Bat drag

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Sep 29, 2008
1,401
63
Northeast Ohio
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...
 
Apr 2, 2015
1,198
113
Woodstock, man
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'm sorry, but you will never fix bat drag with a tee like this guy.

Bat drag is initially caused by OPENING the hips during STRIDE. 1000 days of 1000 tee drills wont make you suddenly close your hips.

At the instant you open your hips, your swing begins. 99% of kids begin their swing with one foot in the air.

Opening the hips causes the rear forearm to drop prematurely, creating the final element causing bat drag.

No tee drill can possibly fix this.

This guy means well, and you can tell he's just getting started on his journey. Some of the stuff I wrote 15-20 years ago is bad looking back on it.

I have tried hundreds of drills and gadgets and theories, including his tee drills. Time is a kid's worst enemy. It's really heartbreaking when you discover your kid ends their baseball/softball career because of a fatal flaw that you could have fixed in a few days.
 
Last edited:
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
I like dry swings. When I was in my early teens I would do them all winter (I didn't have access to an indoor cage until HS). That said, a kid at this age can get everything down in a dry swing and still do all kinds of wonky things when a ball comes at her. Look at her tee swing. Her elbow is slotting for several frames before the bat ever moves.
 

fanboi22

on the journey
Nov 9, 2015
1,138
83
SE Wisconsin
I'm sorry, but you will never fix bat drag with a tee like this guy.

Bat drag is initially caused by OPENING the hips during STRIDE. 1000 days of 1000 tee drills wont make you suddenly close your hips.

At the instant you open your hips, your swing begins. 99% of kids begin their swing with one foot in the air.

Opening the hips causes the rear forearm to drop prematurely, creating the final element causing bat drag.

No tee drill can possibly fix this.

This guy means well, and you can tell he's just getting started on his journey. Some of the stuff I wrote 15-20 years ago is bad looking back on it.

I have tried hundreds of drills and gadgets and theories, including his tee drills. Time is a kid's worst enemy. It's really heartbreaking when you discover your kid ends their baseball/softball career because of a fatal flaw that you could have fixed in a few days.

Just curious if you like the way his students swings look in the before and after?
 

fanboi22

on the journey
Nov 9, 2015
1,138
83
SE Wisconsin
I like dry swings. When I was in my early teens I would do them all winter (I didn't have access to an indoor cage until HS). That said, a kid at this age can get everything down in a dry swing and still do all kinds of wonky things when a ball comes at her. Look at her tee swing. Her elbow is slotting for several frames before the bat ever moves.

Is the elbow slotting before the bat ever moves a form of bat drag if not to a lesser degree? I think this thread (myself included) is fixed on the definition that the elbows lead the hands. That’s what I though drag was as well. I still think it is but I also think that slotting the elbow without moving the barrel is bad. What is that called if not the initial part of a bat drag? But in this case the hands then stay even with the elbows as the body rotates the whole thing thru and some are not calling it bat drag but i think all agree it is not good.
 

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