Slap Hitting Struggle

[SBFAMILY]

I have been doing slapping/hitting for years and have got to work with some of the best in the business on team USA.
I agree with most of the above, just not #1. That is kind of old school and how we started slapping. Few teach a drop step now. The best can power hit and slap , so they do not drop step. Plus the use of video now shows that teams can pick up the slap by watching your feet and you don't want to show it to soon. I agree with the T work. We set targets and cones on a field. We also use the TCB balls to keep contact on the ball longer. We were just at a D1 slapping camp yesterday refining the dd's skills. There are many kind of slaps. Just a list of the ones we work on.
1. Hard Slap
2. Soft Slap
3. Power Slap
4. Duck hit/slap
5. Watley slap- This is the one that is a real weapon that the TCB balls really help. If done right the player is catching the ball when you are standing on first base. It works on hard surface fields.
That is something else the player needs to learn and read. Surface condition.

 

[absdad]

There are many kind of slaps. Just a list of the ones we work on.
1. Hard Slap
2. Soft Slap
3. Power Slap
4. Duck hit/slap
5. Watley slap- This is the one that is a real weapon that the TCB balls really help. If done right the player is catching the ball when you are standing on first base. It works on hard surface fields.
That is something else the player needs to learn and read. Surface condition.

SBFAMILY... can you explain #4? I think I know what it is, but I notice it called different things. I agree about #5, that particular slap is a true weapon, especially with a runner already on 1.

 

[SBFAMILY]

The duck hit got its name because it looks like a wounded duck coming in for a landing. It is when 3B is up trying to cover a bunt and SS is playing the slap. You try to place the ball over 3B head down the line. Some call it a punch hit. We have got many 2B hits off that one. Plus you can do the same if 2B is up. Slappers that can hit as well as slap put all kind of pressure on the defense. I think we have seen about every creative form of defense devised. In high school we saw all 9 players in the dirt. She hit the fence on a line drive in RF for a stand up triple, with runners on 1Bb and 2B. That was the last time they tried that defense. So the duck hit is one of her best weapons, since many play her to bunt or slap, but have the OF deep, due to her ability to power slap or hit it over the OF. Today is another D1 visit , that she is working on her drag bunt with a young lady that was very good in college drag bunting.

 

[absdad]

Then I had that consused with something different. In the situation you described, my dd will try and place a soft slap just over 3B. That also works pretty well going over the P. If you ever watch Purdue softball, their 1 and 2 hitters are very effective at doing that.

I actually thought you were talking about what my dd's slap coach calls a shuffle slap. On a team that anticipates, and crowds up, dd will continue to show slap, giving them every reason to think she's going to slap. On the pitch, she'll shuffle her feet like she's going to slap, basically taking one step towards the mound, but then stop and swing away.

 

[Hoover's Dad]

I believe alot of people now are teaching no drop step, because the Defense has no clue if you are slapping or hitting away when you do it this was. My dd steps back just a few inches, she needs it for a trigger to get going. Her hitting coach, wants her to slap with no drop step, but she cant seem to get this down.

To the OP, I would continue with the slap hitting and see if her BA and OBP% goes up over the next 6 months. With 2.7 to first speed, she will get offers for that alone.

 

[SBFAMILY]

Hoover's Dad. You are correct. Talking to some coaches after they got back from the Olympics games, this seems to be the new approach so you can hit for power and the defense has no idea what you are doing. If you are a pure slapper I guess it wouldn't matter.

 

[starsnuffer]

If the kid is 2.7 home to first, she can hold the bat by the barrel and still get recruited by a coach willing to teach her how to slap. In fact, that might be more advisable then teaching her to slap now, depending on who's doing the teaching.

Get her started hitting away from the left side, get her comfortable bunting, then drag bunting from the left side, then teach her slapping.

-W

 

[SBFAMILY]

Agree with starsnuffer. We teach them to hit first, before slapping. At 2.7 that would have been the fastest time in the state of Ohio during college NFCA camps. DD was 2.84 and that was the second fastest at the college showcase two years ago when she was 14.