I just don't get the bunting obsession

Don't get too upset. Small ball has a well deserved strategic place in fastpitch. The goal is to do what is necessary to win the game and sometimes your best hitter will need to lay one down to make that happen.

We are in an era of the long ball at the moment, but IMO that will change shortly as soon as sanctioning bodies begin implementing rules to counter the technologically advanced equipment available today.

Amy in AZ. said:

Is the team winning?

Just a word of caution, do not get drawn into the group that wants to complain. I have been there and it was awful. These dads and moms will start complaining about every little thing, quickly.

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3-1 so far this year, but against predominantly weak competition.

Winning/Losing doesn't mean much to me though. While I want to win, I would rather lose if the kids are learning good softball over winning while learning bad (or not learning at all) softball. I realize, though, that good and bad are subjective terms.

And I don't want to be one of those dads that complain. I am afraid that I may have to just stop coming to games if they keep being run like this. It is physically painful for me to watch (mostly since I keep banging my head against a wall)

Now add to this, the fact that he also has all the kids move way up in the box when they bunt, so to an observant infielder, it becomes very easy to read the play. I don't really mind moving up in the box for a bunt...I've taught that myself...but I also teach hitting from the front of the box rather than middle/back. Take away the curve ball, riser and drop pitch by hitting before the break. Trick is to have fast enough hands to hit the FB from the front as well.

I don't see baseball and fastpitch softball as the same game, nor do I believe that most of the conventional wisdom in baseball translates to fastpitch for exactly that reason.

Regardless, a coach's philosophy should determine which players they select for their team and then they should coach to each individual player's strengths, depending on the game situations, of course.

You mention having runners on 2nd and 3rd with #4 at the plate. With less than 2 outs in a close game, that presents an excellent bunt opportunity. Down by 3 runs or more, though, we're probably going to seek to drive in both runners in that situation with a hit.

As a coach, I want to make opposing defenses have to work hard to get outs. The more uncertainty they have to deal with, the greater the advantage to my team. I like seeing a #4 drop a good bunt with the corners playing back. I like seeing a slapper force the infield to make a perfect play every time she's up. I love going 1st-to-3rd on a bunt, even when they know what our plan is.

I understand that many coaches fall in love with the long ball, especially if they've got hefty hitters who can really move around the bases, but despite the improvements in bat technology, this is still a game for speedsters who can bunt like crazy, as there are a lot of 3-1 and 5-4 games being played. When really good teams play one another, big innings are a rarity, not the rule. Coaches should govern themselves accordingly. Don't get runners at 2nd & 3rd with no outs and leave the inning with 0 runs, because you went for 2, instead of just trying to get 1 at a time. Same thing for having runners at 1st & 2nd with no outs in an early inning. Get that runner in from 2nd, no matter what, even if it means #4 is bunting.

But now, (coach usually waits until the 2nd pitch to put the bunt on) she has 1 pitch to drive. She'll need to expand her zone if she wants to swing the bat because otherwise there is a good chance she'll be told to bunt.

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teach her to figure out where "her pitch" is.
then once she knows it, go to the plate anticipating that pitch.
Then if she gets that pitch, kill it!

Like I tell DD...."Heroes don't bunt!" ;-)

Osric said:

Winning/Losing doesn't mean much to me though. While I want to win, I would rather lose if the kids are learning good softball over winning while learning bad (or not learning at all) softball. I realize, though, that good and bad are subjective terms.

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Since they are subjective terms, I am assuming 'Good' means the style that you and the American League favor. While 'Bad' is anything else?

If you don't want to be one of the complainers, now would be a good time to stop. So a team is executing a style that you don't like, is winning, and yet you are physically pained by watching? I can only imagine how you react when one of these Olympic athletes makes an error. Call the White House? Homeland Security? TSA? OMG!

Lighten up or stay home. Either way, your DD will benefit.

There are lots of ways to beat the mediocre teams. Against, the good teams, it is a different story. They don't give up a lot of runs and they don't make many mistakes.

One approach is go up there and pray that your #4 hitter gets lucky and hits one out of the park. However, against the good pitching, it isn't going to happen.

In order to manufacture runs, the team has to be able to bunt. In order for your team to bunt against the good teams, they have to bunt against weaker pitching first. If you wait until the end of the season to have a player bunt in a game, she won't be able to do it.

(I recognize the short game isn't as important as it used to be...but the short game is far from dead.)

Softball is played on 60 ft bases vs. 90 ft bases for baseball, therefore a bunt is a more viable offensive play, especially if the batter is fast. Fast runners can get from home to first in less than 3 seconds. A lot of strategy goes into trying to defense the bunt, including playing 3B and 1B in front of the bag. If you watch high level fastpitch softball the speed of the game will make baseball seem slow by comparison.

JAD said:

Softball is played on 60 ft bases vs. 90 ft bases for baseball, therefore a bunt is a more viable offensive play, especially if the batter is fast. Fast runners can get from home to first in less than 3 seconds. A lot of strategy goes into trying to defense the bunt, including playing 3B and 1B in front of the bag. If you watch high level fastpitch softball the speed of the game will make baseball seem slow by comparisonn.

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That is really funny, I was watching a HS BB game just last week. The batter hit a chopper deep in the hole at SS. My internal clock was running, haha, I thought to myself he is going to be safe... and was thrown out by 4 steps.

Every Batter needs to get good at bunting, they need to practice it and get good at it. The reason is the dreaded International tie Breaker. That is pure short game and your number 3-4-5-6 could all be leadoff. When we go into a tie breaker and the other coach is having the team swing away I'm pretty sure we are winning. Not there are other times to bunt but without a good short game thru out your roster your toast in a tie breaker.