Power Slapping

[canyonjoe]

My DD is a natural lefty(14U) blessed with at best average speed. She is very good hitter
with some pretty good power. Has hit several OTF HR's and hits a lot of doubles and triples with
a high average.

We had a real slow pitcher against us this weekend and a new AC suggested she try to power slap which she
had never tried but hit one about 210 to left center for a Triple. The next day against the same pitcher she hit straight up and hit a triple to RC.

He was talking about her trying it more and I was trying to figure out what it would really gain as a hitter. I get the jack rabbit regular slappers, but just wondering what the benefit of power slapping would be versus just hitting.

Since I'm a lefty hitter I just worked though what I would do and it seemed that it would make hitting the outside pitch a little easier, but seems like it would be hard to clear the hips on an inside pitch.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[#7sDad]

If she's hitting for power with average speed (at best), she's probably not going to gain anything from power slapping. The power slap is a tool to use against an infield who is cheating in to keep them honest, or in a hitting situation. Slappers do need to defend the inside pitch as you note, so having your daughter being a "part-time" slapper will likely take away from the other things she does best. IMHO. (dad of a slapper)

 

[quincy]

If she is hitting the ball out of the field I would not mess with her.

She should be able to lay a bunt down the 3rd base line, other that just whack the ball.

 

[go4um]

There can be advantage of showing some slap skills to try to get the defense to alter their position. Shallow infield or outfield would be a big advantage for a hitter who full swings with some power.

 

[Chris Delorit]

Hi canyonjoe,

You offered some good details to start.

In mentioning that you were a slapper, you probably already have a pretty good idea of what types of skills training your daughter would benefit from.

A few questions that you may consider...

What's your skill knowledge level vs. the AC's vs. a hitting coach, relative to advancing your daughter's hitting skills?

What level travel ball is your daughter currently competing?

Quality of pitching she faces?

Does she have any holes in her swing?

What do her hitting stats look like outside of the power that you've mentioned?

Is it possible that your daughter's AC is forward thinking, or offering suggestions that may be beneficial to her at the next level of play?

As a left-handed hitter, your daughter already has a natural advantage. She's closer to first base, & she has the opportunity to develop more tools in her belt. This is an advantage to her. As a proponent of tools, it could certainly be a benefit to your daughter to run with opportunities to advance her skill level. A power slap to a gap with average wheels isn't a disadvantage, it's an advantage. If fact, in your scenario, take speed out of the equation.

With the power slap, I would suggest that you don't think overwhelmingly about defensive coverages. With a decent level of bat control, it's not too hard to find a gap. There are plenty out there. Much of the time, you can have success hitting through a defensive player at most levels.

If she's mashing, keep mashing. However, if her K's are too high, or she's inconsistent, you can use practice as an opportunity to develop her toolbox.

 

[canyonjoe]

Chris,

Thanks for the advice. What really intrigued me was that she almost always gets pitched away and when she took a few AB's as a slapper she got some inside pitches. She never gets more than a pitch or 2 on the inner half during a tournament. When we played our game on Sunday they worked her in when she tried to power slap. I don't really think it's even worth pursuing unless she wants to get really serious about it. The thought of getting some inside pitches to hit is very attractive but she is such a good hitter that unless there was a big advantage I'm not really in the frame of mind to change her. She should be playing 16A, but is playing for a 14U B team this fall which plays half A and half B tournaments. She hits in the high 500 and has struck out 2 times in the last 6 tournaments combined. If she strikes out it's usually on a call as she generally will make contact when she swings. I know it's my DD, but both K's were just brutal calls for strike 3, but still called non the less.

 

[Chris Delorit]

You're welcome canyonjoe.

Sure, if she's a good hitter with power, keep developing her assets there.

In my opinion, the pitch location she's seeing is the result of at least two scenarios.

First, most TB coaches are very predictable. There's alot of cookie-cutting with situations, rather than tailoring approach to the skill of the individual hitter. Every hitter has her own strength & weaknesses. You mentioned the scenario of inside pitch as a slapper. A skilled little slapper can eat up most coaching predictabilities. Just like every slapper isn't necessarily vulnerable on a down & out, up & in or change in the dirt.

Second, if you're daughter is hitting in the middle of the line up, she has some power & can produce RBI's. Coaching trends will be to be careful in those situations, and you're daughter sees her fair share of the outside corner. Perhaps, other teams are aware of her hitting skill.

As an alternative to developing her power slap, you could focus in on her plate coverage of the four quadrants. That outide pitch can be consistantly mashed, say into left center. Develop barrel contact deep in the zone & with consistancy there, she takes that go-to pitch off the table. She begins to dictate the pitches she will see, to an extent. Benefit = her. If she's a good hitter at 14B, the A pitching will only get better. You can use it as an opportunity to develop her prowess. You'll both have to be commited to taking ownership of her development. As you transition to A ball, you may also consider devoting some time to developing her ability to study her opponents, pitchers & coaching trends alike.