats mostly third or fourth, bats right handed), the second one hits to opposite field the majority of the time, but can turn on balls in the right situation(second on team in average, leads team in runs scored, bats lead off, lefty slapper/swing away), the third tries to hit to right field a lot, mostly in any RBI situation (batting average is about 8th on the team, slugging is about 6th and RBI about 7th, bats right). All three are verballed to D1 schools. Moral of the story is a good hitting coach will teach hitters to hit balls to all fields, and its up to each kid to make in game adjustments(even adjust in the same at bat) to be successful.

 

[iMlearning]

We work on hitting oppo almost everytime we practice. At first, the power was lacking but it came fairly quickly. I think it's one of the best "drills" to do.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Not uncommon to see a pro warm-up with a round or two of hitting oppo.

 

[JJsqueeze]

you have to be able to do something with an outside strike but I think the whole focus on hitting oppo is a little overblown. You will hit oppo often enough when your timing is off a little...hit where your power is-don't try to force a hitter to go oppo. If you have a little Suzie Carew or an Atoinette Gwynn then roll with it and let them spray it all over...but if you have a little Theodora Williams....let her pull em over the fence.

The more I see what Tewks has to say the more I agree with his approach.

https://tewkshitting.com/dont-spend-your-career-trying-to-hit-grounders-to-second-base/

 

[rdbass]

Learn to hit the ball where it is pitched.

 

[JAD]

One of the keys to hitting is "going with the pitch". If the pitch is on the outside corner of the plate and your DD tries to pull it to LF the results will more than likely not be good. Work on pulling inside pitches to LF, hitting pitches down the middle back up the middle and pitches on the outside corner of the plate to RF (assuming a RH batter). As your DD gets older and faces better pitching this becomes more important, but it is good to learn it now.

A lot of batting coaches will try to get young players to hit the ball to RF in an attempt to get them to let the pitch get deeper in their stance. Most players hit the ball to far out front, and they have to let the ball get deeper to hit it to the opposite field.

 

[iMlearning]

I'd make sure he really means he wants her to always hit oppo. In a lesson or practice, he may be reinforcing an "inside out" swing, situational hitting, letting it get deeper, etc... I'd be surprised if he wanted her to hit every pitch in a game to the opposite field.

 

[riseball]

Hey Guys/Gals
Sorry in advance for the long post.
My daughter has been going to a hitting coach for the last 3 years (currently 12u). She is by far the best hitter on the team and I have been very pleased with what he has done with her. She is a power hitter who consistently drives the ball deep left/left center/center. About 2 months ago he went to a hitting clinic for hitting instructors and came back with some new thoughts on hitting. For the past 8 lessons he has been changing the way she swings trying to get her to hit to RF. She has gotten to where she can do it but she honestly doesn't have the same kind of power like she does when she is not trying to direct the ball to RF on every pitch. I am not sure what to think about this. Is her ability to hit opposite really that important? He seems to think it is.

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At 12U it is not that big a deal but it will become critical if she is ever going to play at a high level. So start working on it now. My DD's college team won a national championship last year by focusing on execution and attention to the little things. On that team if you are at the plate with runners on 2nd and 3rd hitting a hard line drive to the SS is a one way ticket to the pine. If you want to excel it is not just about hitting or even hitting where the ball is pitched, but executing at the plate. Former Gator Lauren Hager was a master at placing the ball based on the task at hand. As I tell my players it is just another part of elevating your game.

 

[Longshot]

Thanks for talking me off the ledge guys. I was having a hard time picturing a coach telling her "nice home run but next time hit it over the RF wall". I have expanded my thinking to include the tools she might need beyond 12u.