Moving over to the left side benefits vs staying RH

[JBG]

DD (16) started slapping for the left side last year..(natural righty) ....now she is working on slapping and hitting from the LS. She has decent speed...2.96 from the Left side home to first...3.05 seconds from the Right side. She has become a decent slap hitter. Mostly bunting for Base hits and moving runners long. Along with some successful slapping but needs to continue to get better at it.

Question i have is she is really working at hitting from the left side in addition to slapping because she really likes it and thinks its cool. I am just wondering if its a waste of time? She is an avg to slightly above avg hitter from the right side with decent power. I am just wondering if she should be better working on getting really good from the RS before she starts hitting from the left side.

To many times i saw her last year get 2 strikes and then the coaches would turn her back to the RS and she would strike out or ground out.

She has developed a good swing from the Left side. I just think she is trying to do too much. Coaches haven't really dissuaded her or encouraged her either way.

Thoughts?

 

[quincy]

Someone I respect said being a switch hitter is a good thing but switching during a specific at bat is a losing battle. If your DD can bail to the right side when things are not going her way it is going to be a long haul getting her slapping lefty. Makes sense to me.

 

[christychick]

JBG,

My daughter who is 16 was encourage last year by her hs softball coach to be a lefty. She had always hit right. We started going to a batting coach who told us 'WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK AHEAD OF US! I have never switched a 15 almost 16yr old to be a left handed hitter'. We went 3 months to him then HS ball started. She batted left all HS ball, all summer ball & all fall ball. We went back to the hitting coach for the winter and he was amazed at her progress. She loves to slap and her average at the beginning of summer went from .193 to .287 by the end of summer. Just imaging what she will be this HS ball season!! (can't wait!) She loves being a lefty batter, slap, drag & bunt. When hitting from the right, she was always 'just almost there'!! From the left she gets on base!! I would stick with her being a lefty, in my opinion & I know my daughter would say the same. We went to a recent camp at a D1 school and out of 55 girls, only 5 were lefties and I can tell you, they got a lot more attention then the righties. Hope this helps.

Christine

 

[stiksdad]

Would need more info or video of her from both sides of the plate. One thing for sure though 2.96 is not that fast as she advances to the next level. But I guess I would support her in what she wants to do. If she wants to slap, she needs to get faster atleast of tenth quicker, continue working on slapping. Does she throw righty?

 

[coachtucc]

If she is going to slap, then she needs to hit lefty oitherwise the defense will know what she is going to do!

 

[go4um]

I have helped about 100 players switch to LH. The players who work at it regularly generally feel more comfortable batting LH within about 6 months and within 12 months many say they hit their full swing at least as well or better LH.

I am assuming that 2.96 sec LH and 3.05 RH are full swing after contact times so that her post slap time would be in the 2.75-2.85 sec range which is decent and justifies as a slap threat. If so, I would strongly recommend going LH for both slap and full swing provided softball is enough of a priority to motivate regular practice.

 

[JBG]

I have helped about 100 players switch to LH. The players who work at it regularly generally feel more comfortable batting LH within about 6 months and within 12 months many say they hit their full swing at least as well or better LH.

I am assuming that 2.96 sec LH and 3.05 RH are full swing after contact times so that her post slap time would be in the 2.75-2.85 sec range which is decent and justifies as a slap threat. If so, I would strongly recommend going LH for both slap and full swing provided softball is enough of a priority to motivate regular practice.

Yes those times were full swing and without spikes on. She tells me she feels very comfortable hitting from the left side and is getting progressively better at hitting from the left side.

 

[JBG]

JBG,

My daughter who is 16 was encourage last year by her hs softball coach to be a lefty. She had always hit right. We started going to a batting coach who told us 'WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK AHEAD OF US! I have never switched a 15 almost 16yr old to be a left handed hitter'. We went 3 months to him then HS ball started. She batted left all HS ball, all summer ball & all fall ball. We went back to the hitting coach for the winter and he was amazed at her progress. She loves to slap and her average at the beginning of summer went from .193 to .287 by the end of summer. Just imaging what she will be this HS ball season!! (can't wait!) She loves being a lefty batter, slap, drag & bunt. When hitting from the right, she was always 'just almost there'!! From the left she gets on base!! I would stick with her being a lefty, in my opinion & I know my daughter would say the same. We went to a recent camp at a D1 school and out of 55 girls, only 5 were lefties and I can tell you, they got a lot more attention then the righties. Hope this helps.
Christine

Sounds like an almost identical story to my DD...although i want to see this year how much she actually improves over the course of a year. She LOVES to slap, drag and bunt from the LS. She is working at being straight LH and developing her swing and hitting for power from the left side. Thanks.

 

[JBG]

Would need more info or video of her from both sides of the plate. One thing for sure though 2.96 is not that fast as she advances to the next level. But I guess I would support her in what she wants to do. If she wants to slap, she needs to get faster atleast of tenth quicker, continue working on slapping. Does she throw righty?

I believe she can get quicker as her technique for running could be improved. She doesnt swing her arms well and her footwork can improve. I dont think a tenth or two improvement is out of the realm at all. Coaches do think she is fast.
She does throw Righty.

 

[Bouldersdad]

I have a dd who bats left and throws right. Switching can be done, the older the player the more time consuming it will become. There will be a point when it either clicks or the time spent dosent justify the results shown.

I agree with the 6 months training period. I have had dads that wanted their daughter to have that ability to switch hit. But after a few months of struggling they decided the option of learning to hit inside out from the right was a more viable option.

If its your decision to do so just remember to not stop working the right side also. Would really stink to not be proficient on the left to realize your dominant side dosent work so well any more.

Tim