Sac Bunting

I was always taught to start high and work your way down, less pop ups.

Yes, it prevents the ball from being popped up.

One thing I teach is that when you pivot the bat should be at / near the 45 degree angle close to eye level. It's much easier to bunt when your eyes don't have to track a pitch that cannot see the bat.

Start with the bat at the top of the strike zone just for the less likely chance of a popup. If the bat is that the top of the strike zone then anything above the bat / eye level has to be a ball.

If the pitch is low then take the body down by bending the hips and knees. A lot of players will just take the hands down and that's when you lose the ability to track the ball to the bat.

Thanks for the reply's.

quote:

Originally posted by coach2709:
If the pitch is low then take the body down by bending the hips and knees. .

That's what I've always heard but I don't go with this, with all due respect.

I agree totally that the lower the eye level, the easier to bunt the lower pitch. For that reason, I coach batters to crouch in their bunt stance. I hammer that point home.

But in terms of reading a low pitch and reacting by by getting the body down--there isn't enough time. Let's say the batter gets an EARLY read--the ball is halfway to the plate?-- that an 80mph pitch is going to be low in the zone. That pitch arrives at the plate .25 secs later. Not enough time to take the body down.


Even with the batter crouching in his bunting stance, the hands (and the head of the bat) have to drop to get the rest of the way on a a low pitch.

Also--hard to track ball when head is moving.

Ball is halfway to the plate. Bunter, with the bat at the top of the zone, reads mid-thigh (or lower) pitch. In the remaining .25 secs., he somehow manages to take his body down fast enough to get his eye level 6" lower....even if he COULD do it, it's not realistic for his eyes to track an 80 mph pitch to the bat when his head moves 6" downward in quarter of a second.

IOW: It's not physically possible to lower your eye level 6" in .25 secs; and if it WAS possible, it would be a bad idea.

Again, IMO, get low in the bunting stance. Then, minimizing head movement, angle the bathead downward to get to the knee-high pitch.

We may have some kids fouling off bunt-able low pitches because they're trying to take their body down, and in the process they can't avoid jerking their eyes.

Coach 79, no disrespect intended, I just think the conventional wisdom is wrong on this one.

Try this....put them in the box, in a bunting stance, no bat, with live pitching, and put an oppo. handed glove on the batter. See how they track the ball.....this is prob. how they should bunt.

It has been my experience that they will do something in the middle of what you two are talking about. Then it makes a real easy transition from practice to implimentation if you tell them to catch the ball with the barrell of the bat the same way they did with the glove.

quote:

Originally posted by d8:
Try this....put them in the box, in a bunting stance, no bat, with live pitching, and put an oppo. handed glove on the batter. See how they track the ball.....this is prob. how they should bunt.

I've got to disagree. Squaring up a 2 1/2" diam ball with a 2 1/2" diam. round bat in a bunt vs. an 80mph pitch with your head jerking violently down is not remotely the same as catching the same pitch--using the same head movement-- with a fielder's mitt.

The level of difficulty is so different between those two activities that it isn't instructive, IMHO.

Those who promote a late split-second lowering of the body to bunt low pitches should stand up right now in their office, violently crouch down about 6" in a quarter second, and experience how it makes your eyes jump. Try to picture hitting or bunting a baseball with that much head movement.

Attended a bunting clinic given by Maury Wills at Dodger spring training this year. Start with bat at top of strike zone parallel to the ground and bend at the knees to get to the lower strikes. Catch the ball with the bat unless you are push bunting for a hit.

quote:

One thing I teach is that when you pivot the bat should be at / near the 45 degree angle close to eye level.

What angle is 45 degrees? The bat with the ground or the bat with the baselines?

Video of successful major league bunts show the barrel parallel to the ground at contact. To me it makes sense to start with it parallel and leave it there.

45 degrees measured from the plane rising out of the baselines into the air would result in a foul ball.

Also, there are two schools of thought about starting at the top of the zone.

First, some people like the people here say you should start with the bat at the top of the zone so you can move the bat down to the ball and reduce the chance of a pop up. Some others advocate starting with the bat in the middle of the zone to minimize the potential distance you must move the bat to contact the ball. Assuming the bat is parallel to the ground, the trajectory of the ball depends solely on where the ball hits the bat (top half or bottom half).

I like 45 deg angle because I've found most kids drop the barrel no matter what you say to them. If they start at 45 and drop a little it winds up right around parallel.

freddy77....it is prob. closer to 2 7/8" and 2 5/6" ball and bat...just kidding.

That is what makes this game so great. There is more than one way to skin a cat. We teach them to crouch with the barrell above the hands, but we also try to bend at the knees to go down and get low pitches. It has to be a combo of both styles to get the most out of their abilities.

And for sac bunting our rule is anywhere but the pitcher.

There are a few reasons that players stuggle with getting bunts down.

They dont practice it enough. This is usually because the coaching staff does not spend enough time on it then in a critical situation asks a player to perform a task they have not properly coached them at.

Players fail to realize that a sac bunt is a sac bunt. Your job is to get the bunt down. Your job is not to reach base. Too many times players are trying to get out of the box and reach base before they have put the bunt down properly.

Poor bunting technique. Starting with a level bat is fine as long as you can keep it there and work down to the baseball. The reason many coaches teach the 45 is they understand players will drop down to put the bunt down. Dropping the barrell will result in pop ups many times. Bending the knees and working down to the baseball while focusing on getting the bunt down first before running is the proper way to execute the sac bunt.

Of course once the bunt is down you want to bust and try to reach. But only after you have got the bunt down.

When a pitch is down in the zone its a good pitch to bunt. But the problem is kids reach for it instead of bending the knees and working down to the pitch. Keeping the proper bat angle is critical while working down to the baseball.

Teams that actually practice the art of bunting off live pitching in practice are doing it the right way. Players learn how to bunt. Pitchers learn how to pitch to players bunting. Teams learn how to defend the bunt and execute the bunt game. Its never as important as it needs to be until your in a situation in a game where it becomes very important.

Coach May wise words.