The Reflector

I am a former baseball coach (coaching softball now) trying to understand slap hitting. We play in a league where most pitchers (ok maybe the best pitchers)are pitching 60mph and above. If my girl can not only pick up that pitch, but place it where she wants (i.e. deep short, 3b line, etc.) but do it on the run, why not have her square up and rip doubles to the gaps. She is obviously talented enough to turn on a 60+ pitch. For example, I have a talented lefty that is about 5'8", strong, and fast and she has had travel ball coaches tell her that she should slap because she is a lefty and fast. In three years I have never seen her pull a ball. She slaps succesfully from time to time, but normally she hits a weak foul or pop fly to the opposite field (left field) or strikes out trying to hit every pitch to left. She is strong and athletic, shouldn't she be pulling the ball to right/right center. Help an "ignorant" baseball minded coach understnad the beauty of the slap.

Thanks for this! I'm a freshmen and a slap hitter. My coach told me I could go to college on a slap-scholarship he called it. I wasn;t sure if colleges would take me just because I'm fast and can slap/ This was really encouraging!