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Former college baseball coach Billy Godwin showed the importance of bunting when he said, “I think it’s about creating pressure. When you can get a bunt down in a good situation in the right location against a team defensively, now you’ve created where the team’s got to make that throw.” Bunting isn’t always going to be a success, but it is creating a situation where the defense has to make a play. However, players need to know the fundamentals that will make this process more effective.
Step-by-Step Technique Guide
( Free video lesson from 'The Complete Guide to Hitting for Beginners' by Coach Billy Hall)
In a game that can often be decided by one run, being able to bunt can be a lifesaver. In this section, I’ll provide you with a beginner’s guide on how to bunt properly. While developing your ability to bunt consistently depends on practice, just mastering the technique can take you a long way.
Once you step up to the plate, you don’t want to give away your intentions too early, so make it look like a normal at-bat. Then, as the pitchers enters his windup, prepare to bunt. The hand placement will involve the left-hand being moved up slightly and the right-hand up towards the middle of the bat. Make sure to keep you’re right-hand on the backside of the bat to avoid a ball clipping your fingers. This placement is for right-handed hitters, but with lefties it would be the direct opposite.
Finally, as the pitch comes in, let the ball hit the bat and angle it to the direction you intend. The key is to not try to swing at the ball in bunting form. This will not get the job done!
Bunting for a Hit
If your bunting ability is good enough and you have the speed to get down the line quickly, then you’ll always have the possibility of bunting for a hit available to you. It can be a deadly weapon as it will affect how pitchers throw to you and where the infielders position themselves on the infield. If you intend to bunt for a base hit, then you can either pursue a drag bunt or a push bunt.
A drag bunt is one that is hit down the third base line. If a righty is on the mound, then usually he’ll fall off more towards the 1st base line. This leaves the third baseman as the main guy you’ll need to worry about. If you see him or her playing in a standard or deep position, then it’s a good set-up for a drag. Meanwhile, a push bunt is hit towards the second or first baseman. This is the recommended strategy for when a lefty is pitching due to the fact that they’ll fall off towards the 3rd base line.
If you see the first baseman anticipating a bunt, then try to bunt it hard enough to beat the pitcher, but not hard enough to reach the second baseman. With the first baseman off his line, there will be no one to cover the bag. These are just a few scenarios in which players could turn a bunt into a hit.
Sacrifice Bunt
A sacrifice bunt is relatively simple, but nonetheless requires technique. This is where a player bunts to essentially give up their out and advance the runner who is already on base. However, this doesn’t mean you can just bunt wherever. Failure to accurately execute the bunt can lead to the defense getting the lead runner out, rather than yourself at first base.
In terms of effectively laying down a sacrifice, you need the ability to utilize the bat to aim the ball where you want it to go. If that means the third base line, then hit a short bunt that stays fair, but not hard enough to reach the third baseman in time to throw to second. Essentially, at the heart of a sacrifice bunt is technique.
When Does Bunting Make Sense?
When should you bunt? Some critics argue that bunting never makes sense. After all, some of the time it just gives away an out for free. While I used to think this was true, after watching the Kansas City Royals make a run to the 2014 World Series, I realized salvaging one run can be the difference in any given game. One time I think bunting makes perfect sense is when you’re facing a dominant pitcher. Say this pitcher has already shut your team out for four innings and shows no signs of slowing down. With the infielders back, this could be the perfect time to lay one down for a hit. It could not only result in a base runner, but also help disrupt the pitcher’s rhythm. They’ll be forced to throw out of the stretch then as opposed to a traditional wind up.
Similarly, imagine your team being down one run in the bottom of the ninth. The first guy gets on. With you at-bat, wouldn’t it make sense to move that runner into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt? This could bring the winning run to the plate with a runner on 2nd.
Finally, a bunt might make sense if you’re just having a bad day at the dish. If you’re struggling to make contact, this might be the perfect time to bunt one and just give full-out hustle to get a base knock. These are just a few of many situations where it might make sense, but show bunting isn’t always a waste.
Players Who Should Never Bunt?
While I have shown that bunting can help a team win games, that doesn’t mean every player should go out there bunting. Even though some may assume that fast players should regularly bunt and slow players should never bunt, this perception is not always accurate.
First off, it depends on the defense. If the defense is positioned in a cautious set-up, a bunt may be a possibility for any player if executed properly. With this said, my main reason why you shouldn’t agree with that perception is because I believe that elite hitters should never bunt. Some may attribute this to ego, but if you have a guy like Mike Trout at the plate, I’m not afraid to admit that I’d rather have him swing the bat than move a run into scoring position.
It is a simple risk vs. reward measurement. Some may argue everyone should be a potential option for bunting, but I don’t believe that is always the case.
Utilize Batting Practice
The only way to get good at something is through practice. Once you’ve got the technique down (which, honestly, isn’t that complex), you’ve got to work on being able to bunt to different areas. Whether it be a drag, push, or sacrifice, all of these take time practicing. So, when you’re in the batting cage taking some swings before the game, use about five of those pitches to practice bunting. It’s better to miss on a couple during practice than foul one straight up during a game.
Don’t Hesitate
Most baseball people I’ve talked with have said the important thing about bunting revolves on this idea of not hesitating. While deception dominates the early stages of the at-bat, once you square around and the pitch is in the zone, you must execute the bunt. You don’t want to get nervous once the pitch is thrown and lunge at the ball, thus resulting in a failed bunt. Utilize the technique given and accomplish the task at hand!
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The popularity of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and shoot wrestling has led to the creation of American and Japanese mixed martial arts. This kind of full contact combat sports was originally held as a competition aiming to discover the most effective martial arts which will be very helpful in real unarmed combat situation. In 1995, the sport got its coined name by the President and CEO of Battlecade, Rick Blume, and now famously known as the "mixed martial arts". At first, the players are to follow minimal rules. As fighters executed multiple martial arts, organizers and promoters started to employ additional rules to intensify safety and secure mainstream acceptance as a sport.
With the warm acceptance from the audience and avid fans, mixed martial arts practice has spread around the globe. Adults, kids and teens have enrolled to various martial art schools that offered courses for different types of martial arts. With the purpose of learning the art of fighting, most of the students aim to become experts in this field and become professional competitors of this sport. Although this was primarily practiced almost exclusively by competitive fighters, it has become available to wide range of practitioners of any age and with varying levels of competitiveness. Martial arts courses include judo, muay Thai, taekwondo, karate, wrestling and others.
Usually, fighters train with different styles under multiple coaches or an organized fight team. Before going to complex styles and fighting techniques, players must learn the common disciplines in mixed martial arts which are gained from traditional martial arts. The following enumerates three common disciplines of mixed martial arts:
a. Stand-up fighting tactic
This discipline consists of effective stand-up striking while the fighter avoids ground fighting. This style is usually applied using sprawls to defend against takedowns. Footwork, kicking, elbowing and punching are enhanced in this style. Muay Thai kickboxing and Karate principles are usually applied in this discipline.
b. Clinch
Applied by wrestlers and Judokas, clinch fighting as well as dirty boxing are tactics used to prevent opponent from moving away into more distant striking range. This tactic is applied in attempting takedowns and striking competitor using knees, elbows, punches and stomp.
c. Ground
Another strategy to takedown or throw opponent to the ground is the ground-and-pound. An effective ground technique will let opponent obtain a top or dominant position then strike opponent with fists and elbow. This fighting tactic is aimed to attempt submission holds.
Although males dominate mixed martial arts, the sport also has female players commonly coming from Japan. Personalities such as Megumi Fujii, Gina Carano and Miesha Tate have represented women power and known as faces of women's MMA.
MMA equipment and clothing gear
To preclude the use of fighting kimono, MMA promotions have required male and female fighters to wear appropriate fighting attire. Male fighters play bare-chested and wear shorts as well as groin protectors underneath their trunks. Female fighters wear shorts and sports bras or other similarly fitting tops. Both fighters are required to wear mouth guards and rash guards. Choosing the best MMA equipment and gear must be based on functionality, style, and quality craftsmanship. Examples of quality clothing gear include Sprawl Fusion shorts, UFC fight and sparring gloves, brain pad mouth guards and grappling shin guard.
Ross is author of this article on Learning the Fundamentals of Mixed Martial Arts. Find more information about Mixed Martial Arts here.
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Given volleyball’s nature, it can be difficult to construct a practice plan that doesn’t feel monotonous.
But finding a way to do so is crucial when it comes to keeping your players feeling both engaged and excited about showing up and improving each day.
Not to mention that if your players aren’t focused during their practices, it will be that much more difficult for them to flip a switch and become prepared for the pressure that comes when the lights are bright and the games begin to count in the season.
Yet, what part of playing volleyball do players find the most fun? Playing in games, of course. And remembering this allows coaches to kill two birds with one stone (so to speak), by making their practices as game-like as possible.
And Genny Volpe is the perfect person to teach you how to do so.
2024 was Coach Volpe’s 21st season as the head women’s volleyball coach at Rice University in Texas. Genny Volpe has established the Owl volleyball program as a power in the Southwest, having taken them to eight NCAA tournaments (2004, 2008, 2009, 2018, 2019, spring 2021, fall 2021, 2022), the only eight appearances in Rice's history.
Volpe was inducted into the Rice Athletics Hall of Fame on October 27, 2023. The sixth head coach in Rice volleyball history, Volpe holds the program record for both career wins (394-210 overall) and highest career winning percentage (.652). The 2020-21 AVCA Southwest Region Coach of the Year and also a two-time C-USA Coach of the Year (2008 and 2018), Volpe has led the Owls to five conference championships under her watch (Conference USA: 2009, 2018, 2020-21, 2021, 2022), and has coached 16 All-Americans and 64 all-conference selections.
Coach Volpe’s ‘Game Ready! Implementing Game Situation in Daily Practice’ course is a masterclass when it comes to getting your players excited for each practice while preparing them for actual games. Her practice plans and drills are exactly what you need to not only set your team apart, but have them winning endless sets this season.
General Principles for Planning Practice
One of the most important principles for Coach Volpe when it comes to planning for practice is understanding how much practice time you’ll be allotted.
This is going to vary depending on what level of team you’re coaching at. Regardless of that, knowing how much practice time you have per week will allow you to prioritize the drills that you know your team needs most in order to improve.
One somewhat unconventional aspect of Coach Volpe’s practices is what she calls “practicing ugly”. This is her way of acknowledging that much of what happens in a volleyball game can look ugly, and involves improvisation that occurs outside of whatever system the coach and team are trying to implement. Therefore, Coach Volpe believes it’s important to ensure players are getting these “ugly” reps (perhaps just by scrimmaging without any set plays, and just trying to keep a rally alive by any means necessary) during practice so that they’re prepared for them inevitably occurring in-game.
In addition, Coach Volpe likes to drill game situations that might occur in a game, such as a team running out of rubs or pivoting to an offensive-focused formation. Therefore, if these scenarios occur in the game, a team won’t be hapless to deal with them.
Finally, Coach Volpe notes that she wants to ensure her practices are fun so that her players remain engaged and get what they started playing the sport for in the first place.
The 3 C’s
Coach Volpe’s practice philosophy centers around her “Three C’s: Collaborative, Competitive, and Challenging.
Collaborative: Coach Volpe wants to be asking a lot of questions to her players during practice. She wants to get their opinions on whether they feel like they’re optimizing their time, she asks them to set goals for each practice, and asks them to make sure they understand all of the different strategic aspects she discusses throughout a practice.
Keeping players engaged and getting problems and confusion solved before they become something bigger is a major part of running an efficient, effective practice in Coach Volpe’s eyes.
Competitive: Making practices competitive both enhances focus and the overall performance of practice. Regardless of what a team is doing in their practice, there’s almost certainly a way to make it competitive.
Challenging: Coach Volpe is a big believer in what she calls setting stretch goals. What she means by this is that she wants to set goals for her team (and wants her players to set these goals for themselves) that might be too lofty for them to achieve. This will not only help players to improve and get closer to achieving these goals, but it will also get them acclimated to failing; which will come in handy when they inevitably fail at some point during a game.
Non-Traditional Plays, Reaction Drills
Coach Volpe has several what she calls “non-traditional” plays that happen all the time in volleyball games but aren’t necessarily practiced, because they aren’t part of a set play or formation.
Among these are when the block has to turn and play a ball that’s coming right at their face. Others are creative coverages, getting touches off of the block, playing balls that come off the net in a strange way, jousting, and handling overpasses.
Teams are bound to across multiple of these scenarios in games. And while it may seem difficult to simulate a scenario in practice where it occurs, all you need to do it make it as barebones as possible or mimic the brief reaction time a player will need in order to execute one of these split-second plays.
All while simply using regular household items to work on their game. It’ll not just get them more focused on the sport, but also at the same time, I’m sure you will see some rapid improvement with their on-field performance. Throughout this article, I’ll walk you through some at-home drills you can teach your players.
Drill #1: Posterboard Strike Zone
This drill you can do with a number of different things, but I’ll suggest using a posterboard. Grab some tape and create a strike zone on the board. Then, tape it about a foot off the ground. Once you have your strike zone built, head upstairs and grab a few pairs of socks rolled up (in other words, your softballs). The last item you’ll need is a camera. Anything will do here, you can even tell them to grab one of their parent’s phones. Set it behind where you’ll be pitching from and set it to record video.
Finally, now that you’re ready to practice, work on the motion of going through the windup and throwing the socks (i.e. softball) into the posterboard. With the video footage, you’ll be able to dissect the motion and overall throwing process. Some valuable insight that most youth players never evaluate.
Drill #2: Arm Strength and Hands Drills
A major part of being an effective softball player is having soft hands and a strong arm. An easy drill for this only requires a net or a wall. For the hands aspect of this category, all you have to do is throw the ball off the wall. This will allow you to practice various ground balls, short hops, and so on. Then, for arm strength, just use the wall as a way to practice throwing. Work on arm motion particularly here.
Don’t have a solid wall to use? No worries, just use a tennis ball and the garage. Trust me, it works just as well.
Drill #3: Take Some Cuts
This final drill might just be the simplest one for your players to practice. For this, they’ll just need a mirror and a bat. The player will get in front of the mirror and simply take full cuts while seeing in-person how their stance looks, as well as the swing. While it might sound like a nominal drill, it’s actually key to developing a consistent swing.
As for how often it would be recommended to do this drill, I’d suggest having them take 15-20 swings at a time on 3 different instances each day.
Practice, Practice, Practice!
In the end, one of your primary jobs as a youth softball coach is to develop the work ethic necessary to grow as a player and a person. Even though you won’t be working first-hand on these drills with your players, you will be the one responsible for growing their love for the game!
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