Sport-Blog.com

By Eliza Ferree

Being a left-handed batter isn't always easy, at least not for my son.

I remember when I was a child playing softball, when a lefty stood up to the plate we all switched where we stood. We were always in awe as they stood on the opposite side of the plate, different from the rest of us. "Hey, lefty, lefty, lefty.." we would chant as we all waited to see which way the ball would fly once it struck the bat.

I always wondered how a left-handed batter became one, if they were born like that or just something they learned. That is until the day my son signed up for T-Ball. I learned that he preferred to stand in that opposite side. Not to mention he batted better that way. This didn't totally surprise me though, I knew he was a left handed child, when he wrote he had to write left handed, however when he ate and stuff it was right, but I had a feeling like all parents do when it comes to their children. My biggest fear though was I wouldn't be able to teach my son how to play ball. I know most people think that's a daddy's job but when you love ball so much you want to do it just the same.

Here we were a few minutes before practice and he wanted to try so badly that I had him stand at the plate with his bat. He stood on the other side as I watched, wondering if I should try to make him stand on the "correct side" as I was always told in ball. I decided to let him be and stand however he felt comfortable, the first time I threw the ball he tapped it. He hit the ball! We tried him standing the other way but he missed it. Okay so I knew without a doubt he was better as a lefty, at least at ball. I knew I would want him to learn to bat as a lefty, I wanted him to have that chance that so many of us never do. I asked the coach if they could teach him, I figured I could teach him to bat right handed at home on my own, left handed was another story. As time has passed he has had the coaches that loved this and the others that didn't care and only wanted the children to bat right and wouldn't ask them which way they liked to bat. They seemed annoyed with me when I asked them to make sure he stood correctly as he was a lefty and I wanted it enforced. But I didn't care, I paid the money for him to be in this sport, I wanted him to learn this. I sat in the bleachers as I watched him stand at the plate, left hand on the top of the bat, right under it, arm ready. Strike one, that's okay I think to myself. Strike two, he hasn't done this in a few months. Smack, the ball heads towards first and second base and he is safe. "Woo hoo," I shout.

If your child is left-handed don't make him bat right, let them figure out which way they feel more comfortable. There are a ton of teaching materials out there for teaching a left-handed ball player.