How to Lay Down a Successful Bunt

To bunt or not to bunt, that is a question. Before you even begin to bunt a pitched ball, you have to know the reason why when you can just as effectively get a single. Usually batters bunt for two different reasons.

The first is to move a teammate to the next base. Even though the batter may get thrown out, his sacrifice gets the base runner into scoring position. The other reason a hitter bunts is a strategic one. They are attempting to fool the defense, especially if they think that the hitter is going to try to hit the ball over the walls. Either way, when you bunt you want it to be a successful one. Whether you are trying to move a player or to get one the base yourself, you must know which technique to use.

When you have decide to bunt the ball, turn and face the pitcher as he is in the middle of the wind up. Pivot towards the pitcher and have both feet facing him. When you do this, both of your shoulders are facing him. This is known as squaring up. If you are a right handed hitter, keep you left hand at the base of the bat. Move your right hand up towards the widest part or the bat; if you bat left handed, have your right hand at the base and move your left hand up. It will take practice to get these three move simultaneously. Before attempting to bunt the first time in a game, keep working on it until you can do all three at the same time.

Wait for the ball to reach the bat. Make a small swing at the ball when you make contact. This gives the hit ball a little more distance. Push the ball either towards first or second base. This makes the infielders rush towards the ball. Usually, when you are bunting towards first, you are making a sacrifice to advance the runner from first to second.

If you have a runner on third, here is an excellent way to have the runner score. Please note that this takes communication so the third base runner knows that you are planning to bunt. Push the ball towards first base. When the first baseman or catcher makes the move to throw you out, the third base runner runs towards home and scores. However, he stays on the bag until he knows that there is going to be a play at first. The catcher may decide to cover third to prevent the run. In that case, you still get on first.

If you are bunting with the intention of getting on first, push the ball towards the third base line. You need to get the ball as far away from the first base line so you can get to first safely.

While home runs seem to be the most exciting part of baseball games, bunting also is important. It is useful for those who are not strong hitters but are fast runners. All it takes for a bunt to be successful is practice and the element of surprise.