In a previous post about Fastpitch Softball Slap Hitting we discussed the reasons why we would turn around a hitter and teach them the art of slap hitting, we also touched on body position and a few simple drills to get your slap hitter making contact with the ball.

In this article we're going to focus on the proper foot work, including a few step drills (see Slide-Shows) that can be done anywhere. Encourage the kids you're teaching to do these drills as often as possible throughout the day to ingrain the muscle memory. The correct use of the feet will build the proper foundation for effective slap hitting.

The most common asked question in How to Slap Hit is what's the best first step technique? As I pointed out in a previous article Softball Instruction - How to Slap Hitthe two most common ways of teaching in no particular order are:

(1) The Clear or Step Away. Here you teach the softball hitter to step away from home plate with her right foot (clear) and then the crossover step with the left foot moving towards the softball pitcher and

(2) The Step Back or Drop Step. Here the softball slap hitter takes a short jab step with her right foot back towards her left foot to get the process started, as a timing mechanism this can also be just a quick lift and replace step with the right foot.

As I mentioned before I personally prefer the Step Back or Drop Step approach to Slap Hitting. The short jab step or lift and replace gets the body in motion and keeps it on the desired line towards the softball pitcher. This is the most commonly taught approach.

In the short Slap Hitting slide-show to the right you'll see the comfortable starting stance, which is deeper in the batters box, the step back or jab step which is the slap hitters timing mechanism, the slappers crossover step (which begins to move the hitters body forward toward the pitch not up the first baseline) and finally the contact step of the slap hitter.

Notice the position of the left foot in the cross over step it is facing directly towards the Fastpitch Softball Pitcher. The importance of this concept is that the hitter is getting her energy moving towards the pitch first, it is actually ok if the foot is pointed on a 45 degree angle between the Pitcher and Shortstop position, what you don't want is for your slap hitter to be pulling off the pitch and thinking run before hit. The goal is to get your slap hitters body in the best position to:

1. make contact with the softball
2. establish the optimum running position for the race to first.

The contact position is the position of the left foot after the cross over step has been made. The correct timing of the contact swing or slap will have the ball of the left foot planted (contact position) during contact with the pitch and the right foot just coming off the ground moving forward. Our softball hitters hips and belly button will be opening towards the the pitcher, putting the slapper in the best position for the sprint down the line.

Remember, the successful slap hit is a race after contact with the softball has been made and being efficient in the process will increases your odds of success!

Again in the slide-show to the right you'll see the comfortable starting stance, which is deeper in the batters box, the slappers crossover step and finally the contact step of the slap hitter. What you'll notice different in this slide show on slap hitting is the timing mechanism step, here the softball hitter will take a clear step (or short jab step backwards) to start the cross over process. This is a short jab step! Please DO NOT allow your slap hitter to over exaggerate this step.

As I mentioned above the most commonly taught Slap Hitting approach is the Step Back or Drop Step, but you may find that a modified approach will help your younger slappers understand the starting process.

Which ever method you use it is critical that the cross over step be performed correctly by either stepping towards the pitcher with the left foot or at a 45 degree angle with the left foot pointed just in between the pitcher and shortstop position to put your hitter in the best possible position for slap contact.

The timing of getting your slap hitters feet in motion is dependent on the velocity of the pitcher. As an example if we're teaching this approach to a Under 10 Fastpitch Softball player we'll have the slap hitter begin the step process when the pitchers arm is at the top or just on the down swing of her arm circle. If we're teaching a High School Softball Player it could be just before the softball pitcher gets her arm to the top of the arm circle, If you're hitter is facing Monica Abbott, as her pitching arm comes forward to start the pitching process may be the correct time to get the feet moving.

Please remember softball is a game, so keep it fun and your softball players will get the most out of each lesson.

Until next time remember.. Softball is for everyone.... Fastpitch Softball is for athletes!