Teaching lefty

[fastpitch]

Thanks all for the good advice. We went to a hitting coach last night. It's going to take some work but it will eventually happen.

Part of me wishes she wasn't so good hitting righty. I feel like all that time building her righty swing these past years is going to waste. I suppose it would feel worse if she was 18.

 

[PA SB Dad]

I guess another question is will she still be fast relative to other players at 14, 16, or 18 years old? Even though she is fast relative to other 10 year olds, is that a guarantee that she will be fast when she physically matures? If you think yes, then going lefty now is a good plan, but if you're not so sure, why completely abandon right-sided hitting until she is more mature? My impression is that you really can't know until they've gone through their growth spurt.

 

[cshilt]

You're getting started at the right age. The younger the better. My DD made the switch full time two years ago and it feels weird to her to bat right handed now. It will likely take some time, but there is a payoff at the end. If you ever start to question the decision, and you probably will, go online and look at a college roster and count how many girls throw right, bat left.

 

[SBFAMILY]

My dd switched the same time as cshilt dd. He is right it takes time and practice. She is now a power hitter and during fall ball hit one up against the fence, that would have been a HR at our high school. With her speed it was a smart move and I couldn't agree more about college rosters and the looks she now gets as a Freshman in high school at college camps.

 

[Mark H]

Yeah, college coaches really really like fast versatile left siders.

 

[DonnieS]

Yeah, college coaches really really like fast versatile left siders.

My oldest, 19 y/o, was switched to leftie on her first day on her college team. She had been a strong hitter, but she is fast, in fact, a little short of what someone here said, impossible speed. Her new job is get on base, get in scoring position, and the real strong hitters, you know who you are, push her across the plate. It was suggested to her 2 years ago to switch to leftie but she was one of the leading hitters on her teams and hesitated. Her sister, was 13 when the same coach said 'you would be better as a leftie' switched and never looked back, but little sister while she is a solid hitter, never wavered. Her obp went to close to or on top of obp on her teams (h/s and travel).

Whats amazing to me is that I saw the 19 y/o play just two weeks after switching to lefty, and with the teaching abilities of college coaches (and Larry Ray's dvd), she looked like she had always been lefty.

One of the things to prepare for when you switch your previously hard hitting fast kid to lefty is lots of complaints from family and others. Ignore them.

 

[fastpitch]

One of the things to prepare for when you switch your previously hard hitting fast kid to lefty is lots of complaints from family and others. Ignore them.

Yeah. I imagine if she struggles at the plate come spring the complaints will come. She probably will start to doubt herself as well. I guess we have some work in front of us this winter. I mentioned it to her Little League coach who didn't like the idea at all and didn't think she could be ready by the spring. On the other hand her club team coach (a former college head coach) is excited about the switch for her.


Does anyone have experience as to how long it took them to get up to a similar level of hitting from the right side?

 

[DonnieS]

Yeah. I imagine if she struggles at the plate come spring the complaints will come. She probably will start to doubt herself as well. I guess we have some work in front of us this winter. I mentioned it to her Little League coach who didn't like the idea at all and didn't think she could be ready by the spring. On the other hand her club team coach (a former college head coach) is excited about the switch for her.


Does anyone have experience as to how long it took them to get up to a similar level of hitting from the right side?

What seems to happen is that when they switch, and they get the foot work down, etc. you go through this period of 'wow' and lots of on base, but they have to keep working harder to keep this working or they slump.

I am incredibly biased against Little League, which is biased against good softball, so in keeping with this being a family board, will not mention what would be my remarks to the Little League coach. Pay attention to the travel coach - and x&*#& the Little League coach, sorry I went and did it anyway.

Not to hijack this thread, but when I have had girls who said they wanted to do Little League, I have told them I would rather they stayed home, watched TV, sat on the couch and ate potato chips. Its easier to lose weight than to break bad habits.

 

[Mark H]

My oldest, 19 y/o, was switched to leftie on her first day on her college team. She had been a strong hitter, but she is fast, in fact, a little short of what someone here said, impossible speed..

As I recall that time was at an NFCA camp.

Whats amazing to me is that I saw the 19 y/o play just two weeks after switching to lefty, and with the teaching abilities of college coaches (and Larry Ray's dvd), she looked like she had always been lefty..

IME, fast kids learn that kind of thing quickly.

 

[Mark H]

Yeah. I imagine if she struggles at the plate come spring the complaints will come. She probably will start to doubt herself as well. I guess we have some work in front of us this winter. I mentioned it to her Little League coach who didn't like the idea at all and didn't think she could be ready by the spring. On the other hand her club team coach (a former college head coach) is excited about the switch for her.


Does anyone have experience as to how long it took them to get up to a similar level of hitting from the right side?

Depends on the kid. I saw a slapper with no swing at all from the left side become a line drive hitter in four days. I've seen others struggle all their career to learn a decent swing from either side.