Baseball drill
Bunting warm-up progression
Three short bunting warm-ups with a partner's toss: bunting from a preset, choked-up position, squaring around from a normal stance, and bunting from one knee. Together they build the hand position, timing and bat height a good bunt needs.
At a glance
- Sport
- Baseball and Softball
- Skill
- Bunting
- Ages
- 10U to High school
- Players
- 2 (a hitter and a tosser), several pairs at once
- Time
- About 10 minutes
- Level
- Beginner
- Equipment
- Bats and batting helmets, A few balls per pair, A mat or pad to kneel on
- Indoors
- Yes
Most bunting problems come from one of three places: the hands are in the wrong spot, the hitter squares too early or too late, or the bat starts too low and comes up at the ball. This warm-up works on each of those in turn, one short round at a time, before players bunt in a drill or a game.
It takes about ten minutes with a partner and a few balls, so a whole team can do it at once along a foul line or in a gym. Use it at the start of a bunting practice or as a pregame warm-up.
Setup
- Pair players up. The tosser kneels or sits about 10 to 15 feet in front of the hitter and tosses underhand.
- Give each pair a few balls and a pad or folded jacket for the one-knee round.
- Hitters wear helmets for every round.
How to run it
- Round one, preset: the hitter starts already squared to bunt, hands choked up and the top hand pinched behind the barrel, bat at the top of the zone. The tosser feeds strikes and the hitter bunts them softly to the ground. Five to eight bunts.
- Round two, stance to square: the hitter starts in a normal batting stance. As the tosser's arm comes forward, the hitter turns the feet, slides the top hand up and sets the bat, then bunts. Five to eight bunts.
- Round three, one knee: the hitter kneels on the back knee with the front foot flat and sets the bat at the top of the zone. Any toss above the bat is a ball and is taken. Five to eight bunts.
- Switch roles and repeat all three rounds.
Coaching points
- Top-hand fingers stay behind the bat, pinched, never wrapped around the front.
- The bat starts at the top of the strike zone. A pitch above it is a ball.
- In the squaring round, move the feet and hands together and do it as the arm comes forward, not before.
- On one knee, the body cannot dip, so the bat angle and hands do the work. Watch the ball meet the bat.
- Soft contact. The ball should stop a few feet in front of the plate.
Common mistakes
- Squaring around before the tosser starts, which in a game tells the defense what is coming.
- Starting the bat low and lifting it to the ball, which pops it up.
- Jabbing at the toss instead of letting it come to the bat.
- Tossers throwing too hard. These are warm-ups; easy, accurate tosses.
Printable drill card
Take this drill to the field: the setup, steps, coaching points and equipment on one card, with the video's address to find it again. Free, no account needed.
Print the drill cardSmaller: half page or quarter page (PDF).
By age
10U
Spend most of the time on the preset and one-knee rounds with soft balls. Add the squaring round once the hands are safe.
12U and 14U
Run all three rounds and have hitters angle the bunts toward one line, then the other.
High school
Use the squaring round to practice both sacrifice and bunt-for-a-hit footwork, and mix tosses at different heights on one knee.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why bunt from one knee?
Kneeling takes the legs out of it, so the hitter has to set the bat at the top of the zone and keep it there. It is a quick way to stop the habit of swinging up at the ball and popping bunts up.
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