Thursday, June 9, 2011

The Basics of Bunting in Baseball

By Thomas Wilson


Virtually all baseball players love hitting. Players love being the one up there at the plate hitting line drives and the occasional homer. Players enjoy batting so much that they may do many baseball workouts and hitting drills to further improve their game. Regrettably, because we all love batting so much, sometimes discovering how to bunt correctly is brushed aside.

Sometimes, players (especially the younger ones) assume that bunting is for the players that are not good at hitting. This just isn't true at all! Bunting is a very valuable skill in the game of baseball, and can make the difference between your team winning and your team losing. It might not be the most glorious thing to do, but it is critical that you learn to bunt and when to bunt.

When you bunt, you are looking to achieve one of two things. You either want to advance a baserunner to the next base or you want to get a base hit. Occasionally if you're lucky you're able to do both!

Sacrifice Bunting: The objective of sacrifice bunting is to move a runner to the next base. When sacrifice bunting, you should begin in your regular batting stance. Before the ball is released from the pitcher's hand you want to square your whole body so it is facing the pitcher. Squaring up earlier makes it easier for you to see the arriving pitch. Make sure that your weight is on the balls of your feet and you're in an athletic position with your feet shoulder width apart and your knees a little bit bent. Hold the baseball bat out over the plate with your left hand one third up the baseball bat from the knob, and the other hand two thirds up the baseball bat from the knob, pinching the barrel of the bat with your right hand. It is very essential to keep the bat parallel to the ground or the barrel end of the baseball bat higher than the knob end of the baseball bat while sacrifice bunting. You should bend your knees if you are planning to bunt a low strike as opposed to dropping the barrel of the baseball bat with your hands. If the barrel of the bat is nearer to the ground than the knob, it's probable that you'll pop up the bunt.

Bunting for a Hit: When bunting to get a base hit, you should use the same exact technique as sacrifice bunting with the exception of a couple of things. The first is you want to surprise the opposing team and reveal the bunt as late as possible. Wait until the pitcher is at least releasing the ball to show the bunt. The later the better. The second difference is your foot position. As an alternative to squaring your body towards the pitcher, you should remain in your batting stance and pivot both your feet so your toes are pointing at the pitcher. This enables you to get ready to bunt quicker so you are more likely to surprise the opposing team. Basically, everything else is the same as the sacrifice bunt.




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