Bunt, Slap , and Drag Bunt Jack Parks – Wreckers Player Development

Bunting Stance Squared to or Twist/Turn to Pitcher, front foot pointing to the pitcher if twist/turn stance. Top Hand Fingers bent into a fist, pinch the taper of the bat with the bent fingers and the thumb. Lower Hand Lower hand controls the bat, like a lever, angling the bat to bunt the ball towards the baselines. Knees Knees are bent in an athletic position. Bend knees to adjust bunt level, NOT adjusting hands/arms. Barrel of the Bat Barrel of the bat always above the hands. Its less effective to have the bat parallel to the ground (prone to pop ups). Bunt Location The most important function of the bunt is getting the ball to the ground in fair territory.

Ideally bunt the ball towards the base lines, half distance between the pitcher and , and halfway between the baseline and the middle of the field. Easier for righthanded batters to bunt down the 1st baseline

The goal is to get the pitcher, catcher, and 1st/3rd baseman to collapse towards the ball. Bunting Strategy A is a strategy where you sacrifice the batter (potentially giving up an ) to advance your baserunners into . Essentially, by bunting, you keep the ball away from your lead baserunners, thus avoiding the baserunners from being thrown out.

Bunting is a very effective technique for a lefthanded batter with speed.

Bunting is a effective technique when the 1st or 3rd baseman is positioned near the base.

Bunting and attempting to bunt is an effective strategy to draw the towards home plate when there are baserunners attempting to steal a base.

Bunting can be effective for batters struggling to up to the pitching speed.

Avoid bunting with 2 strikes or 2 outs… Bunting is unlikely performed with 2 outs. Avoid bunting with 2 strikes because the batter can foul out their 3rd strike.

1 | Page Bunt, Slap Hit, and Drag Bunt Jack Parks – Wreckers Player Development

Slap Hitting & Drag Bunting Strategy In , the bases are only 60 feet apart. A lefthanded batter is 3 to 4 feet closer to first base compared to a righthanded batter. The drag bunt and the slap hit are very effective when you have a lefthanded batter with speed.

BOTH the drag bunt and the slap hit involve the player moving/running forward in the batter’s box while bunting or slapping at the ball. Thus, giving the batter a running start towards 1st base.

The lefthanded batter can leverage the drag bunt to put the ball in play with less than 2 strikes. With 2 strikes, you do not want to bunt and risk fouling out. Therefore, the slap hit can be used to put the ball in play with 2 strikes and NOT risking a foul out. Difference between a A slap is not a bunt. A while slap hitting is NOT a strike if the batter already has 2 Slap Hit and a Drag strikes. A slap is a that has been struck with a short chopping motion rather than Bunt a full swing.

A drag bunt is a bunt while the player is in motion moving towards the pitcher and first base. Rule While , a batter is automatically out when: 1. Contacts the batted ball outside of the batter’s box. 2. Contacts the ball with the bat outside of the batter’s box. Drag Bunt/Slap Hit Front foot back away from home plate, rear foot crosses over the front foot, front hip Footwork begins to open towards first base (lefty batter) and front foot comes forward pointing towards 1st base while they make contact with the ball. Upper Body The batter’s upper body is in position as if they are going to swing full at the ball. Hand Placement on the As the batter is advancing through the batter’s box, the batter moves the top hand only and Bat pinches the taper of the bat to perform a drag bunt. Barrel of the bat above the hands. See Bunting

As the batter is advancing through the batter’s box, both hands inside towards the body AND are stacked to perform a slap hit. 1. For a hard slap, 2/3rd of a swing, the batter keeps stacked hands towards the butt of the bat and slaps/chops the ball at contact, attempting to hit the ball over the 1st or 3rd baseman.

2. For a soft slap, 1/3rd of a swing, the batter stacks both hands toward the taper of the bat and slaps/chops the ball at contact. Bat is swung in a downward motion to get the ball on the ground in fair territory.

Additional Resources Bunting with Jessica Mendoza https://youtu.be/5iXrQI76aw0 Jessica Mendoza Softball Training - HIT: Slapping - softball https://youtu.be/YjZMXgCRb2U hitting

2 | Page