A few posts ago I put up a post about the slug bunt, also known as the fake bunt and slap. Afterwards, Stevepic at the Discuss Fastpitch Forum asked me to post a video of it.

It took a little while to get it, but here it is. It’s Kathleen, one of my players, executing it in the batting cage. Note that she keeps her shoulders forward (mostly) and uses top hand only to make contact. 

Kathleen executes a good slug bunt/fake bunt and slap

In science, the proper way to conduct an experiment is to limit the number of variables to one. In other words, all else is the same except for one thing that changes. That way you know whether the one variable that changed was the cause of the success or failure of the experiment.

We had that opportunity earlier today. We were working with our 18U hitters, which is our usual routine on Sunday mornings. Today was a machine day. We had the Jugs Jr. cranked up to 100%, and as it turned out we were shooting balls from about 30 feet. We actually had planned on going from 35, but the plate was moved up in the cage and we just left it there.

In any case, most of the girls were doing fine, but a few were having some trouble. Mostly, they were swinging under the ball. So we told them to lower their front shoulders as they went to toe touch. This was a point we learned from Deb Hartwig at the National Sports Clinics. She showed how all top hitters have their front shoulders lower than the back at this point. It’s something you don’t hear about in even the latest hitting videos, but it seems essential to great hitting.

Lowering the front shoulder was the only change we made. Yet in every case the hitter went from missing completely to hitting the ball solidly. At this point it was more of a reminder than a real change — they all know they need to be in that position. But sometimes they forget, especially in the heat of high-speed BP.

If you have hitters struggling with swinging under the ball, or just with dropping their back shoulders to go into launch, have them work on lowering the front shoulder. It works!

One of the most fun short game techniques is the slug bunt, also known as the fake bunt and slap. You show bunt, getting the corners to come crashing in. You then pull back and slap the ball into play, past the corners crashing in and into one of the holes where one of the middle infielders used to be. Properly executed it can create all kinds of havoc, getting runners in motion and possibly scoring runs where they might not have been scored otherwise. It can also create some nice momentum that could result in a big inning.

Of course in order to get all of that you first have to be able to execute the skill. That can be more of a challenge than you might think. It seems easy as you describe it — show bunt, pull the bat back to your shoulder (without turning your body), then slap the ball when it comes in. Yet I’ve noticed that a lot of hitters seem to have trouble figuring out exactly how to do the actual slap.

I think it’s because there’s a difference between slapping like this and standard hitting. From what I’ve observed, hitters try to use the same technique for both. But there’s a critical difference in what the hands do. In a standard hit, when it’s time to launch the hands you pull the bottom hand, then drive the top hand through. But in a slap or slug bunt, it’s all top hand. Pulling the bottom hand first puts the hands too far out in front and doesn’t allow for a good, strong, quick slap.

Once the bat head is back to the shoulder, have your hitters launch the bat using the top hand only. It should snap forward smartly. The bottom hand just rides along to help balance the bat.

One other thing. Many hitters have a tendency to start too low, even on a regular bunt. On the slug bunt it’s death. You need to hit the ball down. It’s better to start out higher and chase the ball down if needed. The hitter will at least be headed in the right direct, and will be more likely to hit the top half of the ball.

My previous post on timing the weight shift has spurred some comments on when exactly it happens. In one of the comments, Mike suggested he would like to see what a good hitter does when he/she doesn’t swing. Is the weight shifted because the hitter committed, or is it part of the setup to hit.

I just happen to have a video shot by Coach Rich of Albert Pujols. It’s not a standard 30 fps video (it was shot on a digital still camera) so I hope it plays ok. But you can clearly see here that Pujols shifts his weight onto his front foot , as part of the stride. without swinging several times. The hit doesn’t come until the end. Also interesting is that it doesn’t look like he has much intention of hitting the first pitch. Seems like he makes sort of a token effort, at least compared to what he does later.

There are all kinds of pieces that are involved in developing a quality, high level swing. But one of the toughest to achieve, from what I’ve seen is something called “connection.” That’s the proper name for the concept of tying the hands to the back shoulder in the early part of the swing and keeping them there until launch.

This is a very important factor in developing a “high level” swing. It’s something all great hitters do. But it’s easier said than done.

What often happens early in the swing is hitters will push their hands back as they begin their positive move forward. When that occurs, the hands have become disconnected from the back shoulder, and now have to cover a lot more ground to get to the contact point. The act of pushing the hands back will cause the front arm to “bar out” (a fancy term for getting straight to early), creating a long, slow swing. It is also one of the leading causes of bat drag, the condition where the elbow on the top hand gets ahead of the hands during rotation.

Unless you have a lot of experience it can be difficult to spot whether connection is being maintained or not during the swing. Here’s where video can be helpful. Shooting video from the side will allow you to walk through the swing, frame by frame, and see whether the hands are getting behind during the swing.

So what can you do if they are? One good drill is to use only the bottom hand to swing the bat to hit a ball off the tee. Have the hitter hold the bat at about the top of the tape with her bottom hand. Her arm should be bent, creating a V. Then have her move through her normal swing — negative move, postive stride/weight shift forward, rotate the hips and then shoulders, then pull the bat through the hitting zone, getting to extension and finish. Many hitters who lose connection do so because either the bottom hand pushes back, or it is weak coming through the zone. This drill will help them feel what it’s like to keep the bottom hand in place, and use it to get the bat moving properly.

If access to a gym or space is limited, another thing hitters can do is grab the back shoulder of their shirts, then go through their swing holding it until it’s time to get to the contact zone.

Yet another good drill is to hold a Frisbee with the bottom hand, and with the hands at the back shoulder. Then go through the swing. As the hands come into the contact zone, the hitters throw the Frisbee directly forward. Just make sure they don’t wind up with their hands way to the back before bringing them forward.

Here’s a link to a good example of a hitter maintaining connection. You have to have Quicktime to view it. If you need to download Quicktime, click here.

This actually came up in the comments section in my earlier post about choosing a bat, and I thought it was interesting enough that it should be a post on its own. Thanks to Mike Hanscom for bringing it up.

Most of us have experienced that situation where a hitter is using a bat that’s too big for her. Young hitters will often grab the biggest bat they kind find instead of the biggest bat they can actually handle. I’ve seen 10U players try to swing bats that were almost as big as they are. Swinging a bat that’s too big will cause a slow swing, and lots of mechanical difficulties.                                                                                              

But what about going the other way? Instead of swinging a bat that’s too big, is it bad to swing a bat that’s too small? Certainly some people preach that when the pitching gets faster you should go from your normal bat to one that is shorter and lighter. I disagree. I think swinging a bat that’s too small can cause almost as many difficulties as one that’s too big. They’re just different difficulties.

I can definitely talk to the problems with a small bat. I am a big guy, and though I don’t work out much anymore (unfortunately) I retain a fair amount of natural strength. I also grew up swinging a wood bat. When it’s time to hit fungos in our clinics, I will sometimes grab one of the team bats we have lying around. If it’s a 32 inch/22 ounce bat, I have to admit it’s a bit difficult for me to use. Even worse is when I try to hit off a pitching machine with it. I find it difficult to control because there just isn’t enough mass per the effort I’m putting in. I will tend to over-swing. I would think the same would go for any hitter using a bat that’s too small.

The other problem with a bat that’s too short, of course, that it forces the hitter to stand closer to the plate in order to get full coverage. With a properly sized bat, she can move off a little bit, which makes it a little easier to fend off the inside pitch.

Again, the ideal bat is one that comes to the hitter’s wrist when she’s standing straight up. The proper drop depends on her strength, but except for the very young (9 or younger) it shouldn’t be more than a -10. Using the right size bat will help her take better advantage of all the other things you’re working on. 

This is a question that comes up now and then. Parents will come to me and ask what size bat they should get their daughter.

What I’ve found to be the best way of choosing a bat is to have the hitter stand up straight. Then place her bat choices next to her leg, with the barrel down and the knob up. The knob should come up to the hitter’s wrist. That is the ideal bat length. It can go a little above there if she’s willing to choke up, but not too much.

From there it’s a matter of the bat drop — the difference between the length and weight. For most hitters a -10 will be the best choice, although at 10U if the hitter is small you might want to go with a -11 or even -12. (If you’re not familiar with it, a -10 means a 30 inch bat will weight 20 ounces.) If the hitter is bigger or stronger, you might want to go with a -9 or -8, although the latter might mean you have to go with a slowpitch bat.

For some reason a lot of girls seem to like to go with bats that are too long for them. A bat that’s too long can be dfficult for the hitter to swing, and the faster the pitching the more obvious it becomes. On the other hand, a bat that’s too short won’t provide the power and will force the hitter to stand closer to the plate than she needs to.

When selecting a bat, use the “wrist test.” It works.