Learning to bunt lefty?

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Oct 3, 2019
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I am wondering if there would be any value in a player learning to bunt from the left side although, being a right handed hitter? She is fast and thought that extra split second could help in certain situations with proper bunt placement. Is this a thing? Not wanting to teach slapping or hitting from the left side in general.
 
May 17, 2012
2,804
113
Not a fan of flipping back and forth (unless you are a switch hitter) as bunting is hard. What are you going to do if you are bunting from the left side with two strikes?

If she is fast put her on the left side and maker her a triple threat (this is what I recommend even though you are against it). If you aren't going to do that teach her a poke bunt from the right side is another option.
 
Jun 11, 2013
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If you aren't going to hit lefty I don't see any value in doing that. Maybe once you could get away with it, but if you have no other options you are not really going to get much benefit.
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
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So Cal
In 12U, the coaches of my DD's team taught all the players how to bunt (soft, push, drag) from both sides of the plate. Even my power-hitting not-fast DD could pull off a 1-handed lefty drag bunt with reasonable consistency. This was mostly about teaching the girls bat control. For some, the bunting skills became valuable tools. I can't remember the last time my DD was asked to bunt in a game, but when they do it in practice, she does a very good job.

Unless you almost never play the same teams, switching to lefty only to bunt will quickly be figured out as a giant neon sign that says "I'm bunting now!" You're trying to save some steps to try to be safe at 1B more often, you might be missing the point of bunting. Most often, bunting is sacrificial in order to move a base runner. Unless your player is blessed with ludicrous speed, or has decent speed and good deception skills (sneaky bunt!), bunting for a base hit is a low-percentage game.
 
Jun 11, 2012
741
63
If you are going to do it switch completely to the left side. If you only have her bunt lefty it’s pretty easy for teams to catch on that is what she’s going to do.
DD switched to full lefty at age 12 and while the first 6 months or so we’re kind of rough it was the best thing we ever did. Now she slaps, bunts and hits and no one ever knows what’s coming. She’ll set up to slap, they move the outfield in and she’ll put it over their heads.
 
Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
Most often, bunting is sacrificial in order to move a base runner.

I agree completely with the rest of the post, but this line, a team should almost never purposefully give away an out.

The sacrificial aspect of bunting should be incidental. You want to talk about low-percentage games? Offense via sac bunt might be the lowest percentage game you can play in the sport.
 
Oct 3, 2019
364
43
Yes, I get that, but the intention is to be fast enough to beat it out anyway, with good placement.
 

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