Discrepancies in Slapping

My DD is a slapper, and I am amazed at the calls she gets due to umps having different interpretations of the rules. She is not out of the box before contact with the ball, her hands are together, etc. Is there anything else we need to work on?? Some umps say she is bunting not slapping. Does anyone else have this problem?? I myself would like the rules of slapping. I thought I did.

 

Rule # 1:

1. Never Slap An Umpire!

 

That's funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

So if it is the 3rd strike, is it like bunting and she is out if she fouls it off?

 

I play with 4 slappers in the lineup. It varies from ump to ump. Thing is some will call something that they hear in the stands while others actually can show you how far the bat traveled. I've learned not to get frustrated when they get it wrong and my players have too. I tell them, the moral of the story is to get the ball into play and take it out of the umps hands. Of course there are going to be pitches that fool them from time to time.

 

I have seen girls attempting to slap put the bat out intending to flick the wrists but forget to bring the bat back on an unwanted pitch and the ump calls them out for an attempted bunt. You can't leave the bat out there anymore--even if you're not offering. That is a new rule this year--you have to pull the bat back.

Another thing I see fairly often is a batter's box that is marked too short. The box should extend 4' in front of the center of the plate; and 3' to the back from center. That is often overlooked by some umps.

An average batter can put the back edge of their back foot even with the front edge of home plate and take a full stride and still be in the box.

Most slappers, of course, start from the back of the box.

 

here is my 2 cents:

1) if your daughter is < 3 to 1st from the left side dont let her stop slapping because some umps are raining on her parade. This will be less of an issue as she plays higher level ball. IOTW: stick with it! I worked very hard with mine to make sure they only offered at strikes. We didnt worry about a bad ump in any given game. We deviated from the plan only when necessary.

2) find her some top level instruction from someone who can teach her all the nuances of slapping.

3) work on developing her foot speed and running technique no matter how fast she is now.

Setting yourself apart from the crowd or punching through the clutter is a key in any type of marketing. There arent many slappers out there so it makes you that much more valuable. I tried several times over the years on teams I coached to turn girls around and get them to slap... it was always met with a lot of resistance because they got a bigger thrill out of hitting the ball hard somewhere. If the dream is to play college and your a burner: SLAP! If mine were burners you can bet they would be slap hitting.

 

She started slapping due to a right shoulder injury and it did not hurt from the left so she started slapping and her batting average has gone up tremendously, this weekend she rarely got less than second off her slapping. She had 1 year of instruction but at that time hated it, but now that she has to bat from the left for the time being she has gotten right good at it. It is a great skill to have because she is fast, just frustrating sometimes due to a few of the calls.