Bat drag

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fanboi22

on the journey
Nov 9, 2015
1,138
83
SE Wisconsin
View attachment 19706

Like most instructors, he fixes one thing only by breaking another.

He 'fixed' the bat drag by introducing a giant disconnect - the kid must push his front bicep away from his torso.

This is exactly what the Batspeed.com PerfectConnextion gadget does here:
PC_gif_small.gif


I pointed this out when this gadget came out years ago.

And he still didn't fix the initial cause which is opening his hips during the stride.

Not to mention, this drill will more than likely not translate to a good game swing. What happens when he opens his hips and his rear forearm drops during a game swing?

What do you mean 'push his front bicep away from his torso'? Bregman photo below of a homerun has the same separation, or 'lack of connection' as you call it.

In your model swing do you want the front bicep pegged to the chest? Isn't that arm bar?The only way for the back arm to hold form and not drag is to start farther away from the shoulder, right? I just dont feel right trying to keep the bicep pinned to the pectoral and keeping everything together.

Screen Shot 2020-10-18 at 4.49.23 PM.png
 

BigSkyHi

All I know is I don't know
Jan 13, 2020
1,385
113
STOP Fixing Your Player...START Developing Your Player

If you think you can turn this young one into the monster from nowhere, you lose.

1602948932502.pngScreenshot_20200919-173755.png
 
Apr 2, 2015
1,198
113
Woodstock, man
What do you mean 'push his front bicep away from his torso'? Bregman photo below of a homerun has the same separation, or 'lack of connection' as you call it.

In your model swing do you want the front bicep pegged to the chest? Isn't that arm bar?The only way for the back arm to hold form and not drag is to start farther away from the shoulder, right? I just dont feel right trying to keep the bicep pinned to the pectoral and keeping everything together.

View attachment 19715
Bregman ranks only #126 in average exit speed of 88.9 mph, so he is not one of the top hitters. He could stand some improvement in the way he pushes both biceps away from his torso. [of course 88.9 is plenty to hit homers, he can call me if he wants to improve his exit speed :)]

Here is the #1 average exit speed player - Fernando Tatis - 95.9 exit speed average. Notice both biceps are touching his torso all the way from hip slot to contact (here). And his rear elbow/bicep traveled with his back hip.
tatis-connect.JPG

It's simple physics - the Conservation of Angular Momentum. Think of an ice skater slowing and speeding up their turns simply by extending or contracting their arms - without using muscle mass or strength. Maybe Bregman could pick up 3-7 mph in exit speed by not pushing his arms away.

I got my rankings from the 2020 season here https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/statcast, - downloaded and sorted the avg_hit_speed column.
 
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fanboi22

on the journey
Nov 9, 2015
1,138
83
SE Wisconsin
Bregman ranks only #126 in average exit speed of 88.9 mph, so he is not one of the top hitters. He could stand some improvement in the way he pushes both biceps away from his torso. [of course 88.9 is plenty to hit homers, he can call me if he wants to improve his exit speed :)]

Here is the #1 average exit speed player - Fernando Tatis - 95.9 exit speed average. Notice both biceps are touching his torso all the way from hip slot to contact (here). And his rear elbow/bicep traveled with his back hip.
View attachment 19718

It's simple physics - the Conservation of Angular Momentum. Think of an ice skater slowing and speeding up their turns simply by extending or contracting their arms - without using muscle mass or strength. Maybe Bregman could pick up 3-7 mph in exit speed by not pushing his arms away.

I got my rankings from the 2020 season here https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/statcast, - downloaded and sorted the avg_hit_speed column.

Excellent, appreciate the input. I thought there was a study somewhere that stated highest exit speeds did not always translate to best hitter. Not saying that Bregman is, but many have put him up with the elite. You mention he is not one of the top hitters because his exit velo is only #126 in the mlb. I don't know that we are looking for highest exit velo with arm bar as Bobby S talks about.

That being said, would you say that this swing is then the ideal swing that one's DD should strive for? Fernando Tatis that is? Not sure if exit velo is your sole metric just trying to figure where to look next for my DD. thanks.
 
Apr 2, 2015
1,198
113
Woodstock, man
fanboi, I would just say that there are X number of optimal elements to the perfect swing. Probably no hitter uses every one of those elements in every swing every year.

We know that leverage beats strength. So every element of leverage that we can implement, the better. (flat forearm, etc.)

We now that utilizing the Conservation of Angular Momentum increases rotation speed without using any strength or leverage. So, the quicker we begin, and the longer we can hold, our upper arms to our torso, the faster we rotate - within reason (our ability to contact the ball). Of course we can't start the swing with the rear elbow tucked, or we would lose leverage.
 
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Nov 30, 2018
359
43
Marikina, Philippines
Well...this guy is all over Youtube. His focus is almost entirely the top arm which he says nearly everyone is misunderstanding the use of. He further states that the more current emphasis on "Turn the Barrel" and "Having the Battel arc towards the catcher" is leading to bat drag. I am sorting through his ideas and am not yet sure what to apply to some of the girls I work with BUT here according to Ron is the solution...


I am not endorsing one way or the other in turning the barrel, but if the wrists are flexible and used to do so, not the arms, then I don't think it would affect much. The problem is so many players are squeezing the saw dust out of aluminum bats.
 
Nov 30, 2018
359
43
Marikina, Philippines
What is this then? The 34 in the top left indicates it was his 34th homer of the season. Bad angle?

I think you go overboard with the "horrific bat drag" diagnoses.

View attachment 19696

There certainly is no bat drag in this. In fact his hands are staying more loaded than average; stretched! His back elbow should come to the pant seam; slot; hip connection, as the back knee and belly button face right field. Until then the bat head and hands should not be released. The hands and bat should still be connected to the shoulder. You could critique this to death and say his elbow is at slot .0004 milliseconds too soon, but there are few swings everyone here would agree are perfect.
 
Nov 30, 2018
359
43
Marikina, Philippines
fanboi, I would just say that there are X number of optimal elements to the perfect swing. Probably no hitter uses every one of those elements in every swing every year.

We know that leverage beats strength. So every element of leverage that we can implement, the better. (flat forearm, etc.)

We now that utilizing the Conservation of Angular Momentum increases rotation speed without using any strength or leverage. So, the quicker we begin, and the longer we can hold, our upper arms to our torso, the faster we rotate - within reason (our ability to contact the ball).

The back upper arm should be directly below, perpendicular to the shoulder on all swings. However, the closer the biceps is to the chest with the front arm, the more an arm is barred, the further the arms are forcing the bat away from that center rotation.
 
Apr 2, 2015
1,198
113
Woodstock, man
the closer the biceps is to the chest with the front arm, the more an arm is barred, the further the arms are forcing the bat away from that center rotation.
The instant your biceps disconnect, your torso, and therefore the bat head begins to slow. Watch what happens when this guy extends his arms.


The difference in speed in this example for a quarter turn is .400 sec for tight, and .800 sec for extended - double the speed. A baseball swing is roughly a quarter torso turn, but of course it uses strength and leverage and forward/stride momentum, so the time in seconds is not the same but the effect is similar.
 
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