switch hitting

I'm a junior and I've been switch hitting ever since I started playing. It definitly takes a lot more work if you want to be successful from both sides but it is worth it. One thing is that it seems to be something that college coaches and scouts notice. I think that if you can hit from both sides well, it shows that you are both a good ballplayer and you have the desire to work hard to be successful since you have to practice more than others to stay sharp.

If you can switch hit it is just one more thing you can do. It is like being able to play multiple positions. It just adds to your worth to the team.

The main benefit of switch hitting is the breaking balls are coming towards you.

If you are a natural left handed hitter the advantage of switching is not as great. (Many more RHP than LHP) Switch hitters will have the majority of their at bats from the left side.

If you are a natural right handed hitter and you are a fast runner there are two big advantages in switch hitting. (Breaking balls and quicker home to first). Most hitters will get to 1B at least one full stride quicker from the left side. (or approx. 0.2 seconds faster)

Usually switch hitters will have more power from their natural side. If you can’t produce adequate power from the opposite side and you’re not a good runner, I would recommend staying with the natural side. If you are a contact type hitter from the right side and can run extremely well, you probably should consider switch hitting.

There have been players who were naturally right who end up hitting only from the left side in the end. I don’t know of any who were natural left and switched to right only, but there’s probably been a couple.

Can you start hitting switch as a right hander in HS?

I am a strong advocate of switch hitting. I do know at least three natural left handers who hit right. Interestingly enough, one is the son of Matt Williams and the other is the grandson of Joe Gariagiola. In the case of Williams, who is now learning how to hit left, he began hitting right because of golf. The cut down clubs he had were right-handed clubs.

I am definetly in favor of switch pitching!
TGIF! Slow day at the office!

My son's hitting coach has told him that it usually takes a couple years of hard work to develop into a switch hitter.

My son, a natural right-handed hitter, has been switch-hitting on and off since he was 10.

He has far more power from the right side, but he strikes out more from that side, too. As a lefty, he is a contact hitter. He and his (high school and college) coaches have liked his power potential from the right side, so he's been mostly righty the last few years.

But this season, when his slump went from a lot of bad luck to bad swings and bad at-bats, he wanted to and eventually went back to it.

It took a lot of convincing for the coaches to let him try. But he really had "lost" his right-handed swing. In his first left-handed at-bat, after two weeks of work in practice, he singled and eventually scored.

He and they are committed to it for next season. He wasn't going to play summer ball this year (he needs to work and make some money), but now he really wants to play so he can get the left-handed at-bats.

Making the decision to become a switch-hitter is, IMO, the best baseball decision I have ever made.
I'm a natural righty. I started working on switch hitting when I was about 12 or 13. I started hitting left handed in games my sophomore year in hs. I'm now a college freshman and am a much better hitter left handed now. I have a lot more power left handed and my strikeout ratio is probably close to equal from both sides of the plate.
By learning to swtich hit, you will have lower stats for a while, but the long-term impact will be worth it. As a slow running catcher, being able to hit from both sides of the plate makes me much more projectable than if I only hit right handed. If you want to learn to switch hit, practice, practice, practice. You have to work twice as much and twice as hard as everybody else. Also, try very hard to make sure that your swing is the same from both sides.

A switch-hitter will never reach their hitting potential...........

Blue Dog:

I am sincerely interested in this subject and would like to know your reasons for saying so, as my evolving perspectives of switch hitting are based on partly on this point of view. Another question is this: Should a natural right-hander who has some aptitude to hit left go ahead and switch even if he is a strong hitter from the right side?

Also, how much of it has to do with the dominant eye. For instance, should a player who is left-eye dominant hit right-handed and vice versa?

PG has the right idea for switch hitting. Completely agree.

I can share my younger sons experience because it realates directly to JEMAZ post. He's a lefty who learned to bat righty first. It's taken him two years now of consistent switch hitting (he's 16 but started gradually switching at age 10 got tired of having me nag him constantly) to become comfortable and have the power left handed. He now can hit it out from both sides. He's a fairly fast kid and has not been thrown out bunting from the left side in two years. From the left side speed makes infielders up there charge and release times. College and pro guys have that ability but not too many HSers. The result is what I call bobble speed one half second bobble or hesitation will make that fast lefty safe many times. No need to mention the slow roller to the left side, the high chopper, or the ball hit in the hole to SS or 2nd.

The one thing I'd offer is that's it hard to get enough curve and off speed pitches from the unnatural side. So really work on those.

Two things I've learned.

1. Start your youngster on the opposite side from from the outset. He'll pick up the other side faster because that should be his power side. I know a dad smart enough to do this when both kids were natural righties. We sat together on a rained out day in the hotel and he told me his story for both sons. The oldest is now an everyday player in the majors. The youngest is a top hitting junior on his college team.

2. Make your speed son bat switch. I let mine go too long with the, (I'm not comfortable, I have no power from that side) wining. Let them know it's alright to play and fail at the expense of progressing for later on.

Ofcourse this is only for the player you know is serious and wants to play at the highest level. if the kids not really into the game just let em have fun and do what they want!