Hitting: Preventing Early Barrel Drop & Bat Drag. This drill keeps the batter aware of the barrel staying above the hands early in the swing to prevent bat drag.
Fantastic video, thanks a ton for sharing. My 13 year old has a habit of doing this and for you kids trying to explain the mechanics can be overwhelming. This drill gave him feedback and allowed him to understand the process and fix it himself. I can't thank you enough!
Thank you Austin. I'm happy to hear that the drill helped your son fix the issue himself. There's nothing better than when a player becomes more self aware of what they are doing.
Baseball Tips with Coach Avery he's 13 and hit a short hopper off the wall on the local high school field last night and another kid on the team hit one out as a 24 year old. both benefited from this drill. I've shared your video with others as well. enjoy the rest of the week!
Fantastic drill. I put a hat on there and do full swings hitting off a tee. If the hat goes straight back = Bat drag If the hat goes out to the right a little = good path. Try it and film yourself, you'll see.
I think some people get confused on proper swing mechanics and what some drills are designed to do. Clearly this is not a drill on proper mechanics of the swing but is designed to counter the early barrel dump that some hitters struggle with... similar to purposely hitting a hook to counteract a slice in golf.
Pretty cool, but if the helmet stays on all the way through contact into extension, isn't that keeping the barrel above the hands? I also notice you seem to swing up too much as you extend into what I call Power-V into your Finish. This would lead to topping the ball of you are a little early. Over all though, I like the concept of the drill and it seems to give great, immediate feedback. Congrats...
Thank you Rich. I enjoy watching your videos. Yes you are correct this drill will lead the barrel into being somewhat parallel to the ground at contact (which is not the true "reality" for most hits at contact - especially low pitches), but to build consciousness of not loosing the barrel early in the swing we want the player to feel the extra weight of the helmet pulling the barrel down and counteract that with earlier hip turn and better positioning of the hands, wrist and forearms. Also, I tend to swing up, like most good MLB hitters : ) - right?, but yes at times its too much. I counter this problem with another one of my tee drills: Cure Roll-over & Topspin (czcams.com/video/9mwWIfwpp2E/video.html). Thanks for the compliment!
You're very welcome Avery and thank you for watching my videos. Yes, a 'slightly up' swing is typically how MLB hitters swing, but as we both know, swinging up too much can lead to inconsistency and yes, there are those hitters that a little more up than most to 'lift' the ball out of the park as opposed to a ball that gains lift with backspin. Although backspin is a bit over rated, but that is for another topic and discussion. It's always nice to see another instructor that understands how the swing actually works. Good luck to you in your endeavors.
I'm confused...I didn't invent what drill, Derric? I don't recall ever claiming to have invented any drills, although a lot of the drills I use were created by my mentors, Mike and Jake Epstein and are proprietary. Regarding the drill in this video, Coach Avery demonstrated it and I asked a question then we discussed hitting a little.
This is a good, and good example of what we call an "exaggeration" drill, and its intent is to modify hitting behavior. Yes, you want the hands above the barrel before extension, but not behind your back elbow.
![Bat Lag vs Bat Drag and How To Fix It [Softball Hitting Tips]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/I5oWDxdM7Us/mqdefault.jpg)
Old video, but thanks for making it! Exactly what I've been looking for.
great drill. helped me a lot and fixed my swing.
Thank you Few Words. I'm glad the drill helped.
Older video but super relevant, thanks
Fantastic video, thanks a ton for sharing. My 13 year old has a habit of doing this and for you kids trying to explain the mechanics can be overwhelming. This drill gave him feedback and allowed him to understand the process and fix it himself. I can't thank you enough!
Thank you Austin. I'm happy to hear that the drill helped your son fix the issue himself. There's nothing better than when a player becomes more self aware of what they are doing.
Baseball Tips with Coach Avery he's 13 and hit a short hopper off the wall on the local high school field last night and another kid on the team hit one out as a 24 year old. both benefited from this drill. I've shared your video with others as well. enjoy the rest of the week!
Wow, that's awesome! Thanks for sharing. Best to your son and the team
Fantastic drill. I put a hat on there and do full swings hitting off a tee.
If the hat goes straight back = Bat drag
If the hat goes out to the right a little = good path.
Try it and film yourself, you'll see.
Thank you coach
You're welcome. Thanks for watching.
I think some people get confused on proper swing mechanics and what some drills are designed to do. Clearly this is not a drill on proper mechanics of the swing but is designed to counter the early barrel dump that some hitters struggle with... similar to purposely hitting a hook to counteract a slice in golf.
Pretty cool, but if the helmet stays on all the way through contact into extension, isn't that keeping the barrel above the hands? I also notice you seem to swing up too much as you extend into what I call Power-V into your Finish. This would lead to topping the ball of you are a little early. Over all though, I like the concept of the drill and it seems to give great, immediate feedback. Congrats...
Thank you Rich. I enjoy watching your videos. Yes you are correct this drill will lead the barrel into being somewhat parallel to the ground at contact (which is not the true "reality" for most hits at contact - especially low pitches), but to build consciousness of not loosing the barrel early in the swing we want the player to feel the extra weight of the helmet pulling the barrel down and counteract that with earlier hip turn and better positioning of the hands, wrist and forearms. Also, I tend to swing up, like most good MLB hitters : ) - right?, but yes at times its too much. I counter this problem with another one of my tee drills: Cure Roll-over & Topspin (czcams.com/video/9mwWIfwpp2E/video.html). Thanks for the compliment!
You're very welcome Avery and thank you for watching my videos.
Yes, a 'slightly up' swing is typically how MLB hitters swing, but as we both know, swinging up too much can lead to inconsistency and yes, there are those hitters that a little more up than most to 'lift' the ball out of the park as opposed to a ball that gains lift with backspin. Although backspin is a bit over rated, but that is for another topic and discussion. It's always nice to see another instructor that understands how the swing actually works. Good luck to you in your endeavors.
The Baseball Barn you didn't invent this drill.. we were doing this in college in 93 at SAn Diego State
I'm confused...I didn't invent what drill, Derric? I don't recall ever claiming to have invented any drills, although a lot of the drills I use were created by my mentors, Mike and Jake Epstein and are proprietary. Regarding the drill in this video, Coach Avery demonstrated it and I asked a question then we discussed hitting a little.
This is a good, and good example of what we call an "exaggeration" drill, and its intent is to modify hitting behavior. Yes, you want the hands above the barrel before extension, but not behind your back elbow.
The barrel should drop below your hands a little before you connect with the ball. Thanks tho bc I still have this problem
thanks for watching!
Brandin Hopp I agree.
But the helmet should fall off the bat just before contact; otherwise, I agree with the video.
Thanks wgb8210!