How to Hit a Slowpitch Softball

Co-authored by Haley Snyder and Janice Tieperman

Last Updated: August 18, 2022

If you are new at Slowpitch softball, here are a few steps to improve your hitting. It will help to practice this with real pitchers as well as in a batting cage.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Selecting the bat

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Choose your bat. Make sure it is a legal bat for your league. Your coach or manager will probably check that out first. The bat should not be too long or too heavy for you to have excellent control and feel comfortable swinging it.^{[1]
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Research source} Bat speed is much more important that the size of the bat in how well or how far you will hit the ball.
- Hold the bat in your hands to test it out—you'll know it's a bad fit if it feels too heavy when you start your swing.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Getting the correct grip

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Grip the bat. If you bat righty, you will put your right hand above your left and opposite if you bat lefty. Grip close to the handle, but feel free to choke up if you need greater control.
- Make sure that your bat is pointed straight back rather than wrapped around your head. That just makes your swing longer!

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Hitting the ball

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Take several swings to warm up.^{[2]
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Research source} Make sure you are clear of hitting anyone and get your muscles ready to swing hard. Swing all the way through and practice good technique.
2
Step into the batter's box in a stance that feels comfortable. Most people stand directly parallel to home plate. You will want to adjust your distance from home plate to give you room to hit the ball if inside but not so far away that you could not reach a pitch on the outside of the plate. You will want to have good balance and move your feet about shoulder length apart. Make sure your back foot (one closest to the catcher) is well planted as you will use this foot to push and gain power as you swing.^{[3]
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Research source}
- When up to bat, measure your bat with the middle corner of the plate.
3
Take one or two swings in the batter's box. Make sure your swing covers the home plate. The pitch has to make it over home plate so make sure you are standing where the ball will pass you between your chest and mid thigh. You can hold up a hand if you need longer than a few seconds to get set and then just lower it when you are ready.
4
Keep your eye on the ball. The ball will have to arch between 6–12 feet (1.8–3.7 m) and land just past home plate. Determine as quickly as possible if this will be a pitch that you will be able to hit well. Many times you can make contact with a pitch that is outside of the strike zone but it will not be your best hit so try not to swing at those. If the pitch is flat (does not arch 6-12 feet), even if it crosses the plate, you do not have to swing and the pitch will be called a ball. If you are not going to swing, relax and step out of the batters box once the ball crosses the plate. Make sure your bat is back and ready to go if you are planning to swing.
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Swing fast at the ball, swinging the bat level or very slightly upward. Be sure to follow through with the pitch as you swing.^{[4]
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Research source}

Your goal is to try to get the barrel of the bat to meet the middle of the ball. You will have more time to wait because the ball is coming in at a slow arch so make sure you time your swing to make contact with the ball as it crosses your strike zone and where you hit the ball best.

Image titled Hit a Slowpitch Softball Step 07

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- Make sure that you're swinging with your legs—particularly your backside. This is where a lot of your power is going to come from.
2
Stride toward the pitcher as you swing, in order to increase your momentum and bat speed.^{[5]
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Research source} Line drives are fast and usually hard to catch unless hit directly at a fielder so that is why you want to swing level.
- If you pop the ball up (hit the ball high in the air) without much distance, you are swinging up too much. Pop ups will give the fielders time to get under the ball to make the out, so adjust your swing if needed.
- Also, don't swing down either as this will cause a grounder and will also give the fielders a better chance to get you out. If you hit a foul ball (ball that is not between the white lines that extend to the outfield fence), you may have swung too early or you may have not hit the ball squarely.
- Try to make sure you are making contact with the ball on the sweet spot of the ball or at the widest part. Most metal softball bats have a larger sweet spot that makes it easier to hit the ball well.
3
If you are in a game, you will run to first and listen or glance at your first base coach to determine if you should run to second or stay at first. Always run past the bag if the coach is not waving you on. If this is practice, get your bat back and get ready to hit again.
- Run as fast as you can and don't look at the umpire unless it is a pop up near any bases.

Expert Q&A

Question

What is the best way to hold a softball bat?

Haley Snyder
Softball Player
Haley Snyder is a former Division I Student-Athlete and Softball Player. With over a decade of experience, she specializes in softball mechanics, fundamentals, and pitching. Haley holds a BA and MA from Stanford University, where she competed in the PAC-12 Conference as a pitcher.

Haley Snyder

Softball Player

Expert Answer

It's really a comfort thing! Some people like to hold the bat where it grooves into the palm of their hands, while others like to hold where it's mostly in the middle knuckle of their fingers. If you're a slapper, you might want to hold it more in your fingers to give yourself more control. If you'd like to make a powerful swing, hold the bat in the deeper part of your hand.
Question

What makes a person pull the ball all the time?

Donagan

Top Answerer

It's a natural consequence of the direction in which the bat swings. You can avoid pulling the ball by delaying your swing just a little. You can also step toward the opposite field with your front foot as you swing. An outside pitch is the easiest to hit to the opposite field.
Question

How do I stop hitting pop ups in slow pitch softball?

Community Answer

Keep practicing. You have to have a swing plane at about nine degrees. Make eye contact, and turn your hips. Remember, hips hit home runs.