Bat Drag 101
Bat drag is a very common problem in young hitters. Some people
estimate that upwards of 90 percent of little leaguers have some
degree of bat drag in their swing. In essence,
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
cases of bat drag, the back elbow, rather
than staying near the rear hip with the hands lagging behind the
back elbow, gets ahead of the torso, as in the photo below.
Bat Drag
The photo above is a great illustration of what a serious case
of bat drag looks
like. Notice how the hitter's back elbow is ahead of his hands and his back upper arm is almost horizontal
rather than being nearly
vertical as it should be.
Bat drag
creates a swing that is often very powerful but that is always
very long and thus very slow; too slow 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 it may not hurt a hitter's swing and may even appear
to be helping it. Very often you will see a hitter hit the ball
very hard despite significant bat drag. The problem is that bat
drag significantly lengthens, and slows down, a hitter's swing.
As a result, while they may be able to hit pitches of
slow to moderate speeds, significant bat drag will keep a hitter from being
able to catch up to a good fastball.
This will often turn a very good young hitter with lots
of power into a strike-out machine as they get older.
What Bat Drag Looks Like
I was cleaning up my web site a few days ago and stumbled across the video below of my son playing Home Run Derby
in our side yard back in May 2006. This video was taken back
before I knew much about hitting and hadn't really put much
thought or time into my son's swing. The thing that is really
prominent in this video is significant bat drag, which explains
why my son really started to struggle that season.
Bat Drag Video - Clip 11
The existence of bat drag in my son's swing makes sense,
given his difficulties back then (which is what drove me to
learn about the subject of hitting).
For one thing, over the years his batting average
declined as the pitching got better. He also increasingly tended 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 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.
Clip 11 Frame 5
Clip 11 Frame 6
Clip 11 Frame 7
Clip 11 Frame 8
Clip 11 Frame 9
The thing to watch in the frames above (and in particular in
Clip 11 Frame 7) is my son's back, or
lower, elbow. Notice how as he starts his swing, he leads with
his back elbow.
Bat Drag
His hands stay back by his back shoulder before
being pulled through the hitting zone. What this does is lengthen his swing,
making it powerful but also very slow.
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 of a
problem with bat drag.
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 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 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.
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 too late to
catch up to the ball.
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. 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.
Bat Drag Vs. Bat Lag
Bat Drag should not be confused with Bat Lag. Bat Lag is a normal and
necessary thing (and IMO the sign of a powerful swing).
Albert Pujols
Albert Pujols
Above are a couple of photos of Albert Pujols in the Bat Lag
position. As the shoulders start to rotate, the bat
(automatically) drops down into the lag position. As the rate at
which the shoulders are rotating starts to decrease, the
momentum of the bat then causes it to whip out and into the
path of the ball.
Fixing Bat Drag
I have tried out a bunch of drills on myself
and my sons to see which ones actually help to fix the 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.
Bat Drag Photos
Baseball & Fast-Pitch Softball
Below are some more photos that demonstrate what bat drag
looks like. The thing to keep in mind is that all of these
hitters may have tremendous power -- and success -- at the lower
levels of baseball and fast-pitch softball. That means tee-ball, coach-pitch, and machine-pitch
leagues. However, as I learned from personal experience with my
son, due to significant bat drag these swings are too long, and
thus too slow, to work beyond 4th or 5th grade.
Bat Drag - Fast-Pitch Softball
Bat Drag
Bat Drag
Bat Drag
Bat Drag
Bat Drag
Bat Drag - Golf Swing
Notice how the swing of the hitter above resembles a golf swing. Also
notice the bat drag; how his back elbow is getting ahead of his
hands and back shoulder. Golfers often have tons of bat drag in
their swing. This isn't a problem for them because a golf ball isn't moving.
However, bat drag is a significant problem when you're trying to
hit a good fastball.
Bat Drag Photos
Fast-Pitch Softball
Bat drag is almost as big an issue in fast pitch softball as
it is in baseball. That is because the pitch is coming in
relatively hard. As a result, a hitter needs to develop a short,
compact swing if they are going to keep progressing as they get
older.
Bat Drag
Bat Drag Photos
Slow-Pitch Softball
If you look at pictures of slow-pitch softball swings, you will see many
examples of bat drag. The confusing thing is that bat drag is not
a problem, and is often an asset, when it comes to slow-pitch
softball. This is because the slow speed of the pitch doesn't
make a long swing problematic, and a long swing can be a
powerful one. However, a slow-pitch softball swing
with significant bat drag will not scale when it comes to
fast-pitch softball or baseball.
Bat Drag
Bat Drag
Bat Drag
Bat Drag
Bat Drag
Bat Drag
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Bat Drag
Possible Bat Drag Photos
The photos below don't definitely show bat drag, but they
sure look like it to me. In particular, notice how the back elbow is away from the body (e.g.
the back upper arm is not vertical) and in some cases is almost
ahead of the hands.
Possible Bat Drag
Possible Bat Drag
Possible Bat Drag
Possible Bat Drag
Possible Bat Drag
Possible Bat Drag
Bat Drag Videos
Below are some more videos that demonstrate what bat drag looks like
in action.
Bat Drag
Bat Drag
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