Switch to Hitting Lefty

[quincy]

Finally have my basement space ready for the winter, original plan was pitching 20 ‘or so into a tarp. Now that I am done we have room for hitting off a tee and probably soft toss too.

I have always kind of wanted to switch DD to batting lefty, she is 10, but we never have had time to work on it. I think we will over this winter.

She looks coordinated swinging lefty just not real confident so I think she can do it if we work on it over the winter. She is game trying; don’t know if it will stick.

I was thinking of doing 50% righty/ 50% lefty. Eventually I would like her to be a slap hitter but want her to just be a hitter first. Are there switch hitters in softball? Anyways …

If you try to make the jump do you bat 100% lefty? Any suggestions on making the switch?

 

[chinamigarden]

Its all or nothing. You either make the jump or you don't. My DD did it her first year of playing 10U she has always been able to swing from both sides, but for some reason prefered batting RH, even though she is left handed. Mid season she was in a slump so I suggested that since she was struggling anyway, we might as well make the change. It worked out pretty good, every now and then she will bat RH in a practice off a machine, but its just for showing off.

 

[2bucketdad]

I agree, if she is game go 100% lefty and don't look back.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

I understand the point of making a commitment, but at the same time it isn't a given that switching over to the opposite side will work out for the better. Not unheard of for a kid to make a commitment to switching over and find themselves a year later even further behind. It does happen. As usual ... hard work, performed smartly, increases the odds of success.

 

[quincy]

Thanks for the replies, we have a few months so I will discuss with DD. She hit really good last year but she is so small it might catchup to her in a few years if she doesn't change. I am sure she will enjiy the mental game of slap hitting if I can get her there.

 

[SBFAMILY]

Stay 100% to which side works best for her. If she will be a fast runner keep her on the left. We went 100% when she was 12 and never went back.

 

[PA SB Dad]

I am not aware of any advantage to being a switch hitter in fastpitch, but I'm willing to listen to any arguments if there are some out there.

I think the most important consideration is how well she is hitting from the right side now. If she is a powerful hitter with reasonable speed, I'm not sure I would encourage a player like that to switch sides. On the other hand, with a fast kid that lacks power or struggles from the right side, there's no question I would try to convert her.

We had a kid last year at 12U, under 2.9 from the right side home to first, that we tried to convert to becoming a lefty slapper. The issue was, she loved hitting bombs to the outfield (she had a lot of power to go with her speed) so she didn't really fully buy-in to being a lefty. After her third line drive gapper to left center for an inside the park HR, we decided not to push her over to the left side.

 

[7smom]

I've been a "lurker" here for awhile and have finally joined as a member. I appreciate all the great information.

My daughter started working on hitting left at the end of her 2nd 10U season at the suggestion of one of her coaches who was a former D1 player. DD is a very smart player with good speed. During the preseason games of first 12U season she alternated each AB- one righty next lefty until her coach finally made her go all lefty. She hasn't looked back and as a high schooler is one of the best hitters in our state. IMO, the key is buying in and being able to be the true triple threat. If you have blazing speed you can be a weak hitter and rely completely on bunting and slapping, but hitting for power is the real advantage. By her second and definitely 3rd AB against a team my daughter has the defense scratching their heads- including coaches.

One key to the conversion is that it takes A LOT of work. What most don't understand is that you need to take 1000's of swings to catch up to where you were hitting from right side (unless you start really young). You have to have a kid who is willing to put in long hours and stick with it.

For my daughter the other key is bat control. She is not blazing fast. She is fast enough to always pull an infield in but has to use her very good bat control to place balls for infield hits. On an unofficial visit to her top school (D1) we talked to the coach about her speed and she said simply that someone with the bat control of DD doesn't need to be as fast and she takes that into consideration. We know that this coach has become more interested as DD's slugging percentage has gone up.

Good luck with the conversion- it is a fun thing to watch and my daughter has really learned to love the mental part of it- but be prepared for lots of work (and possibly lots of tears)

 

[quincy]

DD is small but fast when she wants to be. BB tryouts Saturday she happened to be in the group with the fastest player on our softball team. They did a few races and DD was 1st every time, annoyed the other player. Really great girl, we are hoping she is on DD’s Team. She was/is a mentor for DD learning BB.

Little things are fun.

 

[Ken Krause]

As with anything else in life, buy-in is the key. As I've stated before, if someone wants me to help them become a slapper I insist that they go all in. None of this two strikes and we'll turn around stuff. As long as there's that safety net they'll probably never buy in. And laying that out in front of them makes them decide whether they WANT to go all-in.

It sure is fun when you see them succeed, though.