Hello to all, just looking for a little advice on the subject.At what age is a good time to maybe convert a hitter to slap hitting?My daughter is 11 and plays Little League Softball.She is small and does not have alot of pop off her bat,very good contact hitter and good speed.The problem is she rarely hits out of the infield. She is showing alot of interest in slap hitting and I thought we would work on it this winter. Another reason I thought now would be a good time to start is next season the pitching is going to depleted in our league and I thought it would be a good time to start, she will not be facing many overpowering pitchers.She is very athletic and very coachable. Just let me know if I'm way off base or would you consider it? Thanks for any help given.
When to consider converting a slap hitter?
- Thread starter fitz1
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Slapping is a net positive against overpowering pitching. If she's reasonably fast she will dominate LL softball. Of course the faster the better. I wouldn't hesitate to move any kid to the left side who had reasonable speed and wasn't an accomplished hitter on the right side. Just make sure you plan to teach her to hit away in time as well from the left side.
Slap Hitting Startup
I've been giving slap hitting lessons for several years...about 200 lessons last year. Slap Hitting 101 is ok to get started but I would also suggest the USA Softball "Slapping and the Short Game". Download VLC or some other media software so that you can see the techniques for bunting, soft slap and hard slap frame by frame...Caitlin Lowe can teach you a lot.
A word of caution with small 11U players, if she has trouble hitting thru the infield now then she is going to have more trouble when she slaps left handed...at least until she gets bigger and proficient with the techniques. In my experience the single biggest reason that new slappers fail is because the parents or the team coach aren't fully committed to slapping and fail to provide the encouragement needed to overcome a slump. Everyone needs to be commited to the long term benefit and be patient when the player makes some ugly outs...and there will be a season or so of more ugly outs than you'd like.
Do not make the mistake of thinking that slapping is easy. There's acutally more to learn but for a player that is not going to be a consistent power hitter, it is the best way for a good player to become an exceptional player.
I've been giving slap hitting lessons for several years...about 200 lessons last year. Slap Hitting 101 is ok to get started but I would also suggest the USA Softball "Slapping and the Short Game". Download VLC or some other media software so that you can see the techniques for bunting, soft slap and hard slap frame by frame...Caitlin Lowe can teach you a lot.
A word of caution with small 11U players, if she has trouble hitting thru the infield now then she is going to have more trouble when she slaps left handed...at least until she gets bigger and proficient with the techniques. In my experience the single biggest reason that new slappers fail is because the parents or the team coach aren't fully committed to slapping and fail to provide the encouragement needed to overcome a slump. Everyone needs to be commited to the long term benefit and be patient when the player makes some ugly outs...and there will be a season or so of more ugly outs than you'd like.
Do not make the mistake of thinking that slapping is easy. There's acutally more to learn but for a player that is not going to be a consistent power hitter, it is the best way for a good player to become an exceptional player.
Thanks go4um, I will look into the instructional dvd you mentioned.I am very new to this concept so #1 I want to make sure I am correct in wanting to do this.She mostly hits to the right side of the infield so my thinking is why not use her speed to her advantage and get it to the left side by slapping it and giving her a chance? I know this process will take a while but I know when she puts herself to something she is very determined.I figured the hard slap and bunting will come later just want to get her used to the technique of slapping and bring it along from there.Again thanks for the replies and any advice or criticism that is given will be appreciated!
- May 13, 2008
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There also has to be a commitment to an at-bat. I see coaches all the time call off the slap after two strikes to have the batter swing away (either from the left or switched back to the right). When learning, I would prefer a batter to spend the whole at-bat slapping.
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At bat? I would prefer they commit to a career. 
Never go back. Every at bat on the right side is that much longer before competence and then expertise on the left side. This is not baseball where switch hitting makes sense due to the nature of over hand breaking balls. Once you move, never go back.
Never go back. Every at bat on the right side is that much longer before competence and then expertise on the left side. This is not baseball where switch hitting makes sense due to the nature of over hand breaking balls. Once you move, never go back.
- May 13, 2008
- 824
- 16
At bat? I would prefer they commit to a career.
Agreed. My DD made the switch full time two years ago. Struggled the first year as a lefty while swinging away, but can now hit for average. I read a blog where Whately said it took her until her senior year before she could hit for power from the left side. I think she said she switched at the age of 12.
Mark and Chris couldn't agree more. It took my dd two full years to hit for power after switching to the left side at 12. Hit 320 from the left side this year playing up on a 16U team as a 14U.. Never switch hit, stay at it. My dd almost always goes to attack mode and slaps on a 2 strike count. Keep in mind, many ways to slap. This includes power slapping. To be good you must also learn to hit for power. This year she bounced one over the centerfield fence, so be patient.. You must have speed. 3.0 or better at this age. We have been fortunate to work with 3 Olympic coaches and some Team USA Players that have helped. She got a compliment this year from a good travel ball team. They call her the Pest! Not only is it tough to get these kids out, but when they get on base, they cause havic.
Unless you are 2.5. Even then, enough pop from the left side to keep the defense honest would be huge.
Love to have kids like yours on base when the middle of the order comes up. My bangers are much less likely to see an off speed pitch with the pitcher worrying about your pest stealing second.
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