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    3 min read

    Bunting SHOULD be an important part of your offense. If it is, fastpitch softball bunting drills will need to be in your “tool-kit” whether your coach youth or older teams.

    Practicing bunting needs to start at the youth levels, and continue as players develop. 

    If you ever watch the Women’s College World Series (WCWS), or even the Men’s College Baseball World Series you will quickly notice instances where a bunt makes a huge impact on the game. In contrast, you can also see many instances where a failed bunt makes a negative impact.

    It takes practice to do this part of the game well…unfortunately many times the practice part is neglected.

    Below we have two drills to help get you started. Both drills will allow you to get a lot of bunting reps in a short amount of time. 

    Drill #1: Rapid Fire Bunting Drill

    Below is a drill that will give your players a lot of reps very quickly.  Watch the video and then read a few more notes below the video!

    To review, here are the important parts of this drill:

    1. This fastpitch softball bunting drill is good for anywhere from 2-4 players.
    2. To begin, make sure they are far enough apart so that they do not hit one another.
    3. Simply fire one ball after another, moving down the "line" of players.
    4. If the fundamentals begin to get "sloppy," slow the drill down.
    5. To keep the drill moving more quickly, have another player, manager, or coach hand you a ball each time.
    6. If you don't have someone to hand you the balls, be sure to have a bucket of balls. Preferably, you should stack the bucket on top of another bucket.  Another option is to use a ball holder caddy. 

    Drill #2: Bunting Lanes Fastpitch Softball Drill

    Below is a drill that we use almost every day to help our players work on directional bunting. Click below to watch the video and then read below for further learning!  

    Here are a few things to consider when doing bunting drills with your softball team:

    1. If you are only wanting to work on proper bunting technique, then you might not want to use this drill immediately. However, using the cones adds one more “layer” for players to think about which could distract them from thinking about proper fundamentals.
    2. After players are proficient enough, introduce the cones to give them more of a “purpose” with each bunt.
    3. To take the drill “up a notch” in intensity, make it competitive. Just be sure to go back and forth in your season between making it competitive and simply working on technique.
      • When you begin to make bunting drills competitive some players can get sloppy because they begin to rush.

    Here are a few ways to make this bunting drill more competitive for your softball players:

    1. Put players on 2-3 teams. Have one coach throwing front-toss to each team. Give the teams a specified amount of time (ex: 60 seconds). Each softball player gets 1 attempt to bunt and then the next player in line goes. Each bunt between the cones is given 1 point. The team with the most points at the end of the time wins!
    2. Use the same format as #1. However, instead of using time, give each team a certain number of attempts (ex: 30 bunt attempts). The team with the most successful bunts out of 30 wins!
    3. Rather than put the players on teams, you can make this one of your hitting stations and make this an individual competition.
      • You can either give the players a goal (ex: 6 out of 8) and a consequence (ex: push-ups) if they don’t reach the goal.
      • Or you can keep individual points and give the top 3 players a reward, etc.

    These examples of making softball drills competitive can not only be applied to bunting drills, but also for other areas of the game. You just need to use some creativity and planning.

    It's important to make things competitive in order to put more pressure on your players. This makes it more "game-like."

    However, just keep in mind that you will need to maintain a balance where they are able to work on technique without rushing themselves.  This can lead to fundamentals breaking down.

    So there you have it!  That's two bunting drills to get your softball team moving the right direction! Regardless of your age-level, these drills can be modified to suit your needs!

    (By Tim Covey, Founder of Covey Sports)

    Have questions or comments? Leave them in the comments section below!


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