Bat Drag 101

Bat drag is a very common problem in young hitters. Based on the large number of young hitters that I have seen or worked with, I would estimate that upwards of 75 to 90 percent of young hitters have some degree of bat drag in their swing.

As a result, it may be more accurate to think of bat drag as a common stage in the development of a swing rather than a flaw per se. However, bat drag is problematic because, while it can boost the power of hitter's swing, it can also cripple their swing to the point where they cannot hit well as they get older.

What Bat Drag Looks Like

What happens during bat drag is that fairly early on in the swing, the back elbow gets ahead of the hands for more than just one frame. Technically speaking, the result is what is known as excessive external rotation and it's similar to what your arm does when you're getting beaten at arm wrestling. In the worst, and most problematic, cases of bat drag, the back elbow, rather than staying near the rear hip, slides well forward of the back hip, as in the photo below.

Bat Drag

Notice how the hitter's back elbow is ahead of his hands, his back elbow is well forward of his back hip, and his back upper arm is almost horizontal rather than nearly vertical as it should be.

Why Bat Drag is Problematic

Bat Drag is problematic because it changes the timing and sequencing of the swing and, in particular, changes when and where the bat head starts to whip. Bat Drag delays the whipping of the bat head, which lengthens the swing and forces the hitter to make contact with the ball later and farther out front than is typical.

Bat drag creates a swing that is often very powerful but that is always very long; too long to catch up to a good fastball. As players get older (e.g. older than 11 years old or so) the result of a swing with bat drag is occasionally lots of powerfully hit foul balls and/or hits to the opposite field. However, in many cases the result of bat drag is simply lots of swinging strikes.

The confusing part about bat drag is that, at a very young age, bat drag may not hurt a hitter's swing and may even help it in a way. Very often you will see a hitter hit the ball very hard despite significant bat drag. The problem is that they are doing this with a long swing. As a result, while they may be able to crush pitches of slow to moderate speeds, significant bat drag will keep a hitter from being able to catch up to a good fastball and/or will force them to start their swing so soon that they are vulnerable to off-speed pitches. This will often turn a very good young hitter with lots of power into a strike-out machine as they get older.

Bat Drag and Older Hitters

You will occasionally see higher-level hitters with a less severe form of bat drag where their hands get behind their back elbows. However, and critically, the hitters who manage to hit well despite this (and they are mostly fast pitch softball players) still manage -- and have enough strength to -- get their back elbow to their back hip, and then keep their back elbow close to their back hip, as their hands turn the corner. That minimizes the negative impact on their swing.

Bat Drag vs. Bat Lag

Before I get into the details about bat drag, let me first address an item of confusion. Many people use the terms bat drag and bat lag interchangeably when, in truth, they are opposites.

Bat Drag is the sign of a serious, but common, problem with the swing. In contrast, Bat Lag is a normal and necessary component of a swing and, in truth, the sign of a powerful swing.

Albert Pujols in the Bat Lag Position

The frame above shows Albert Pujols in the Bat Lag position, with the barrel of his bat lagging behind his hands and pointing back at the catcher. That is an indication that he is holding the hinge angle and is about to whip the bat head through the Point Of Contact.

More importantly, Albert Pujols' back elbow is at his back hip. As a result, his hands are connected to and rotating ahead of his back shoulder.

Bat Drag

In contrast, in the pictures above and below, which show what hitters with Bat Drag look like at the Bat Lag position, notice how their back elbows have slid forward of their hands and their back hips and how their hands are rotating in line with their shoulders instead of ahead of their back shoulders.

Bat Drag

My Older Son's Bat Drag

A while back I was cleaning up my web site and stumbled across the video below of my older son playing Home Run Derby in our side yard in May 2006. This video was taken back before I knew much about hitting and hadn't really put much thought or time into his swing, largely because he had hit well up until that year. The thing that is really prominent in this video is significant bat drag, which explains why he really started to struggle that year.

Bat Drag

The existence of bat drag in my older son's swing makes sense, given his difficulties back then. For one thing, over the years his batting average declined as the pitching got better. He also became increasingly likely to hit the ball hard to Right Field or just foul down the Right Field line, both of which are signs of a swing that is being slowed down and lengthened by bat drag.

Let me take a look at a few frames from the clip above in order to make sure that you know exactly what I'm talking about. The thing to watch in the frames below is my older son's back elbow.

Frame 5

Frame 6

Frame 7

Notice how, as he starts his swing, his front elbow slides forward of his back hip. This causes his front arm to bar out and lengthens his swing.

My Younger Son's Bat Drag

As it turns out, my younger son also had a problem with bat drag, due in part to my buying him a bat that was too long and too heavy.

Bat Drag

The difference is that he has a more obviously back arm dominant form of bat drag where he tries to pull with his back elbow.

Symptoms of Bat Drag

If you are wondering if one of your children or your hitters may have a problem with bat drag, here are some of the symptoms.

A Swing That Doesn't Scale

One frequent tip-off that a hitter has a problem with bat drag is that their swing doesn't scale. They usually start out with tons of multi-field power in tee-ball, coach pitch, and even machine pitch. However, as they start to move up through the levels of kid pitch, and especially around 5th or 6th grade, their batting average starts to fall through the floor. In many cases, what has happened is that their swing has gotten too long, and too slow, to catch up to a good fastball. That can force them to have to start their swing earlier which can then make them vulnerable to curveballs, change-ups, and other off-speed pitches.

Lots Of Swinging Strikes

One symptom of a swing that is being affected by bat drag is an increasing number of swinging strikes. The problem is that bat drag is slowing the swing down and making them late.

Great Hitter During Batting Practice,
Poor Hitter In Games

Another indicator that a hitter may have a problem with bat drag is that they absolutely kill the ball in batting practice, and in particular when hitting off of a batting tee or during soft-toss drills, but constantly strike out when going up against good, live pitching. The problem is that bat drag isn't an issue, and is often an asset, when the ball is either standing still or moving very slowly. Instead, bat drag is only an issue when the pitcher is able to bring it with decent velocity.

Lots Of Pushing The Ball

Hitters with a problem with bat drag will often develop a problem with pushing the ball (e.g. hitting the ball to the opposite field). While this sometimes won't cause an obvious problem, and in the case of a right-handed batter may simply result in lots of doubles and triples into the Right Field corner, at some point the hitter may reach the point where many if not most of their balls land foul down the Right Field line (Left Field line in the case of a left-handed batter). The root cause of the problem is that the hitter has developed a bad case of bat drag, and telling them to swing earlier is only of limited value.

When considering all of the symptoms above, keep in mind that bat drag generally only starts to become a problem in baseball and fast-pitch softball around 4th or 5th grade (and after kid-pitch starts). If you have a hitter who is younger than that, or who plays slow-pitch softball, and isn't hitting well, then bat drag is probably not the root cause of their problem.

Causes Of Bat Drag

Bat drag can be caused by many things.

First, too much work off of a batting tee or soft toss can introduce bat drag into a swing or allow it to persist. This is because the ball is not moving when it is resting on a tee, and is only moving very slowly when soft-tossed, so it doesn't matter how long or slow your swing is. As a result, when looking at a hitter's swing, you need to remember that you can't judge its quality by looking at just some of the results (e.g. whether they are creaming the ball off the tee). Instead, you have to pay attention to their swing in its entirety (e.g. off of live pitching) and how they are accomplishing that swing.

A second cause of bat drag is trying to aggressively "slot" the elbow as the swing starts. In my experience, it is better to ignore the positioning of the back elbow and just let it happen. Instead, it is better to focus on what the hands are doing and let the back elbow take care of itself.

Fixing Bat Drag

I have developed a number of drills that will help fix a problem of bat drag without creating other problems. Everyone who purchases my Rotational Hitting 101 DVD gets access to my information on fixing bat drag for free.

For More Information

Additional free information about Rotational Hitting and the High-Level Swing is available through my private client site. To access this additional free information, and to see how much, and what kinds, of information is available to my clients, all you have to do is register.