Wastebasket Bunting Game
Wastebasket Bunting Game

Baseball: Wastebasket Bunting Game

Dick Moss, Editor, PE Update.com

A bunt must be aimed, because location in bunting is everything. After all, a bunt that rolls straight to the pitcher is a guaranteed out.

The Wastebasket Bunting Game is a great way to provide a visual target at which to aim the bunt. It improves your players' focus when bunting and is a lot of fun.

Setup
Divide your class into two teams with one team batting and the other on the infield. Outfielders aren't necessary. Place a small wastebasket near the first and third base lines, about 20 feet from home plate and two feet inside the lines. The coach pitches the ball to a catcher.

How to Play
Games last for three innings, with each inning lasting until every player has had the chance to bat.

The coach pitches to each player and the players attempt to bunt the ball into one of the wastebaskets. They score points based on their result:

5 points -     Ball rolls into basket
4 points -     Ball ends up 1 foot to either side of basket
3 points -     Ball within 5 feet of the fair side of basket
-1 point -     Ball fouls out
-5 points -     Ball rolls directly towards the pitcher

Players get one attempt per at-bat, unless the pitch was poor, in which case they get another try. After every player has had a turn, teams switch places. After three innings (or more), the team with the most points wins the game.

Reference: Tom O'Connell, Play Ball: 100 Baseball Practice Games, Human Kinetics, 2010.  http://www.humankinetics.com


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