re: Lsu Softball analysis per hitter

Andrews—finally leading off, where she belongs, Andrews has the ability to slap and tap, and swing away. She can hit to get on base, and she can hit to advance runners. As long as she is making contact, the defense has to make a perfect play to get her out. Any hiccups or bobbles will make it nearly impossible to throw her out. Her split grip may give her more control and lessen her strike out count. Nothing I would change with her. Pitch selection is probably the only issue for her.

Griggs-I am hoping she wins an ALL-SEC award this year. I can see she has tried to abandon slapping, and is getting her shoulder and hips into the ball, instead of being all arms when she swings. Outside pitches and left handed batters have been a problem for her. She has moved closer to the plate, finally, so she doesnt have to swat and hack at pitches on the outside corner. She also has to adjust better and not look like her feet are nailed down when she has to go after a pitch away from her. She is hitting well now, and I think we are going to see her reach potential. She does over-preload, with her step toward the pitcher being more of a stretch. It is true, the batter gains power by stepping with the front foot and leaving the hands back, but Griggs and Thornhill do over-stretch. A more modest preload would be better. For someone who is an exceptional defensive player, if she can leave LSU with a .320 career batting average, all her critics will be silenced. Pulling for her this year, I want her to do well, and she already is. Climbed out of a terrible slump and is really hitting now.

Schlattmann—Obviously a natural softball player, has potential, and any problems she might have can be fixed. What I do notice is that she launches with the bat too close to her head, drives the batdown, and then hangs on through the swing. Watch her warm-up swing and you will see what I am talking about. At mid point in her swing she looks like she is pulling the bat through the rest of its path. With the bat not flattening through the zone, timing becomes ultra-critical, and not just as to when she starts the swing, but at what point in her swing the ball makes contact with the bat. Her launch needs to start a little further from her head, step forward and the leave the hands where they are and go on a more horizontal path, to flatten the bat. Regardless, she has potential, and is only going to get better.

Doyle- Last year, I thought Doyle's problem was she obviously doesnt have the peripheral vision to point her head into the direction of where the ball will meet the bat, and has to turn her head toward the pitcher, then when the ball comes to the point of where it meets the bat, she is looking out the corner of her eye, which is why you may notice she doesnt follow the ball into the catchers mitt (last year). This year, an adjustment was made, and she bats from an open stance, looks right at the pitcher, and when the ball is on the way, she moves her front foot toward the plate.By the time the ball is in the area where her bat will make contact, she is looking right at it. This is the correct adjumstment for her. She is much more calm and confident this year. In the second game vs KY, she was going under the ball a bit, like all the others were. Low pitches are a problem for her, and since she is almost straight up, she dips badly sometimes chasing them. Best player on the team, my opinion. She has so much potential.

Springfield- Like Doyle, being more relaxed at the plate has made her a much, much better hitter. When she makes contact, she is driving the ball hard. What I see with her, though, is she, too, drives the bat down, too vertical at launch and then hangs on through the swing, which makes her a dipper, much like Serrett and Schlatmann. She has a big loopy, dipping swing, and it makes timing ultra-critical, like with the other hitters. She needs to flatten the bat through the zone. She often goes under the ball which is something we see too much of with LSU hitters. The fix for her would be to get her to start with a wider stance, elevate lower, start with the bat horizontal, get her eye level closer to the strike zone, and learn to swing level (see comments about Oklahoma's batters at the end). I'd start her at DP, and once she gets things squared away (she is almost there), she is going to be a monster. They wont field the zingers she hits. Bright future for her.

Sanchez—Like Quinn, Sanchez has the basic swing. Not too long, not too short. She doesn't have much that can be changed. Pitch selection may be an issue for her, but she is hitting the ball hard. I need to study her swing and approach a little more. She doesn't doing anything that is unorthodox.

Schulte- Schulte is another natural softball player, smooth and has a shortstop-second baseman throw. She launches the bat straight down but further back than Serret and the others do. She needs to launch more horizontally, moving forward more horizontally from her launch, rather than going straight down from the get-go. Because she goes downward so soon, she has the loopy, dippy swing and often goes under pitches. Easy fix for her, even though its mid season, she can work it in without missing much time.

Serrett-, Serrett is a good shortstop. Several things I would note about her swing. First, she launches the bat too close to her heard for having such a downward swing. Timing becomes very critical for her. She has a two point swing, down, and up, and not flat through the zone. She hangs on with both hands throughout the swing, and so the bat sometimes is on the way up when she makes contact. The bat path, in her swing, leaves a small window of time for optimum contact with the ball. Though she can hit, I think they need to do a whole A- Z “rethinking” of her swing. What is telltale about Serrett is when she has to change the path of her swing, to hit a pitch low, or inside, she takes heat off her swing and puts her focus on making contact, and she has punched the ball thru the infield doing this, hitting the ball squarely. It shows she has potential at the plate. Good hand to eye coordination, its just her swing makes her struggle with consistency. Change the bat path to a more horizontal swing, step away from the hands (leaving the bat behind) and then bring the bat downward. You can't carry the bat forward when you step and then bring the bat almost straight down across your chest. The bat does not seem to ever go behind her right shoulder, she launches straight down across the chest. I think that is her issue.

Antoine- A solid player, natural ball player with a decent swing. Its her first year, in time, we will see her improve. I would need to see a bit more before I could even guess at any fixes she might need. I dont see anything wrong. Need to see more of her before I could even take a guess at what she could do better. With time, she may rise above the others. Seems to be doing well now.