Best Bat For Bunting

Bunting is about technique and I would bet nobody has "studied" this to answer your question with anything but speculation.

I would agree that it is a technique; it is the player not the bat. My son is a very good bunter. It didn't matter if he was using a BESR, BBCOR, or wood bat.

Biggerpapi,

Good topic. You are touching on what I think is the the next big development in baseball: situational bat use. Just think about it, does a shortstop use the same glove as a first baseman? Does a pitcher use the same glove as a catcher? No! So why use the same bat that you use for a bunt when the situation calls for a home run?

Obviously there is no one "best bat." So each year I get my son one of each of the top bats in a variety of lengths. He keeps his "quiver" in the dugout and picks the right one for the situation. It is not as simple as it sounds either. It is more than just having your bunting bat, your move the runners line-drive bat, and your big fly bat. You also have to factor in the pitcher. Your are obviously not going to use the same bat for a crafty lefty as you use for a big righty with a heavy fastball.

I'd hate to see this information get out and lose the competitive advantage, but I have also taken my analysis a step further. I have a set of signals that I use with my son from the stands. He may have just the right bat for the situation and the pitcher, but now what about the count? If I think a change-up is coming, I signal to my son, he asks for time, gets the proper bat for the lower-speed pitch and bingo, he's set.

Over the ten or so games I have been tracking improvements from this system, I have calculated .005 to .03 improvements in every statistical hitting category except RBI--which I am not as worried about.

Unfortunately, despite the clear improvement in his performance, his coach has yelled at him every time and then benched him. I think it is because he did not think up the system himself. I'm sure it will work next spring though when we are at his new high school.

Wow! He probably benches him for taking instructions from his father during the game.

quote:

Originally posted by fillsfan:
Wow! He probably benches him for taking instructions from his father during the game.

Yeah, that guy has a really big ego. I clearly know more than he does. You'd think he'd be appreciative.

BTW, here's one I could use some help with from the experts here. Say its a situation for a home run, but there are runners on. Do you use a different bat when he is coming out of the stretch than you do for the wind-up?

Please tell me you're joking...

quote:

Originally posted by Outfielder:
Please tell me you're joking...

That is the exact thing the coach asked. Do you know him?

'15 Dad- I'd love to pitch against a team of hitters who changes bats and swing mechanics based on the game situation and the expected pitch to be delivered. My ERA would go down a lot more than .005 to .03.

'15 dad you have me speechless. If you're pulling our leg or trying to be a troll then you are doing a good job my friend. Now would be a good time to come clean.

If you're being serious I would highly suggest that you slow down, relax and actually enjoy the game. Better yet - let your son enjoy the game. You are doing a huge disservice to your son by doing these things.

quote:

Now would be a good time to come clean.

Coach, I am as serious as Biggerpapi was in creating this thread . And I note that I am the only one who has addressed his question.

Biggerpapi, since you are an experienced bunter, let me give you an advanced tip. If you get the sign for a fake bunt, go with a more balanced bat. An end-weighted bat may be too slow coming back out of the zone.

quote:

his coach has yelled at him every time and then benched him.

Don't be surprised if this happens at the new school. If it does happen just realize there is one common element in how both of these coaches react - that would be you.

Biggerpapi, come and save me! These coaches just don't understand the finer points like we do!

Coach2709,
I appreciate your gentle effort to bring me to sanity. I don't need it, nor am I a troll. I have donated to and contributed to the site for a couple of years and have followed it for even longer.

BPapi started an obvious intentionally humorous thread, and I thought I had gone far enough overboard to be clear to to everyone.

Bats don't seem to be your area of expertise, but since you are a coach and we are chatting: do you think end-weighted is best for a righty hitting behind the runner?

Guess I should have waited for April 1 for this thread. Just growing weary of the "what's the best bat" questions.

'15Dad, you get my humor, which makes you one weird dude!

15DAD,

Those are hilarious! We have a mother very similar to that in our program! If you are single, maybe I can hook you two up?

I did catch on right away the posts were over the top. But I did shy away from a travel pitching recruit whose father called his game from the stands. The father's knowledge of the game was everything he learned watching games on tv. The dad also wanted to know how many pro scouts attend our games. It was 13U. This was the case of an early bloomer kid who was a great kid harmed by an obnoxious, clueless, thought he knew it all father.

Well I got mud on my face because I didn't catch any of the humor. My apologies for jumping the gun and assuming the worst. To slightly defend myself I've had the dad in the stands call pitches for his son and several other things similar to that so I jumped to conclusions.

Now that I know it's humerous I really do see the humor in it. I say use the big red thumper plastic bat for everything. It would crush a whiffle ball back in the day.

When I was coaching the 10 year old allstars in Little League I had a mother bring me the new bat she had bought for her son to use in the allstar games. It was a fungo bat!!

quote:

Originally posted by Three Bagger:
When I was coaching the 10 year old allstars in Little League I had a mother bring me the new bat she had bought for her son to use in the allstar games. It was a fungo bat!!

I just gotta know...what did you say to her?

TOO Funny! You gotta love Moms.

Coach2709,
No apology necessary. I just wasn't trying to fool anybody. I did, however, think giving a tip on the best bat to use to not hit a pitch would be enough to convince you I was joking.

quote:

Originally posted by J H:
'15 Dad- I'd love to pitch against a team of hitters who changes bats and swing mechanics based on the game situation ...

JH, who said anything about changing swing mechanics? That would be just crazy. I'm more of of bat guy than a swing guy anyway.

CPLZ,

I felt kind of bad as the mom brought the bat to me to show me what she had gotten him just for the All Stars, and on sale too! After I explained why the bat just wouldn't do, she was pretty embarrassed and begged me not to tell her husband as she was going to return the bat. So I promised and that was the end of that.

quote:

Originally posted by biggerpapi:
So I like to bunt and was wondering what was the best bat for this...wood, BESR or BBCOR?

Does it make a difference if I'm bunting for a hit vs. sacrifice? How about a push bunt to the spot just vacated by the second baseman? For that I want the bat with the most pop, right?

I see there's not much bat talk on this site and would love to hear your opinions.

Does it really matter? These days you can't walk up to the plate in a HS game with a BESR bat so what is the point?

I'm assuming you are being facetious here.

without adoubt it is wood

quote:

Originally posted by biggerpapi:
Guess I should have waited for April 1 for this thread. Just growing weary of the "what's the best bat" questions.

'15Dad, you get my humor, which makes you one weird dude!

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
I did catch on right away the posts were over the top. But I did shy away from a travel pitching recruit whose father called his game from the stands. The father's knowledge of the game was everything he learned watching games on tv. The dad also wanted to know how many pro scouts attend our games. It was 13U. This was the case of an early bloomer kid who was a great kid harmed by an obnoxious, clueless, thought he knew it all father.

Wait....you're in New England...I'm in Ohio, but we've obviously both know the same guy....lol. We have a "local" dad who's called pitches from the stands, told the coaches (not when I coached his kid) where his kid should play, where he should bat and when he would or wouldn't pitch. Needless to say our HS coach isn't looking forward to dealing with these headaches and unfortately for the kid(very nice, listens, plays hard) his psycopath father is probably going to hold him back when it comes to PT in high school this spring.

quote:

Originally posted by Buckeye 2015:

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
I did catch on right away the posts were over the top. But I did shy away from a travel pitching recruit whose father called his game from the stands. The father's knowledge of the game was everything he learned watching games on tv. The dad also wanted to know how many pro scouts attend our games. It was 13U. This was the case of an early bloomer kid who was a great kid harmed by an obnoxious, clueless, thought he knew it all father.

Wait....you're in New England...I'm in Ohio, but we've obviously both know the same guy....lol. We have a "local" dad who's called pitches from the stands, told the coaches (not when I coached his kid) where his kid should play, where he should bat and when he would or wouldn't pitch. Needless to say our HS coach isn't looking forward to dealing with these headaches and unfortately for the kid(very nice, listens, plays hard) his psycopath father is probably going to hold him back when it comes to PT in high school this spring.

This kid washed out of position play in middle school. His legendary LL off field moon shots were routine fly outs on the 60/90 field. That is when he wasn't whiffing from getting pitched inside. He washed out of pitching on the JV team when he was throwing 2 mph harder than LL. He also only grew one inch after LL.

First time on in awhile...

My son bunts regularly and has been quite successful bunting (hit or sac) with all varieties of bats. On one occasion he came up for his first AB of the game with a wood bat...he'd been using them all summer and was leading off, so I figured he'd forgotten that this was not a wood tourney. He bunted for a base hit. The next time he came up with the same bat and hit away. After the game I asked him and he said he really enjoyed bunting with the wood bat. He said he was going to try again his second AB, but 3B was way in, so he just went with it...He specifically chose the wood that day because he was planning on bunting, but I've never seen him do it again...bottom line is it shouldn't matter if you know how to bunt...

You know that look Jack Benny used to make when he told a joke that bombed.

That's the look on my face right now.

.

You mean something like this papi?



Oops...wrong Benny. Sorry.

.

That's a good look too.

But I was thinking...

I am hoping I don't get one of those Jack Benny looks on my face.

This link will hopefully end the discussion on what is the best bat for bunting. And has anyone ever bought or used one?

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4214751.pdf

It sure looks like we now have found the best bat to PRACTICE bunting...

The jury is still out as to which bat is the best to use in game situations.

It should be obvious that at the pro level, the "corked" Ash bat would be preferable to the harder Maple or Hickory bat.

At the Amateur level where metal bats are used, I would suggest a flattened EXO that has yet to show signs of cracking. We had plenty of those in our home over the years.