Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Wed Nov 5 13:47:22 2008

>>> My 12 yr old son opens up his front shoulder and the bat drags through the zone creating alot of fouls and not alot of power. I am not sure if he is getting his arms extended thru the zone and hitting out front. He looks to be trying to pull everything to left field. Any suggestions on him getting his hands out so he doesn't pull everything or does he need to no open his front shoulder and hips so soon. <<<

Hi Keith

I seriously doubt your son’s bat drag is due to his shoulders opening up to soon. We certainly do not want the lead-shoulder to creep open before he initiates his swing. However, it is the rotation of the shoulders that should accelerate the hands around the swing plane. Bat drag occurs due to looseness or disconnection in the batter’s transfer mechanics that allow the shoulders to rotate without a corresponding angular acceleration of the bat. The batter’s shoulders fully rotate but the bat in lagging 10 to 70 degrees from contact – that is bat drag.

In a post below (Re: Re: cure loop in swing) I show video of three great hitters. Note that all their shoulders start to rotate before their hands are accelerated. It is their shoulder rotation that brings their hands around. Below is a post from the Archives I wrote on the mechanics of batters with the symptoms you describe.

Best hit balls pulled foul --

Jack Mankin