You may have heard the term “fungo bat” and just weren’t sure exactly what it was.<\/p>\n

Or maybe you’ve been assuming\u00a0coaches use the same exact bats in practice to hit grounders\u00a0as the players do during actual games.<\/p>\n

Or, perhaps\u00a0you’re already intimately familiar with fungo bats, but\u00a0still want even more baseball bat knowledge.<\/p>\n

Well we’ve got you all covered, because here’s our answer to an oft-asked question received by us here at BaseballBats.net:<\/p>\n

What exactly is a fungo bat?<\/h2>\n

According to Dictionary.com<\/a>, a ‘fungo’ is<\/p>\n

(in practice sessions) a ball tossed into the air by the batter and struck as it comes down.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A fungo bat, then, is<\/p>\n

a bat used in hitting fungoes, being lighter, longer, and narrower than an ordinary baseball bat.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The origin of the term seems to be quite unknown, with some historians claiming it comes from the Scots term “fung” meaning “to pitch, toss or fling.” While others, including the etymologists from at Douglas Harper, claim it is “perhaps” a relic of Old English fon<\/em> meaning”seize”, or “possibly”\u00a0from the German cognate\u00a0fangen<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the lack of historical agreement on the term, today we Baseball Bat lovers can agree that a\u00a0fungo bat is just a nonregulation bat designed so that the batter can easily hit practice grounders, line drives and fly balls to fielders.<\/p>\n

A fungo bat is\u00a0simply\u00a0a bat used for hitting\u00a0practice balls to fielders.<\/p>\n

Typically\u00a0fungo bats\u00a0are\u00a0longer and thinner than regulation bats, which makes it possible for the hitter — usually\u00a0a coach or non-fielding player like a relief pitcher —\u00a0to more easily and accurately place the ball wherever they aim, including hitting direct pop-ups to the pitcher and catcher — a task that is much more difficult than it seems!<\/p>\n