Softball Hitting Tips - Helping Slappers Learn to Place the Ball

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

Beginning slappers, whether they’re natural lefties or right-handed converts, often have difficulty learning to hit the ball to the opposite field. They tend to want to turn their shoulders early and hit the ball out in front – as they’ve always been taught to do with full
swings.

Of course, that’s a recipe for disaster for slappers. The result is usually a weak ground ball straight up the middle, and right to the pitcher. What slappers should do is keep their shoulders squared up to the plate as they run up, and hit the ball off their back hip. That will send it toward the shortstop, or better yet the 5/6 hole.

Easier said than done, though. It’s often difficult for a beginning slapper to feel the proper position and visualize what she needs to do – especially when you’re in a batting cage. Here’s a way to make it easier.

Place a bucket or some other object in the area where you want the slapper to hit the ball, then have them hit off the tee. If you’re using a bucket, tell her to hit the ball into the bucket. That’s a very immediate and visual cue. If you’re using an orange cone, tell her to knock the cone over. Otherwise, tell her to hit the ball toward the object.

If you’re using a tee, start by placing the hitter in the proper position then have her stand and hit. Once she gets the hang of it, have her do the run up and hit. You can keep progressing until she’s hitting off of live pitching, still aiming for the object.

It’s simple, but effective. If you have a budding slapper, give it a try.

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