Most baseball players enjoy hitting. Baseball players absolutely love being the one up there at the plate smacking line drives along with the occasional long ball. These players enjoy hitting so much that they may do a huge selection of baseball workouts and hitting drills to improve their game. Unfortunately, simply because we all love batting so much, sometimes understanding the way to bunt correctly is disregarded. Many times, players (mainly younger ones) think that bunting is for players who aren't very good at hitting. That is just not accurate by any means! Bunting is a hugely important skill in the game of baseball, that can make the difference between your team winning and your team losing. It definitely isn't the most glorious thing to do, but it's necessary that you learn how to bunt and when to bunt.
When you bunt, you're hoping to achieve 1 of 2 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 baserunner to the next base. When sacrifice bunting, you want to start in your standard 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 early on makes it a lot easier for you to see the incoming pitch. Be sure that your weight is on the balls of your feet and you are in an athletic position with your feet shoulder width apart and your knees slightly bent. Hold the baseball bat out over the plate with one hand one third up the baseball bat from the knob, and the other hand two thirds up the bat from the knob, pinching the barrel of the bat with your right hand.
When you bunt, you're hoping to achieve 1 of 2 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 baserunner to the next base. When sacrifice bunting, you want to start in your standard 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 early on makes it a lot easier for you to see the incoming pitch. Be sure that your weight is on the balls of your feet and you are in an athletic position with your feet shoulder width apart and your knees slightly bent. Hold the baseball bat out over the plate with one hand one third up the baseball bat from the knob, and the other hand two thirds up the bat from the knob, pinching the barrel of the bat with your right hand.
It is extremely crucial to hold 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 intending to bunt a low strike instead of lowering the barrel of the bat with your hands. If the barrel of the bat is closer to the ground than the knob, it's probable that you will pop up the bunt.
Bunting for a Hit: When bunting for a hit, you should use the same exact technique as sacrifice bunting except for 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 stance. As an alternative to squaring your body towards the pitcher, you should stay in your batting stance and pivot both your feet so your toes are pointing at the pitcher. This allows you to be ready to bunt quicker so you're more likely to surprise the opposing team. Basically, everything else is the same as the sacrifice bunt.
