Daily Archives: February 6, 2007
Bunting hands together
I tried to get this topic going before but so far no one has posted. Seriously, if you have an opinion on anything by all means leave a comment! I may not agree but that’s ok. We’re all in this together, and we all get smarter when we’re forced to think through our positions on various topics. All I ask is that you be civil.
Anyway, I was up at Grand Slam the other day watching a couple of kids bunt in the batting cages and was reminded of one of the big reasons I prefer hands-together over hands-apart bunting. (The two are actually girls who play for me, but who have fallen under the evil influence of their HS coaches on this topic. )
When you bunt split hands, there seems to be a strong tendency to drop the head of the bat, especially when going after a low pitch. It’s sort of like holding the proverbial 10-foot pole. If you try to do the same thing with a hands-together grip you have to work much harder to drop the bat head because of the way it feels around the wrists. I’m not saying it can’t be done because I’ve seen it. But when your hands are farther apart it’s much easier to let that bat head drop down.
Update on the light bulb
Just wanted to give everyone an update on the “light bulb” post. Sometimes as a coach you can effect a change one day, but then the next time you see the player they’ve fallen back on old habits.
I am happy to report that last night that was not the case. The girl I mentioned had a nice, relaxed throwing shoulder and looked very comfortable and smooth. Her dad said she worked on it hard during the week, and it showed.
Definitely good to see.