To bunt or not to bunt... that is the question - seeking general guidelines here pls

[Maverick]

age 10U

i'm nearly blind from searching through all the posts regarding bunting, dragging and slapping -
what i'm looking for if any of you have it - is basic guidelines for 10u travel ball
something that is a general guideline of when is an appropriate time to bunt and when should you absolutely NOT bunt.

does such a thing exist? i know there are so many scenarios but i'm looking for basics - i dont want to be "that coach" that made the all-time "epic" dumbest move giving the bunt sign when i should not


Mav

 

[humpty]

10u. If you can't steal on the catcher and the pitcher doesn't throw wild pitches. Close game. Bunt to move runners on any base. Bunt with weaker hitters.

If your team is overmatched by a stud pitcher bunt often.

Opponent has a weak 3rd baseman bunt often.

Runner on 3 rd. Weak batter up bunt. A lot of times defense will hold the ball to prevent runner from scoring.

Bases loaded. I wouldn't bunt much.

 

[humpty]

10u. Teach all the kids to bunt and run bases aggressively.

And teach the defense to the field the bunt and the different scenarios.

 

[4 girl's dad]

Our 10u TB coach will bunt in almost any situation. And when we put it down we do pretty good with it but not 100% accurate on the bunt. We show bunt, show hit and then bunt, and fake bunt then hit. I've seen it work great and I've seen it run us out of innings. I tend to agree with the bases loaded dont bunt, but we have done that too.

 

[canyonjoe]

at 10U do what it takes to get the ball in play. If you have week hitter have them bunt. Don't stop until they start getting you out which often is never. The only thing I hate to see is a girl always have to bunt. It's a nice skill, but make sure you continue to have them all develop as hitters.

 

[MountieSB]

I'll play devil's advocate. Use bunting sparingly at 10U. Bunting too much at this age is, to me, the equivalent of having a kid going up to the plate looking for a walk. In each of those scenarios, you're playing to another team's weakness at the expense of developing strengths in your kids. Teach your kids to hit, hit, hit at that age. If your goal is to fill your trophy case at the 10U level, ignore this post.

To answer your OP, bunt to move runners up into scoring position so you can hit them in (with hitters swinging the bat). This is how it's done at the upper levels, so that would be in line with teaching your players how to play the game of softball.

 

[Momo'sDad]

age 10U

i'm nearly blind from searching through all the posts regarding bunting, dragging and slapping -
what i'm looking for if any of you have it - is basic guidelines for 10u travel ball
something that is a general guideline of when is an appropriate time to bunt and when should you absolutely NOT bunt.

does such a thing exist? i know there are so many scenarios but i'm looking for basics - i dont want to be "that coach" that made the all-time "epic" dumbest move giving the bunt sign when i should not

In the home half of ITB and trailing by more than 1 run, do not have the 1st batter lay down sacrifice bunt. You need multiple baserunners to extend the game. That's an absolute.

In general, I would not call for a bunt when bases are loaded with 2 out.

 

[ConorMacleod]

I'll play devil's advocate. Use bunting sparingly at 10U. Bunting too much at this age is, to me, the equivalent of having a kid going up to the plate looking for a walk. In each of those scenarios, you're playing to another team's weakness at the expense of developing strengths in your kids. Teach your kids to hit, hit, hit at that age. If your goal is to fill your trophy case at the 10U level, ignore this post.

To answer your OP, bunt to move runners up into scoring position so you can hit them in (with hitters swinging the bat). This is how it's done at the upper levels, so that would be in line with teaching your players how to play the game of softball.

THANK YOU!!! I hardly ever called for the bunt in 10U. Now, keep in mind, we worked on bunting at every single batting practice. But, it's 10U. I wanted to teach them how to hit, and how to love the game. My philosophy was; "let the 9 year old be a hero with a hit to win the game". Could we have won more games with bunting? Probably. But I was never about trophy hunting, and I was never about just winning. Now that I coach 12U, we use the bunt much more often (bunt, fake bunt, take pitches to steal, etc). Because 12U is now preparing the girls for a higher level of play, and I want them to learn strategy even more.

 

[Momo'sDad]

Bunting is an essential softball skill. There will be many times during a softball season when the ability to get a bunt down will be more important than swinging away.

Having the ability to bunt successfully regardless of game situation does help to prepare players for higher levels of softball.

The same is true for knowing how to defend a bunt.

 

[cmustangsfp]

Why do we bunt?

To move runners.
To get a weak hitter on base.
When faced with dominant pitching.

If you find yourself in those situations feel free to use it.