A while back I wrote about a condition called bat drag. It’s a problem caused by the back elbow getting ahead of the hands during the swing. This causes the hitter to have to literally drag the bat (usually late) through the hitting zone. It creates a very weak hitting position, robbing the hitter of power.

I see this a lot with female hitters for some reason. What I haven’t seen much of is a way to fix it. At least nothing that has been very effective. It’s something that has been on my mind for a while.

I think I may have the cure. I say I think because I’ve just started experimenting with it. So far so good, but you never know until you’ve had a chance to try it on a variety of hitters. But here’s where I am so far.

One of the key points that’s often listed in discussions of hitting mechanics is having the front shoulder lower than the back shoulder at toe touch. It’s something you’ll see in all good hitters. I got to wondering why, and decided to try moving into that position. That’s when it occured to me — I wonder if it has an effect on bat drag.

It does. If you lower your front shoulder, and keep it there, it is pretty much impossible to get your back elbow ahead of your hands. Even if you can, you have to work so hard at it that you’re unlikely to do it.

After toe touch, if you drop your heel and launch from that position the bat will come from the top and you will come through in a powerful position.

We are still experimenting with it, but it seems to be working. I’ll keep you posted, and will try to post a couple of photos to help illustrate things better.