Bunting Mechanics

How do you lay down a proper bunt? What is the right way to bunt? How should you hold the bat when bunting? Where should your feet be placed when you are bunting?

These are just some of the questions that we get asked about bunting. The truth is that bunting is one of the most under practiced skills of a baseball player. Laying down a good bunt can change the game. Messing a bunt up can also cost you the game. That is why bunting is so important in the game of baseball.

The proper bunting mechanics are as follows:

If you are sacrafice bunting then you can set up a little early. Other wise, you must wait until the pitcher starts his wind up and lifts his leg.

The first movement in the bunt is to open up your hips and turn your feet. Some coaches teach to shift the feet so that they are parallel to the rubber on the pitchers mound. This moves your head further from the baseball and makes it alot tougher to bunt the outside pitch. The best way to set up for the bunt is to stay in your hitters stance and just open up the hips and feet. The front foot can be slightly outside of the back foot but not so much that you are almost in the parallel position talked about earlier. There should be a slight bend in the knees.

The baseball bat should be held with both hands. Your lead hand should be at the bottom while the back hand should be up the bat about 16 - 20 inches. The top hand should be griping the bat with the pointer finger and thumb. The rest of the fingers should be tucked back behind the baseball bat. We do this so if we miss the baseball or foul it off, we don't smash our hand (which is usually our throwing hand).

The bat head should be above your hands and start at the top of the strike zone. The bat should be at about a 30 - 40 degree angle. (diagram)

When the pitch comes in gently catch the baseball with the bat. You don't want to stab at the baseball because most likely you will pop it up. Hold the bat still with little movement except for a slight recieving motion when the ball gets closer and hits the bat. As stated before, the bat should start at the top of the strike zone. If the pitch is higher than the bat, then just take it. If the pitch is lower than the bat, then you must use your knees to bend down and get it. Don't lower the bat. The angle of the bat should stay true throughout the entire bunt.

Your head and eyes should be close to the bat before the pitch comes in. You want little of no head movement when the ball is traveling because head movement will make the ball look like it is moving. Keep the head still, keep the eyes on the ball, and don't be affraid to keep your head in their. If you are affraid you are going to get hit, you will get hit. Just think about catching the baseball with your bat. It's that simple.

To bunt down the 3rd base line just angle the bat head towards the first base coach. To bunt down the 1st base line just angle the handle of the bat towards the third base coach. Aiming at the coaches instead of the bases will leave a little room for error.

Make sure that you see the baseball on the ground before you take off to run to first. This is recomended because one of the biggest problems with bunters is they try to take off running before the ball is bunted and they pop it up or foul it off. This is why it is good to accomplish the bunt before you create movement. Especially if it is a sacrafice bunt.