MAKING CONTACT
By converting some of their right-handed hitters into slappers, coaches can expand their strategic options, create new openings for traditional hitters, and help student-athletes reach their fullest potential.
By Nate Dougherty
Nate Dougherty is a former Assistant Editor at Coaching Management.
AS A FRESHMAN AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE IN 2004, INDIA CHILES COULDN’T HAVE BEEN MISTAKEN FOR A POWER HITTER. Used primarily for her speed as a pinch-runner, the right-handed Chiles managed only one hit in eight trips to the plate, finishing the season with a .125 batting average.
But Co-Head Coach Karen Weekly saw potential in Chiles. The left fielder possessed great speed and bat control, and although she struggled as a conventional hitter, Weekly envisioned the perfect role for her—slap hitter. The summer after Chiles’s freshman season, Weekly began training her to stand in the left-handed batter’s box, take a crossover step to begin running as the ball is delivered, and chop a hard grounder through the hole between shortstop and third base.
The results were immediate. In Chiles’s sophomore season, her batting average improved to .353, and in her junior year she was the Southeastern Conference’s second-best hitter with a .437 average. As a senior, she was named SEC Player of the Year and a member of the Louisville Slugger All-American First Team, helping lead Tennessee to the title game of the NCAA Division I Women’s College World Series.
“Her performance in the World Series was the key to a lot of our victories,” says Weekly. “She did a great job of putting pressure on the defense and manufacturing runs for our team.”
Through aggressive base running and well-placed ground balls, slap hitters can leave a defense reeling and open holes for other hitters to succeed. Today, more and more coaches are making the slap a key part of their offense, dotting the top and bottom of their lineups with slappers. In this article, high school and college coaches discuss how to identify good candidates for slap hitting, how to teach the technique, and how to convert righties to hit from the opposite side of the plate.
From Hitter To Slapper
Coaches of successful slap hitters know it takes a special combination of talents to execute a running swing at a 70 mph pitch and make it to first base in less than three seconds. It requires a tenacious batter who’s eager to attack the defense.
"You want a kid who loves to challenge an opponent,” says John Tschida, Head Coach at the University of Saint Thomas. “They’re the types who look for how they can exploit weaknesses. They also can’t be afraid to fail, because if they go up to the plate afraid, they won’t be able to find the extra gear they need.”
When searching for potential slap hitters, Tschida also looks for players who will be resilient through the stresses of learning the necessary skills. “I want kids who say, ‘I can. And if I can’t, I will,’” Tschida says.
Once good candidates are identified, they often need some persuasion to adopt the style. For many players, especially those who have never been on a slap hitting team, softball hitting prowess is measured in extra-base hits and RBIs, not ground ball singles. Louis Hoelman, Head Coach at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md., says this prejudice can make hitters wary of an approach that focuses on reaching base by any means necessary.
“Because they won’t have as many extra-base hits or drive in the winning run, it can be hard for some hitters to switch,” Hoelman says. “Until they see results, they can be stubborn and slow to believe in the slap.”
To help players feel more comfortable transitioning to slap hitting, Hoelman suggests showing them the success that can come with the strategy. “Point out other players who have made the switch successfully,” he says. “When a hitter gets on base three times in one game and three times in the next game, like a lot of slappers do, they’re going to be noticed. They may not be hitting home runs, but their contributions will more than make up for it.”
When Paul O’Brien took over as Head Coach at Archbishop Spaulding High School in Severn, Md., a team that traditionally favored power hitters, he knew encouraging players to switch to an unfamiliar style would be difficult. But he also knew that the more familiar his players became with the slap, the easier it would be to convert hitters in the future.
“In a program that’s established itself as a slap-hitting team, it’s easier to convince players to try it,” O’Brien says. “Here, it’s been a bit more challenging. But once I get some of the players I’m working with now turned around, they will serve as good examples for others coming in.”
Making The Switch
Chiles was the perfect slap-hitting candidate: great ground speed and bat control, aggressive, and right-handed. While players may feel uncomfortable at first, coaches often find that hitters become more productive after making the change.
To identify which right-handed hitters can make the switch, Tschida evaluates their natural swing and base running ability. “Typically, I’ll take a right-handed hitter who doesn’t have great power or mechanics but does have some speed and move them to the opposite side,” Tschida says. “The time spent teaching them proper mechanics for a right-handed swing can instead be used teaching them to slap.”
Travis Scott, Head Coach at Angelo State University, uses a similar method. Scott lets batting averages help determine which players he will teach to hit left-handed and which he will keep as righties. “A lot depends on how good they are hitting right-handed,” Scott says. “If we have average hitter, say .260 or .300, who has the speed, we will try to move her to slap hitting. But if she’s a good hitter, anywhere above .350, we won’t mess with her. If she’s streaky, we might have her try both. In certain situations, like with no one out or leading off an inning, we’ll have her slap. But if she’s batting with runners in scoring position, we’ll let her swing.”
Those without much softball experience can also make good candidates. Hoelman finds that at the high school level, right-handed newcomers with good speed can bring a clean slate into the batter’s box. With enough work, even right-handed hitters with previous experience can learn to swing naturally from the left-handed batter’s box.
“If I have a kid who doesn’t know much about softball, it’s just as easy to put her on the left side as the right side,” Hoelman says. “For players who already have some softball experience, it is just a matter of working until they feel as comfortable in the left-handed batter’s box. All it takes is one bobble or hesitation by the defense for them to reach base.”
Mental aspects shouldn’t be overlooked when switching a hitter to slapping. The player must be willing to put in long hours and countless swings to gain the level of comfort needed to progress to more in-depth drills.
“It’s tedious, mundane work because there are only a few skills to learn, but slap hitters need to practice them over and over and over,” Weekly says. “You need a player with the patience and work ethic to take thousands of swings from the tee to get comfortable hitting left-handed.”
Coaches must also remember that even right-handed hitters who can barely reach the warning track may see themselves as power hitters. “You have to groom them emotionally,” says Linda Wells, former Head Coach at Arizona State University. “You have to clearly explain that this move will pay some real dividends over time.”
To keep players on track, there are always examples like Chiles—athletes who improved greatly after the transition. “One thing I like best about teaching at the high school level is that when you watch the Women’s College World Series, there are always players who recently made the change to slap hitting and are already great at it,” Hoelman says. “That makes me unafraid to switch any of my athletes, because I know it’s being done successfully at the highest levels. I tell my players they can see results almost immediately, and they can be really great after a year."
Teaching The Slap
For many coaches, the thought of teaching a movement as intricate as slapping can be intimidating. But Weekly says breaking the motion down into its basic movements makes it very easy for players to learn.
“When you start out, keep it simple,” Weekly advises. “Some coaches make it too complicated by teaching players to take multiple steps as part of their footwork. Slappers need to learn how to cross the left foot over the right foot in the box for the motion. That’s it.”
Perfecting the slap can be made easy for your players as they slowly build the needed skill set. “For those who are just learning, their ability level has to meet your challenges,” Tschida says. “If they don’t see themselves as being any good, start them off with easier challenges. That’s why we use a progression of drills, starting with a swing standing still and progressing to live pitches. You want that kid to get fired up and motivated to keep trying, so you need to slowly add challenges that allow her to see how she’s improving.”
When working with new slap-hitters, Hoelman starts with the kinds of drills players may have performed when they first learned to hit. Hitting off a tee allows athletes to focus on the crossover step before worrying about making contact with a moving ball.
“If you’re starting off with a stationary ball, it’s easier to concentrate on the other aspects,” Hoelman says. “They can focus on their footwork first and make sure they have the step-back, step-forward before they think about hitting. After that, I’ll move to a short toss over the plate with a wiffle ball so they can see how the ball comes out of my hand.
“Instead of having them use a bat, I put a glove on their left hand and have them follow the ball into the glove with their eyes,” Hoelman continues. “If they can do that, they can follow it all the way to their bat. As the old saying goes, ‘Bunting is catching the ball with your bat.’ Slapping is the same way. If they can catch the ball on their bat, they’ll be able to place their hits correctly.”
Many players who are just learning to slap make the mistake of turning their left shoulder toward first base as they make contact with the ball. This can lead to misplaced hits and ground outs, but can easily be avoided by focusing on the correct footwork.
“When they do the crossover step, I want the left toe pointing directly toward the plate,” says Steve Miner, Assistant Coach at San Diego State University. “As a rule, when a player crosses over, it’s natural for that left toe to turn and face the pitcher. Have them focus on keeping it facing the plate instead, which keeps their shoulders and hips back so they can hit toward the hole between shortstop and third base.”
Because ball placement is one of the most important aspects of slap hitting, Tschida borrows from billiards to teach his hitters. “When we’re doing drills off a tee, it’s very important to show them how best to aim the ball,” Tschida says. “So we’ll put a dot on the ball, like one you’d use when shooting pool. I want the dot facing directly opposite the shortstop hole, and through their motion the bat has to hit the dot directly. If it doesn’t, they’re going to pull the ball toward the pitcher or drive it down the line.
“The other thing I’ll do is take a sticker of a pair of eyes and put it at the point on the bat where they need to make contact,” he continues. “Whether they’re drag bunting or slapping, they want those eyes to point directly at their target. If those eyes are facing the shortstop, that’s where the ball is going to go. If they’re facing the third baseman, it will go there.”
Tschida knows there’s only so much he can teach his slap hitters, so he encourages them to learn by watching each other as well. “Every hitter is unique, especially when they’re learning the different styles of slapping,” Tschida says. “So I’ll have four or five slap hitters stand behind the cage during batting practice. I’ll put a tee in front of each of them, not necessarily to hold the ball but to make sure they keep the bat head in. Going through the motions together helps get their timing down.
“I’ll have them do the same thing before they come to the plate,” Tschida continues. “If you watch the top teams, their on-deck hitters are in unison with the hitter at the plate, working on breaking the pitcher’s timing.”
There is no one correct way to slap. Some players use a shuffle step as they leave the box, and others a more pronounced crossover. Some choke up on the bat while others may have better control with lower hands.
Picking a single approach for all your athletes can be counter productive. “The more I try to teach slap hitting, the more methods I realize are effective,” O’Brien says. “Instead of picking one technique and sticking with it for eternity, the wisest coaches look at all the different approaches being used and incorporate all the variations. Being open to the whole variety really helps your players, because what works for one might not work for another.”
h5. Getting Real
Slapping a ball off a tee is one thing. Connecting when the defense is bearing down and a pitch is whizzing by is another. To fully develop your slap hitters, they need to undergo a “trial by fire,” where they can move past mechanics and understand how to use their skills in a real game.
For O’Brien, that means inserting slap hitters into the lineup while they’re still learning. “It’s important to get them into a game to work on it,” he says. “They need to see live pitching to realize the slap is more effective than they might think. They need to practice reading the defense to know where those holes are going to open up.”
Game situations can help slap hitters understand when a soft drag bunt might be more effective than a hard slap between the shortstop and third base. Coaches can help this process by explaining strategies and encouraging batters to open their eyes to better see the game around them.
“The key for hitters is to be in control and know when to use each of their weapons,” Tschida says. “By watching video of game situations, they can see where holes are opening, so when they’re up to bat the next time it will be easier to recognize.
“A lot of times, slap hitters will start a pitch intending to slap, but the pitch is bad and as they follow the ball into the catcher’s glove they lose focus on what the defense did against them,” Tschida continues. “It’s important to teach them to look up quickly after a pitch to see how the defense is aligned. I tell my players that’s the game talking to them, and they have to stop and listen.”
By using variations on the slap, hitters can keep the defense guessing. “A lot of times I’ll have players show bunt before they slap, or even fake bunt then fake slap,” says Tschida. “Having them swing away at a pitch can throw the defense off. Even if the hitter misses completely, the outfielders will step back.”
These variations can be especially effective when the defense knows a player will be slap hitting and tries to key in on her. “Against a good defensive team that’s trying to shut down our slappers, we’ll hit more of a power slap over the infielders,” Hoelman says. “The key is using different decoys, like a fake drag bunt to bring them in, then pulling back and slapping.
“Also, I recently began teaching all my slappers to take full swings,” Hoelman continues. “I usually have my first two hitters stand in the left-handed batter’s box, and if the first baseman starts in, I’ll have them swing away. That keeps the defense on its toes and opens up the slapping game.”
Aside from creating openings to exploit, slap hitters can make it more difficult for the defense to keep track of base runners. “If you’ve got a runner on first, a slapper can hide her from the catcher,” Tschida says. “The catcher knows the runner is flying off the base, but can’t see her until the second or third step. With a runner on second, you can have her steal when the third baseman is charging the ball, and a lot of times that leads to the catcher throwing to an empty base and the runner getting a free run.”
At times, slap hitters will inevitably fail. They will misplace hits and ground out, pop up, or fail to beat out a throw. But coaches agree that sticking with the slap and continuing to pressure the defense will produce great results in the long run.
