"Bunting Made Easy" Drill

This drill comes from Coach Claude Ainsworth our September 2004 Drill of the Month Winner.

Equipment: Ball, Glove, Bat

All our lives we have been taught to separate our hands and to try to catch the ball with the bat. Probably the hardest thing to do is catch a spherical object with a cylindrical stick.

Here is Bunting Made Easy:

1. Take whatever stance you like (i.e. square to the plate, or turn next to plate.)
2. Instead of positioning your hand at the trademark and the knob, release the bat in your hands as if you were batting and let the bat slip down until the bat starts to taper (or gets wider.)
3. Place the bat out in front of you and let the bat do all the work.

With your hands together at the taper - the bat now acts like a teeter and your hands act like a fulcrum or pivot point. When the ball strikes the bat, the bat absorbs the energy and the ball falls to the ground in whatever direction you hit.

By the way, this is extremely effective when using this bunting technique for a hit. You can wait until the last millisecond to let the bat drop and catch the defense sleeping.

Good Luck!