slapping clarification

[Guest Obbay]

High school Softball- can you explain the difference between a slap and a drag bunt? ( is it mentioned in NFHS)?

coach on HS team thinks a batter doing a drag bunt on the run is a slap.

thanks!

 

[beerguy55]

1 hour ago, Guest Obbay said:

High school Softball- can you explain the difference between a slap and a drag bunt? ( is it mentioned in NFHS)?

coach on HS team thinks a batter doing a drag bunt on the run is a slap.

thanks!

 

slap involves a swing...it may be a half swing, but it's still a swing.   Very important with two strikes if fouled off.   A drag bunt is not a slap, it's a bunt.  A drag bunt becomes a running slap when the batter swings the bat.  Certainly much more common in softball, but does happen in baseball from time to time...Ichiro.

[MT73]

Watch for the breaking of the wrists, which is a slap hit.

[OhioTex]

I was told taught once to watch her feet..  if the slapper is doing the cross over step towards pitcher.   She has not squared for a bunt.  on two strikes , watch more for making contact while stepping out of the box than worry about a 2 strike bunt foul.  to me that is pretty cut and dry way to assess but never asked any one for a formal reference. Be interested to hear experts opinions. 

[MT73]

It is a bunt if the ball is tapped as opposed to swung at.

A coach once told me what you just posted but I disagreed and called her batter out on the foul with 2 strikes.

Then again I am no expert so maybe I was wrong.

[beerguy55]

19 hours ago, OhioTex said:

I was told taught once to watch her feet..  if the slapper is doing the cross over step towards pitcher.   She has not squared for a bunt.  on two strikes , watch more for making contact while stepping out of the box than worry about a 2 strike bunt foul.  to me that is pretty cut and dry way to assess but never asked any one for a formal reference. Be interested to hear experts opinions. 

The bunt isn't about the feet, it's about the bat.   Is it a swing or not - use whatever guidelines make sense - hands together vs apart, or a visible snap of the wrists

You can do the crossover step on both bunts and slaps...you can do drag bunts or push bunts where your feet are in motion, from either batter's box.   And you can do running slaps from either batter's box.  Both involve moving your feet, not squaring around, but are both very different.

It is also possible to square around to bunt, keep your feet stationary, and then pull the bat back and slap...not a bunt.

Running Slap

Drag bunt