Long before there was the Running Slap there was a great offensive weapon used by right handed hitters called the Slap or the Slug Bunt.
Discover why it’s still a great weapon and how it can help expand the defense to create more holes to hit or bunt into, freeze the defense to create easier steals and more.
The Slug Bunt, or Slap from the right side involves the batter starting out in a sacrifice bunt. It’s similar in concept to the option play in football – namely, if you try one aspect of it and the defense takes it away it leaves you with another option. With the batter in a sacrifice bunt position the defense has the choice to come in and defend the bunt. Sometimes they do, and if so then it plays perfectly into your hands so you have the hitter pull the bat back to her ear as she slides her bottom hand up to her top hand and then swing at the ball. It’s not a ferocious swing meant to hit it out of the park, but rather a hard punch or slug through the ball to hit the ball past the pulled in infield.
Now, let’s say that the infield doesn’t bite on the sacrifice bunt, they stay back. Ok, then the batter bunts. The third option also starts from the sacrifice bunt position and has the batter bring the bat back as if she’s going to slug the ball, but the defense anticipates it so they stay back – great. Then your batter simply bunts the ball and the defense is caught back on their heels.
The Slug Bunt or Slap is a great weapon to use to move infielders up and back, to get them caught back on their heels and to freeze infielders to make base stealing easier.
Once again the basics are:
- The batter first shows bunt to get the infielders to move in
- When the infield has moved in the hitter then slides her bottom hand up the bat and slides her hands back to her ear (not all the way back to the regular hitting stance position).
- The batter then slugs at the ball simply trying to hit the ball passed the oncoming infielders or else between them.
The timing for this is to show bunt before the pitcher pitches, then once the pitcher starts her motion the hitter pulls begins to slide her hands for the slug.
We describe 2 similar types of bunts in the Bunting/Baserunning Modules of 5 of our 7 Level Coaches Certification Program:
- Level 5 – the Push Bunt: this is when the batter shows bunt and then pushes the ball past the incoming infielders from the bunting position – without ever having to move her hands back to the hitting stance.
- Level 7 – the bunt-hit-bunt: This is virtually the same thing as the slug bunt where the batter shows bunt, then pulls back to hit, but if the infield thinks she might do this so they don’t move in then the batter can then bunt the ball. It’s an advanced technique that we describe in detail.