hitting from both sides

Truthfully, I think your son should talk to his hitting coach. He will be the best person to provide feedback & assess his current status and map his progress. The hitting coach works with him everyday, and should be able to tell your son if it is going to be worth the time, and effort. Did they suggest he try switch hitting this past summer in Legion or travel baseball?

Son has a good friend and former travel team mate who tried switch hitting after he verbally committed to his D1 school in an extremely competitive conference. It didn't work out for my son's friend but he did give switch hitting a shot playing summer baseball and high school baseball. This kid can fly even from the right side. He's been timed under 6.2 in the 60 (no lie!) and will also be playing CF this year. I hope to see him play next week. I would not hit it anywhere near him! I give my son's friend and your son a lot of credit for trying to improve their skills.

That's a tough one. I don't know the answer but will offer up some things to consider...

On the plus side, in the long run it could pay off.

On the other side, some tough questions to consider...

If he is going the switch hit route, remember, the vast majority of his AB's will come from the new left side as most P's are righty. Usually, a new switch hitter will lack power from the new side for a while. Is he willing to give that up at least temporarily? Will his college be willing to give that up?

His college recruited him as a RH hitting position player posessing certain hitting characteristics. They would be getting something quite different than that if he commits to that change. I think there would have to be communication with the college program about his direction.

Typically, a switch hitter has to split his reps in team practices. This will mean less work on either side unless he is fully willing and able to get extra reps on his own time consistently. Will this impede progress on his right side between now and next fall? What additional challenges (or opportunities) will this present in the fall when he is trying to crack the lineup of his D1 school?

I guess my take is that he has to be aware of, and be mentally willing and able to overcome all of the added challenges. As well, he has to make sure he doesn't otherwise impede progress. If he can do that, it may be worth continued efforts to see where it goes.

Fenwaysouth

Just really started this past off season working on left side, so this hs season and this summer might be the first time during real game situation. son has no hitting coach so we get together and discuss things that would allow him to get his feet on the field. just trying to bring as much to the plate as we can. From a coaches stand point does it make cents? at the next level is it to much?
Thanks again
sittinondahill

cabbagedad,
this is great stuff to talk over with son
thanks so much
sittinondahill

quote:

Originally posted by sittinondahill:
Question .son is a 2013 incoming freshman at d1 program, was recruited as a cf ,runs
A6.6 60, hits for power to all fields, bats righty.is it worth working on the left side to
Make him that much faster to first.
He has been working all off season to get confidence, muscle memory etc .worried weather
It is worth the time. He is, getting rather good at it. Looking forward to the boards expert advice
Thanks
sittinondahill

If this were my sons scenario I would say NO for lots of reasons. However, if he felt strongly about it I would suggest that he talk to his D1 coaching staff.

An incoming Freshman has an uphill battle as it is. Why try to add this to his plate? Hitting 80% of the time from the weak side that he really hasn't even hit from competitively?

A 6.6 60 time is plenty good enough to beat out balls "in the hole" and take the extra base as it is. Why do you want to take away the "power to all fields" right handed to perhaps beat out an infield ground ball here and there?

Which eye is dominant?

Look in the mirror and swing from the left side.

Is the swing smooth [w/o effort] and quick to the ball?

Many years ago on our Australia trip, we had 3 very good shortstops.

I moved one to 3b and one to CF.

The one to CF was interested in hitting left side.
He played every game and "on base" % was .500.

The next year, he received a scholarship to Wake Forest University and played for 4 years and graduated.

The advantage of a left hand hitter is to hit to deep shortstop and he can "beat the throw" to first.

Bob

PS: during my two years as hitting coach at SSU, John always assigned me a right handed hitter w/ speed to add the left side to his weapons.

Bob

prime9,
Definitely not trying to take away from anything, that’s why I am asking people with much more knowledge than myself. as I said earlier just want to bring as much to the plate as possible. as a coach doesn’t being able to have a fast base runner that can hit from both sides open up a lot of possibilities to the coach
Your input will be discussed with son tonight. son and I are going to opening series for college team this weekend if he gets an opportunity he can get some input from the coach
Thanks
sittinondahill

I could not help but wonder who is the kid that ran 6.2. That is off the charts. Out of curiosity the only player that I know who fits that tee and tried switch hitting was Fernellys Sanchez. Inquiring minds wants to know.

In terms of switch hitting, your son already has the tools. As an incoming freshman, why risk starting off slow trying to gain some speed from the left side and potentially lower his effectiveness at the plate. If he was say 12 or younger I would agree it is probably worth the effort. Getting ready to enter college, probably not. Not sure if a college coach is going to be patient enough to deal with the adjustment process.

golden rule,
getting the feeling that we might have started to late with this switch hitting thing.i definitly dont want to put undo pressure where it doesnt need to be.
thanks for all the input from the board
sittinondahill

sittinondahill,

If it was my son, I think I would come to the same conclusion. As a freshmen, he needs to establish himself on the team, and make his baseball life simple.

golden rule,

You have a PM.

quote:

Posted February 13, 2012 12:32 PM Hide Post
prime9,
Definitely not trying to take away from anything,

Yea, but you are taking it away as by switching he will hit righty only about 20% of the time thus losing 80% opportunity from dominant side.

If he were a speed slap hitter I might be inclined to say go for it. But that is NOT how you described his hitting style (power to all fields righty).

Still doesn't make sense to me.

As a 2013 HS grad, your son is now 17 years old.
Eddie Murray did not begin hitting left handed until
his 1st year in Pro Baseball.

A few years ago, when Robert, my son was hired as an International scout for the Mariners, I met Edgar Martinez in the Mariners weight room. We talked hitting for one hour [one on one] and he swings the bat left handed off the tee for "muscle memory".

There are reasons to practice switch hitting.
1. The slider
2. 80% of pitchers are RHP
3. If a coach platoons then you can still play.
4. Your "on base" % will improve.

Where do you now hit in the line-up? Which field do you "drive" the ball [right center or left center]?

Again which eye is the strongest?

Bob

Our son began switch hitting his D1 freshman year under the direction of the head coach, who recruited him as a potential sw cf. It was very hard at first. He went from .498 senior BA to under .200 his college freshman year. His coach expected the initial struggle and started him despite it. By junior year he was in upper .300, was drafted 3rd round, and switchhit his way to the Bigs. We have often thought if he hadn't had the support of his college coach he never would have stayed with it. Very hard to do at that level of competition.

I wouldn't recommend the change, unless your son's coach recruited him with SH in mind. If your son has to compete for a starting position, he probably won't succeed.

quote:

Originally posted by sittinondahill:
Question .son is a 2013 incoming freshman at d1 program, was recruited as a cf ,runs
A6.6 60, hits for power to all fields, bats righty.is it worth working on the left side to
Make him that much faster to first.
He has been working all off season to get confidence, muscle memory etc .worried weather
It is worth the time. He is, getting rather good at it. Looking forward to the boards expert advice
Thanks
sittinondahill

I believe that one should hit from the side of most power. Look at some of the great hitters of all time. Ted Williams hit from one side only. George Brett. Typically switch hitters won't have equal batting averages from both sides and if one can hit well from one side with good technique then why not hit well all the time?

define power.

Bob

quote:

Originally posted by Bob Williams:
define power.

Bob

Power is the essence of will so that when superimposed with a will to succeed becomes a force to be reckoned with. Power surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds all things together and only needs to be tapped for one to reach his potential.

Not exactly the same issue as op, but my 2015 started experimenting with switch hitting around age 10. He is naturally left handed, but he always hit a golf ball right handed. So we went about learning to hit from right side. I can only speak for my kid's experience, but he had a much technically better swing from the right side. Maybe because he didn't have any bad habits ingrained or maybe because his dominant hand was leading the swing. I do know that phil mickelson is a natural righty but swings a golf club from the left side and that was hid reasoning. Not sure how "scientific" that is. Now as a dad, I was very reluctant to allow him to switch in game situations because of fear of failure. Notice I said "I" didn't let him. He was ready. Finally around 12 we started to do it some and then at 13 I said what the heck, go for it. The only way to know if it will work is to do it. While he does lack some power from the right side, it is not as appreciable at 15. Contact has never been a problem, but he does tend to pull everything. We really have to work on opposite field. Now I realise my son has a big head start over your son, but as some have posted above, if he decides to do it then he will only add value to himself as a player in my opinion. But I also agree that he is gonna have tout in the extra time in bp om his own.

My senior in high school made the sacrifice to become a switch hitter. He was a natural right handed hitter but writes and eats with his left hand, thus he is ambidextrous. It has been one of the most interesting,sometimes painful, journeys but at this point it is really beginning to blossom with him showing the ability to drive the ball to all fields from both sides of the plate and hit for power and average. I have seen him hit the ball over 400ft from both sides of the plate.He put up strong numbers his junior year hitting predominately from his unnatural side. His scout team coaches were extremely supportive. They told him if an organization is behind you switch hitting then keep doing it until they say stop. That is the mind set he adopted. "I will keep doing it until a coach makes me stop". He feels his right handed swing is always there, so if his future college coach says stop then no big deal.
While it is a great skill if you can master it, it is a HUGE sacrifice when you are prepping. Stat sheets don't have an asterick saying " he hit predominately on weak side while working on switch hitting". If your son is of a mindset that he doesn't care about the stats, that he is in it for the long term and he is truly "prepping", Then go ahead and do it. He will sacrifice some productivity. If you as a parent can sit back and let it happen and not get frightened when he strikes out or rolls over to the second baseman for the umpteenth time, then try it. He will need to work alot on his own. You will always be shortchanged swings in practice and it is never enough.
Factoring in your circumstances and knowing the difficulties of switch hitting,your son's speed,
senior year, already recruited as a right handed hitter, I would think long and hard about tinkering.
but you know your son and yourself. It's hard work but it sure is fun to watch them go four for four, two on the right, two on the left!!!!

Whatever works best! I do subscribe to the dominate eye theory for whatever it maybe worth. You don't see many players switch hitting sucessfully.

As an aside its typically a weaker hitter that is platooned in righty-lefty matchups. So if your concern is that the player will platooned, the real issue is probebly not hitting well enough to begin with, so I am not sure how switch hitting will help a player in this situation.

The potential downside of switch hitting, is putting to much time into working on a swing from the other side of the plate at the cost of his orginal/natural side of the plate. i.e. work on the switch hitting for a couple of years then choose not to do it, you have now lost two years of working on hitting curve balls etc from one side of the plate, end of career.

I agree with collegeparentnomore and with Coach Williams about eye dominance. You have to be very strong with your natural side and committed to the process. If you can't make that commitment,stick with what is working. I think a right handed natural has an advantage over a left handed natural. If your son can hit in, away, and offspeed from both sides its worth it to stick with it. Its all about confidence, strength and reps reps reps.

I honestly don't know the value of switch-hitting. If it were such an attribute, I think many more players would do it. Like Bob said, it can be taught. I believe that, 100%. So, why don't more coaches (for younger players) teach it? Why don't all major leaguers do it?

If you wanna be a SH, it's probably much easier to learn at a younger age, like 7 or 8. Kids have established a dominant hand by then, but they haven't been swinging a bat for ten years. And, pitchers are throwing 30, not 90.

Just like teaching kid basketball players how to dribble with their left hand, kid lacrosse players how to shoot with their left hand. You don't give them a choice. You make them do it.

went thru this with my son in high school--rh hitter with power and 6.6 speed---he stopped it short with why ruin what I have statement---hit 568 as hs senior and went on to a fine college career as a righty

Very tough thing to do I believe the older you get. I tried to convince my son for three years to try it since he was eight. made it more difficult since he was having alot of success. started at 11 dropped it began again at 13. stopped and then full time at 15. he is now 17 and a d1 scholarship and some draft interest. Its tough thing to do and twice the work of hitting from one side. yes 2x the work and sometimes you hit better from one side and the very next day you hit better from the other???. it can be rewarding and advantageous but in retrospect.. if you can hit you can hit. if you go ahead with it good luck but you would be playing catch up at this point.