Drills to Improve Bunting Skills

Bunting is almost a lost art in the game of baseball. With that being said it is one of the skills in an offense that can change the momentum in the entire game. Bunting is a necessary tool for all hitters to have in order to create runs.

Coach Hicks and Bailey Bunting Drills

Two of my all time favorite mentors in coaching are Billy Joe Hicks and the late Cal Bailey. Both have given great information on teaching bunting. Both have phases of bunting that hitters must do well before they can actually bunt. When teaching how the eyes need to focus and deadening the ball upon bunting the ball Coach Hicks has hitters bunt the ball using the cap of the bat. Once hitters get this down, they will bunt the ball with the knob of the bat. When turning the bat over to hit regularly, put white tape around the part of sweet spot of the barrel to give the players a visual of where the ball needs to be bunted. These phases helps to teach the hitter to focus on bunting the ball on the correct part of the bat. 

(Legendary College Baseball Coach Cal Bailey)

The next phase of teaching the bunt on the bat comes from legendary coach Cal Bailey. Cal had his hitters put a glove on the barrel of the bat. The hitters were to catch the ball in the glove. This would mimic the proper way to bunt the ball. You don’t want your hitters to stab at the ball with their barrel. Instead, you want your hitters to catch the ball with the barrel. Upon impact, the ball will be bunted correctly. Once hitters are used to catching the ball into the glove, have them move the barrel to either the first or third base line. This will help the hitter understand how to bunt the ball down either the first or third base line. These drills are great ways to teach hitters to see the ball bunted down, focus on the proper area of contact, and to understand what a proper bunt feels like. 

Longhorn Bunt Drill

The next set of drills will come from the University of Texas Longhorns baseball program. The first drill ihas hitters at home plate, first base, second base, and third base. At each of those four areas the hitters will be working on a specific kind of bunt play. Each player needs to get one bunt down and then they will jog to the next station. It is up to the coaches to come up with the rounds. The coaches or a machine will throw pitches to the hitters. The coaches can either throw straight fastballs or a mix of different pitches.

Example of Stations:

Home Group: Drag Bunt

First Base Group: Sacrifice Bunt to first base

Second Base Group: Sacrifice Bunt to third base

Third Base Group: Squeeze Bunt

Bunt for a Hit Competition

The last drill is the bunt for a hit competition drill. In this drill the team is split into two teams. One team is on defense and the other team is on offense. The offense gets five minutes to score as many points as possible. After those five minutes the offense goes to play defense and the defense comes to play offense. If the offense can bunt for a hit they get a point, but if the defense can record an out the defense gets a point. This drill teaches the hitters the importance of their bat angle because if they place the ball in the right spots, then the offense will get a hit.

These drills teach the hitters how to bunt the ball properly and where to bunt the ball. Each of these drills are fun and help the players fall in love with bunting. Bunting is a necessary tool for all hitters to have to potentially change the momentum of a game.