This is one of my favorite [tag]baseball practice ideas[/tag]; I find it to be a great end of practice activity. It involves working most base running situations and conditioning.
Set up an extra home plate and first base a good 8 to ten feet wide of the base line and normal home plate. One runner at each of the bases. Two lines of batter and runners. The batter/runners at the normal home plate will take an imaginary swing. The batter and runners at the extra home plate will square and make an imaginary bunt.
The runner at first will go first to third as if on a hit and run, the runner on second will score as if on a hit, the runner at third will go on “contact”, the batter/runner at the plate will go first to second and the “bunters” will run through the bag turning their head to look for an over throw.
When a cycle is complete, the “bunters” become the runner. Runners that score go to the end of the lines.
You have to give everyone a chance to get set for the turn. All runners have to imagine a setting and going to the plate so secondary leads can be taken etc. Many times I had to verbally call out, “Pitcher on the rubber” lead, “Pitcher goes home” secondary lead…batter swings bunter bunts. I usually went through the exercise once so each batter/runner gets a turn bunting and swinging.