Slapping - keep the right foot pointed right

[Ken Krause]

I was working with a young slapper tonight, and she was having trouble keeping her shoulders parallel to the plate. She could do it with practice runs, but once the ball was on its way her shoulders pulled forward.

I worked with her a bit on pulling the left shoulder back when I happened to look down at her feet. I saw that when she took a jab step back, she turned her foot so her toes were facing forward (toward the pitcher). Hmmm, I thought, no wonder she's having trouble.

When you throw overhand, one of the tricks to help you get into the correct position is to turn the throwing side foot so the ankle bone is facing toward the target. You do that to open up the hips so you're sideways to the target. It works pretty well for throwing.

But turning the foot when slapping works against you by doing the same thing. It pulls your body around so you are sideways to the plate instead of facing it.

Correcting it is easy -- and challenging. It's a bit of a difficult habit to break, but it can be broken. The hitter simply needs to work on her jab step back, keeping the toes pointed toward the plate. That will strict the motion, allowing the shoulders to stay in toward the plate.

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[Sparky Guy]

The other thing that I found is when they turn the right foot towards the pitcher the left hip follows. They land on the left heel with the toes pointed to the pitcher instead of towards the SS. Then along with the hips the shoulders turn out as well and they end up facing the pitcher instead of the right shoulder leading the way to the pitcher.

One of the things I've done to help combat it is to cut down on the jab step and have the girl exaggerate turning the right foot in. This has her loaded in the correct starting position. I find that most kids are very visual. What I'll do is have the girls hold their bat across the front of them right on their hip bones. The object is to keep the bat pointed towards the pitcher as move through their footwork. If the bat is not facing the pitcher they are doing something wrong.

 

[SBFAMILY]

We do not take the jab steep back. We use the cross over style taught by team USA ( Catilin Lowe, Larry Ray), so there is no step backwards. We also step toward SS with the toe of the front foot. One of the issues with the steep back , explained to me by an Olympic coach is it gives away the slap and limits you on what you can do. I was amazed in the amount of hours they film players they play against to watch foot work and see if they give away what they are attempting. We practice in slow motion to get the foot work down and the shoulders square at contact. Then we put targets on the ground to practice where we to place the ball. The biggest issue I see working with kids is turning the shoulders and bailing out to first base too early. Why many slappers are thrown down and away. Good slappers are thrown up and in. Why my dd has a good helmet, since I have lost count how many see has taken in the helmet.

 

[Ken Krause]

Interested in why you think a jab step back limits what you can do. The way I teach it, you can slap, bunt, drag bunt and punch the ball over the infield. Only thing you really can't do is swing away, but as soon as you cross over that's off anyway. Maybe you're thinking of something different than what I have them do. The jab step is very small, and I find it helps them get in motion a little quicker. It happens a split second before the crossover.

Agree with the rest. Turning the shoulders and running to first before they hit are the big issues I see too. When I work with pitchers (and catchers) I try to get them to pay attention to that. If they run to first early, as you said throw low and away. If they run right at you, jam them so if they do hit it the ball goes to the right side.

 

[shockcoach]

The reason I don't like it and don't teach it, is that you step back with one foot and forward with the other. You've now just taken two steps and you have went absolutely no where. So, to me, it's wasted movement. I want them moving and running when they hit the ball. I also want them on the front line when they hit the ball.

I do see that you have them do a very small jab step. That's not a bad thing, IMHO. It does help them with timing. If I have a girl who has trouble clearing with her crossover, I will have them step straight behind them, not towards the catcher but behind the batter, so that they can clear better on their crossover.

That's the way I was taught to teach it and it makes sense to me. Too often I see girls take a big step back towards the catcher, then crossover. Two steps and the body has went nowhere. That does not make any sense.

Anyway, that's my 2¢.

 

[Ken Krause]

I agree that I wouldn't like to see a large step back. When I do it myself it's just a few inches -- essentially a load. It's more like Marc's demonstration of the jab step to go back on a fly ball v. the drop step that's normally taught. The quick step back helps the feet move faster in my opinion. It needs to be staccato for those who know musical terminology. When I do it, it seems to get me through the crossover faster than just crossing over directly.

BTW, here's a link to a video of Mendoza teaching the slap. She advocates a step back. YouTube - Jessica Mendoza Softball Training - HIT: Slapping - softball : Softball.com