Dan
Remember who ever dies with the most "Stuff" wins!
Get the address on those balls as CB and I talked about it over the weekend.
Thanks Howard
Howard
Teaching bunting
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Dan
Remember who ever dies with the most "Stuff" wins!
Get the address on those balls as CB and I talked about it over the weekend.
Thanks Howard
Howard
Cannonball
Ex "Expert"
- Feb 25, 2009
- 4,883
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This is from an Article Called, "Bunt Like You Mean It." I don't remember who created this list and so, I do apologize. If anyone else knows, please state who should get the credit.
Bunt like you mean it!
Start in slightly open batting stance
• Balanced on inside balls of feet.
• Bat up.
• Hands shoulder height, arms relaxed.
Rotate
• Turn back foot in, bring back knee forward.
• Your hips are opened slightly, brings belly button to pitcher.
Open front shoulder early but not too early.
• Bottom hand pulls bat forward through the hand.
• Hold top hand loose so it slides up the barrel as you rotate.
• Angle of the bat should remain upwards at a 45 degree angle. Keep the bat-head above the pitch.
Crouch down, on a soft front knee.
• Get your eyes level and even with the bat-head.
Extend your top hand forward.
• Keep your fingertips behind the barrel.
• Catch the pitch with the barrel of the bat - cushion the contact to deaden the ball.
• Control direction of the bunt with the bottom hand (on the knob of the bat.
o Bring bottom hand toward body to go to third.
o Away from body to go towards first.
Bust out of the box hard
Even on a sacrifice. The more pressure you put on them, the more likely they'll rush the play and make an error.
• If the coach calls the bunt on a squeeze play, go for it - even if it's way outside the strike zone.
• On a called bunt with a runner at first, go for any ball you can reach easily.
When you're bunting just to get on base, don't give it away as early, and look for a fastball in the strike zone.
Bunt like you mean it!
Start in slightly open batting stance
• Balanced on inside balls of feet.
• Bat up.
• Hands shoulder height, arms relaxed.
Rotate
• Turn back foot in, bring back knee forward.
• Your hips are opened slightly, brings belly button to pitcher.
Open front shoulder early but not too early.
• Bottom hand pulls bat forward through the hand.
• Hold top hand loose so it slides up the barrel as you rotate.
• Angle of the bat should remain upwards at a 45 degree angle. Keep the bat-head above the pitch.
Crouch down, on a soft front knee.
• Get your eyes level and even with the bat-head.
Extend your top hand forward.
• Keep your fingertips behind the barrel.
• Catch the pitch with the barrel of the bat - cushion the contact to deaden the ball.
• Control direction of the bunt with the bottom hand (on the knob of the bat.
o Bring bottom hand toward body to go to third.
o Away from body to go towards first.
Bust out of the box hard
Even on a sacrifice. The more pressure you put on them, the more likely they'll rush the play and make an error.
• If the coach calls the bunt on a squeeze play, go for it - even if it's way outside the strike zone.
• On a called bunt with a runner at first, go for any ball you can reach easily.
When you're bunting just to get on base, don't give it away as early, and look for a fastball in the strike zone.
Mike,
Length wise I teach about a foot from the front of my right foot to the back of my left foot. I would say my feet (width) are also close to a foot from each other.
I like to have the arms bent. I actually think this cushions the ball more than with the arms extended. Most girls will have their right thumb about 2 feet from their nose and the don't get the bat, ball and eyes all lined up.
Thanks!
Sean
Can someone explain to me the benefit of the 45 degree angle mentioned previously.
In terms of getting ball on the ground, is it true that when angled up,
- if the ball strikes the bat exactly where you want then it has no effect
- if the ball strikes the bat more towards the handle then you want then you'll tend to pop it up
- if the ball strikes the bat more towards the tip then you want then you'll tend to hit it on the ground
So it seems that in terms of getting ball on the ground, it is a wash.
In terms of controlling direction, it must be much more difficult the more the bat is angled up. If you tried to bunt with the bat held vertically, it would be almost impossible to control direction because the ball would have to hit the bat precisely on the correct part of a curved surface. But with bat held horizontally level...regardless of where the ball hits the bat... the ball should go where the batter has aimed ( if spin impact is neglible). So it seems that in terms of controlling direction, a 45 degree angle player would lose about half her direction control.
This angled bat coaching key has always puzzled me so any insight would be appreciated. I'm suspicious that it may have been carried over from some old baseball coach who was trying to get the best bunt he could out of a very bad bunter.
In terms of getting ball on the ground, is it true that when angled up,
- if the ball strikes the bat exactly where you want then it has no effect
- if the ball strikes the bat more towards the handle then you want then you'll tend to pop it up
- if the ball strikes the bat more towards the tip then you want then you'll tend to hit it on the ground
So it seems that in terms of getting ball on the ground, it is a wash.
In terms of controlling direction, it must be much more difficult the more the bat is angled up. If you tried to bunt with the bat held vertically, it would be almost impossible to control direction because the ball would have to hit the bat precisely on the correct part of a curved surface. But with bat held horizontally level...regardless of where the ball hits the bat... the ball should go where the batter has aimed ( if spin impact is neglible). So it seems that in terms of controlling direction, a 45 degree angle player would lose about half her direction control.
This angled bat coaching key has always puzzled me so any insight would be appreciated. I'm suspicious that it may have been carried over from some old baseball coach who was trying to get the best bunt he could out of a very bad bunter.
lhowser, looks good. Howard tested the new balls last night at practice. ( the smaller 15 Oz ones). Coaches and kids l;iked them and they did exactly as advertised. High school has ordered the large ones, so after I test them I will let you and Dana ( Infubuildit) know the results. I found a product I cannot build!
I'm by no means an expert but I teach the bat at an angle because no matter how many times I say it and no matter how well they know they shouldn't do it. When the ball is below the bat, and should be for every bunt attempt if you start at the top of the strike zone, the girls will drop the bat head to some degree while adjusting to the pitch. this is just my observation from the girls on a team I help coach.
I think the idea is - when the bat is held on a more vertical vs horizontal orientation, it allows you to hold the barrel out further than the handle creating a downward angled plane for the ball to collide with increasing the chance of the ball going down. With this in mind when the ball is mishit and hits towards the handle and mishits on the top side of the shaft if barrel is further out than the knob the ball has a tendency not to pop up but glance backward towards the batter decreasing the chance of a caught out. Even on the video of the 9 year old I posted calculate where the ball would have likely gone if mis-hit on the topside vs if the bat is just held horizontal and perpendicular to the pitch.
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