| Bunting is a skill that must be learned and | | | | 6. The ball must be bunted downward. A ball |
| practiced on a regular basis. It is often one of the | | | | bunted into the air could result in an easy double |
| most neglected aspects of a team's offensive | | | | play. Plus, the runner must hold to see if the ball is |
| strategy. There are various techniques of bunting | | | | caught. The defense may field the ball and make |
| and each should be taught and practiced. | | | | the play at second base to get the out and |
| Two kinds of sacrifice bunts are common, the | | | | prevent the sacrifice. The batter must bunt the |
| square around and the pivot bunts get their | | | | top half of the baseball. |
| names from the footwork used for each. For a | | | | 7. The hands should be moved to the bunt |
| square around bunt the batter will square the feet | | | | position as the feet move. The top hand slides up |
| around when the pitcher begins his motion. It is | | | | the barrel to a location about 10 to 12 inches |
| better to square too early than too late. Squaring | | | | from the barrel. The bottom hand grips the knob |
| late often cause the ball to be contacted poorly | | | | and is the hand that controls the bat angle. Many |
| or popped up. For a pivot bunt both feet pivot | | | | coaches prefer the bat angle to be at 45 degrees |
| and the batter turns his shoulders square to the | | | | and many coaches teach the player to keep the |
| pitcher without moving stepping his feet. Both | | | | bat angle almost flat. Either way the knees should |
| feet pivot on the balls of the feet. Using a pivot | | | | be flexed and the bat should be slightly lower than |
| bunt allows the batter to show bunt a bit later | | | | eye level. |
| and it allows the bunter to pivot back if the pitch | | | | 8. The height of the bat should be changed by |
| is not a strike or inside. The pivot bunt is | | | | bending the knees. If a batter tries to change the |
| becoming the choice sacrifice bunt technique of | | | | level of the bat by lowering the bat with the |
| most teams. | | | | hands, the ball is often popped up. |
| 12 coaching points of teaching players how to | | | | 9. The arms of relaxed and the ball is "mushed", |
| execute a sacrifice bunt: | | | | not "pushed" off the bat. This means that the |
| | | | arms have a lot of give in them to deaden the |
| 1. The pitch must be a strike. Do not bunt pitches | | | | bat impact on the ball. Both elbows should be |
| that are not in the strike zone. Coaches must | | | | pointed downward. |
| make sure that the base runner knows that he | | | | 10. The batter should leave the box after the ball |
| must "see the ball down" on the ground before he | | | | is bunted. Two of the main causes of sacrifice |
| breaks for 2B. | | | | bunting failure are 1) A batter trying to run before |
| 2. The bunted ball should be bunted away from | | | | the ball is bunted. This bunt is a sacrifice bunt. The |
| the pitcher. The pitcher must have to move at | | | | key word is sacrifice. If you get out, so be it. The |
| least 10 feet to field the ball. The bunter should | | | | main thing is to get your job done and get the |
| bunt the ball too close to the foul line because the | | | | bunt down in the right spot. 2) The bunter starts |
| ball may roll foul. The best sacrifice bunt is in a | | | | his bunting motion too late. Chances are good that |
| zone 2 to 4 feet off the foul line. | | | | the other team expects a bunt in this situation. |
| 3. The ball should be bunted far enough that the | | | | The batter should get around early enough to |
| catcher can not pop out and field the ball. The | | | | make sure that the hands and feet get to their |
| offense does not want the catcher to be able to | | | | correct positions. As I said earlier, I would prefer |
| field the ball. The catcher is the one fielder with | | | | a batter show a sacrifice bunt too early than to |
| the best angle to execute a perfect throw to | | | | be too late to get the job done. |
| first or second base. | | | | I hope these coaching points are useful to you. |
| 4. The batter should move up in the batters box. | | | | Make sure to visit the Baseball Coaches Digest |
| Moving up allows the batter more fair territory in | | | | Blog and the Youth Baseball Clinic Blog for daily |
| which to bunt the ball. | | | | posts and articles on every aspect of coaching |
| 5. The batter should bunt the ball before it | | | | baseball. |
| reached the plate. | | | | Good luck till next time, Coach Nick. |