Bunting Drills: Sacrifice And Slash Hit Drill

Focus To bunt good bunts or pepper-like ground balls through the infield or to an infielder. Fielders practice good communication.

Setup This is another three-man drill, with one batter and two fielders at pepper game depth (30 to 35 feet from the hitter). You’ll need at least a dozen balls at each three-man station. Use the outfield fence as a backstop.

Procedure One of the fielders acts as the pitcher and tells the bunter to bunt or slash left or right. He calls out, “Bunt-right,” “Bunt-left,” “Slash right,” or “Slash left.”

Coaching Points Players bunt the ball on the chalk into fair territory, 3 to 5 feet from the foul lines and 20 feet from home plate. The slash hit is when the batter assumes a bunting stance and then slides his hands together, wheels into a hitting posture, and slashes a hard ground ball through the drawn-in infield. This is an effective short game weapon. Players who master this technique can produce a lot of base hits in bunt situations. Have young players start with hands apart on the bat and then slide their hands together for the slash hit, like Ty Cobb. Six bunts, six slashes, and out (rotate). When slashing, players try to hit one-hoppers to the open fielder, as in a pepper game. Pepper is one of baseball’s best drills and shows the importance of the short game.

Related posts:

1. Bunting Drills: Sacrifice And Break From The Box Drill Focus To bunt the ball into fair territory, 3 to...
2. Bunting Drills: Drag One Hit And Run Drill Focus To drag bunt down one foul line, push bunt...
3. Bunting Drills: Sacrifice Catch Drill Focus To cushion the ball with the bat or “catch”...
4. Bunting Drills: Suicide Bunt Drill Focus To make contact with the ball on the bunt;...
5. Bunting Drills: Drag On The Chalk Drill Focus To bunt the ball about 20 to 25 feet,...