Things That a Baseball Training Academy Will Teach Your Child About Bunting

When a young baseball player steps up to the plate, they're often eager to take a powerful swing with the hope of driving the ball to the outfield. Doing so can be instrumental to the team's success, but it's not the only way to have a positive impact at the plate. Bunting can also be an effective strategy, but it's a skill that can take a lot of practice to develop. If you want your child to have strong fundamentals with bunting, consider signing them up for a program at a local baseball training academy. Many academies have training programs that focus on bunting, which can make your child a more formidable batter. Here are some things that the child will learn.

Fundamentals of Bunting

Perhaps most importantly, your child will receive extensive instruction on the fundamentals of bunting. There are many parts to correctly executing a bunt, and the academy's instructors will go through each of them. Your child will learn how to change their grip on the bat, position their feet and body, and how to move the barrel of the bat into the strike zone. Learning these fundamentals can not only help your child to become good at bunting but can also prevent them from getting hurt while attempting to bunt the baseball. For example, children will learn how to position their upper hand on the bat so that their fingers aren't at risk of being hit by the baseball.

Types of Bunting

In baseball, hitters tend to bunt for one of two reasons. A sacrifice bunt is one option. This term describes sacrificing yourself — in other words, bunting with the expectation that you'll get out—to advance a runner. Batters can also attempt to bunt for a base hit. In this type of bunt, the batter will attempt to bunt the ball into a location in the infield that will be difficult to field, thus resulting in the batter getting to first base safely.

When to Bunt

Although coaches will often indicate to a batter when they want them to bunt, your child may be able to occasionally decide to bunt on their own accord. The training program will help children to understand when to bunt. There are all sorts of scenarios that the instructors will teach. For example, a player might attempt to bunt when an infield has made a few fielding errors, as this may indicate that the infielder could struggle to field the bunt correctly.