I'm starting to play in a men's slow pitch softball league. I've played baseball all my life. What's different about the swings if anything? Any tips?
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It's different...at least I approach it that way. The bottom line is similar in that you want to make solid contact but...
With slow-pitch, I have more of an uppercut swing and use more of a leg lift...a la Manny (not quite Saduharah Oh though). You can also wait for "your pitch" and be a little more patient with slow-pitch.
I spent quite a few years in between fast pitch and slow pitch. It will take you a while to adjust. We've got some guys that played college fairly recently and they had a hard time adjusting to the swing. The main different is the speed, obviously, but not just the speed of the ball. Your bat/wrists don't need to be as quick, initially, as in baseball. Don't need to rush it. You can literally watch the ball hit your bat by staring at it the entire way. Best advice: Don't try to crush it everytime to start out. You'll just pop out everytime. Line drives to get you started. You don't need big cuts in slow pitch, until you get used to the speed of the pitch. I've seen very good baseball players actually strike out because they are trying to crush the ball like you have to to get a baseball to leave the infield.
The beauty of slow pitch is that it's easy as pie to hit directionally. If you have decent bat control, you should be able to pick your holes and just slap singles all day long. Then, when other teams start moving up on you because they think all you can do is smack singles around, power up and crush it to keep them honest.
Art Vandelay wrote:The beauty of slow pitch is that it's easy as pie to hit directionally. If you have decent bat control, you should be able to pick your holes and just slap singles all day long. Then, when other teams start moving up on you because they think all you can do is smack singles around, power up and crush it to keep them honest.
Yeah, it's pretty fun to do that. I'm a small guy, but you don't have to be big to get an aluminum bat on a ball and make it travel. I love it when the outfielders scoot up after I've dropped a couple in front of them. I'm basically guarateed a triple if I can get it over their heads.
I've found keeping my left leg straight gets me the uppercut to drive it into the gaps. If only I had some 20 something legs instead of 38 year old models...
I like to try and get as much power out of an opposite-field swing as I do out of a pull swing b/c people will always play the shift, especially in the first AB. To do this, I don't get in a hitting stance until i know where the ball if going to land and just reposition myself to take a regular cut facing towards the other field somewhat. Works great for deep strikes.
timing it still the key though. the best advice is wait wait wait wait wait.
Softball is becoming a major joke unless you play in HR-limited league. A top of the line ASA legal bat can still let an average hitter slap the ball out of 330 ft parks (which is usually the upper end of softball fields). Even worse is to play in unregulated tourneys. Everyone and their grandmas are hitting 400 ft pop-flys with an Ultra II.
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by chadlincoln » Wed May 24, 2006 3:37 pm 
