Tips for finding a team that wants a slapper

[Vertigo]

I think most college coaches who specifically ask for a slapper in their recruiting class know what they are looking for and know how they can specifically benefit “their” team. They can tell the skilled slappers with multiple tools in their box from the player who just always drag bunts from the left side.

 

[nightskiier]

Update from the OP: something weird happened between my post and the next tournament. I saw one of the organization’s 16U coaches talk to the 12U coach before the 1st game and right afterwards when DD was taking batting practice, coach asked if DD was working on her drag bunting skills too (she has).

In this tournament she had a green light to slap for 3 hits (swung away for another 2 singles and 1 double) and got a few drag bunts down so she able to drive in 8 and was on base every at bat.

We’ll see if this holds up when we go to State championships next week. Still likely to go to a new team next year, but DD had more fun this weekend in a long time with this team.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Beeg]

Coach and his wife (our scorekeeper) have made some off the cuff remarks that if she slapped, she’d get benched.

Most coaches do not know what slapping is. DD has a great batting coach who was a slapper in D1. Slapping requires coordination on the player's part as well as strategy on the field. She advised not to slap on a slow pitcher (very tough to do). You shouldn't slap in certain situation unless you know for sure the slapper can place the ball correctly (also very tough to do). Most coaches just ended up not calling them. Thankfully, DD's coaches have been letting her make the decision.

Go with a coach who lets your DD decide. She has to judge whether the pitcher is fast enough. She has to judge whether she should soft slap, hard slap, drag bunt, etc. based on the pitch thrown to her. The coach shouldn't get upset if she got out due to a bad slap. It takes tons of practices and experience for it to work.

DD ended up not slapping most of this season (her choice). Most pitchers were too slow for her to slap. <bragging alert> On the other hand, we worked with her to time slower pitchers, and she ended up having multiple triples and doubles. For a kid who is tiny, she really learned how to use her entire weight to hit well and far. Her coach usually let her make that decision, although HC called a slap once on a slow pitcher, and DD got out on a line drive to SS because she wasn't patience enough to wait longer.

 

[nightskiier]

OP back with an update now that the 14U season is over.

TL;DR - she had a great 1st year 14U season as a slapper triple threat and is will be playing up/showcasing in the fall. We hit pay dirt with the right coach who knows the game and wanted a triple threat at the top of the order. Her former team played well at 14U, but half the team just left.

So, just after writing this post - DD's 12U team stayed on a tear and won the next 5 tournaments including states. But, she was unhappy and after states, we did a bunch of tryouts and guesting to find the next team. There was a 14U team and coach that really stood out above the rest. The coach has a great reputation for developing players and DD made the decision to move on.

Her new coach came as advertised and really worked with DD to read alignments and select the bunt/slap/hit to pressure the defense. DD was also encouraged to go deep into the counts right from the 1st AB and drive pitchers nuts with some 10, 11, and 12 pitch ABs. Final stats from the coach in 56 games: 116 AB, 0.586 BA, 1.316 OPS, 68 H, 33 BB, 18 K, 36 SB. Add in 11 W from the circle and she had a great year. Based on those #s she was asked to play up in the org starting this fall.

As a postscript - her old team continued to win tournaments this year, but something happened where about half the team just left for other teams, including most of the pitchers.