Bunting

[Buttermaker]

I know my way of teaching it is not conventional but -

The front elbow should be level or above the barrel when bunting. This allows the hitter to adjust in and out and direct easier. The rear elbow is under the barrel.

I don't care about a 45 degree angle. As the pitching gets better - you have zero chance of bunting balls that drop and screw and curve with a 45 degree set up unless you drop the barrel fast.

 

[obbay]

Thank you all- lots of good info here! B- good photos that ilustrate your point well, I shall incorporate this into my thinking going forward. Something interesting is that even though they are all high-level hitters, it looks like they have the barrel below the knob, which is my pet peeve (I've seen too many bunts popped up to the catcher this way). It could just be the angle of the photo and doesn't matter as long as they got the bunt down, but I found it interesting and that is my primary reason for having batters start with the bat at an angle rather than trying to keep it level- but now I understand both sides. thank you.

 

[Greenmonsters]

IMO, regardless of how you orient or hold the bat, pop ups are minimized when you start with the bat up at the top of the zone and primarily use your legs to adjust to lower pitches.

 

[Ken Krause]

I teach a full grab with the top hand, and both hands together at the top of the handle. Also 45 degree angle.

I also found the pinch grip tended to get pushed back or twisted.

 

[Yellowjacket]

Here is what I have found to be successful when laying down a sacrifice bunt with young players. Front of the box to get better chance of placing it it fair territory. Batter turns both feet and faces the pitcher in an athletic stance. Bat is gripped just below the fat part of the bat with a pinch grip. Bat angle at about a 45 degree angle at the top of the strike zone. A good mental picture I like to use with hitters is "show me the bat" square up early and show the pitcher your intention. Anything above the bat is a ball so no need to attempt bunting a ball. This should also eliminate an upward bunting mention and as a result a better chance of getting the bunt down. Movement of the bat strikes below the bat should be done primarily with the knees, this keeps the batters from lunging. This is the easiest method I have found to teach sacrifice bunting. As the batters progress with getting the bunt down, we then work on placement bunt left bunt right. Bunting for a base hit aka sneaky bunt is a different story as the element of surprise is key.
One thing that I have found is that if during batting practice a hitter is struggling to Hit the ball solidly, I will have them bunt ten balls in a row. Forces the batter to watch the ball all the way into the bat. Then we go back to full swings and we generally have improved results as the batter sees the ball better....

 

[lhowser]

I know my way of teaching it is not conventional but -

The front elbow should be level or above the barrel when bunting. This allows the hitter to adjust in and out and direct easier. The rear elbow is under the barrel.

I don't care about a 45 degree angle. As the pitching gets better - you have zero chance of bunting balls that drop and screw and curve with a 45 degree set up unless you drop the barrel fast.

I think Buttermaker has a good point. I was thinking about this the other day. I teach and many teach to get down to balls with the legs squatting to go after lower pitches and try to maintain that angle with the barrel higher that the knob but this may not be best. It is commonly assumed though

obbay sez:

Something interesting is that even though they are all high-level hitters, it looks like they have the barrel below the knob, which is my pet peeve (I've seen too many bunts popped up to the catcher this way). It could just be the angle of the photo and doesn't matter as long as they got the bunt down, but I found it interesting and that is my primary reason for having batters start with the bat at an angle rather than trying to keep it level

But as buttermaker points out it is almost impossible to bunt a drop curve this way. I see a ton of foul balls because of it on pitches below the belt. And the pictures he attached show that in many cases high level hitters aren't doing it. For these lower pitches barrel below knob my be correct and reduce pop ups.

 

[CoachHarley]

All the managers for the organization I am with teach the thumb pinch hold. We also move the younger (10u and some 12u) up in the box for the bunt. 14u stays at the players regular position that they like. Also have the bat head slightly above the butt (less than 45)and slightly pointed more toward 1st base, not perpendicular to the pitch.

We do a lot of bunting also. The league team I managed went to Regionals, we only won one game and it was from a bunt. Had a runner on first, batter bunted, runner on first ran from 1st to 3rd as defense was fielding ball. 3rd baseman threw to 1st for the out, then the 1st baseman came off and threw to try and get the runner at 3rd. Overthrew the ball, run scores and we won 1-0. Tight game. It was so fun coaching that one.

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

I prefer an angled bat, set at the top of the zone with the legs used to get the whole assembly down to the bottom of the strike zone not the arms, but 45 degrees is a little steep IMO. As long as the barrel is higher than the handle I am good with it.

As for grip, I teach a pinch grip (thumb pinching against the other fingers that are fanned out a little and behind the bat) at the neck and expect them to be able to avoid contact with their hands by making contact with the barrel instead of the neck.

I'm all with this except I do teach the steep bat angle. The reasons I teach the steep bat are 1) barrel up keeps the ball down more than bat level or bat down, and 2) the tendency of the batter to drop her hands while bending her knees for the low pitch (they shouldn't, but they do).

I never really looked at the angle, but just messing around here in my office I'm certain I teach way more than 45 deg. I'm probably closer to 22.5 lol!

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

I teach a full grab with the top hand, and both hands together at the top of the handle. Also 45 degree angle.

I also found the pinch grip tended to get pushed back or twisted.

I teach them that they are trying to catch the ball with the bat, so the push back from a gentle grip is desired (by me). Granted, I'm teaching younglings, so they will have to learn to adjust to game situations as they go beyond me.

 

[go4um]

I know my way of teaching it is not conventional but -

The front elbow should be level or above the barrel when bunting. This allows the hitter to adjust in and out and direct easier. The rear elbow is under the barrel.

I don't care about a 45 degree angle. As the pitching gets better - you have zero chance of bunting balls that drop and screw and curve with a 45 degree set up unless you drop the barrel fast.

I have already posted bunt success data for 3 of my players here http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-hitting-practical/20194-bunt-data.html. I think the results speak for themselves. These 3 players all used the front elbow above the bat, bat out front, bat level technique advocated by Butter. I would add that the front elbow above seems to make it easier for the player to adjust bat position to make contact at the very end of the bat...last 3 inches or so...and to move the barrel away from the ball and towards the C at contact creating soft 10 foot bunts more often.