Viddler

Bat Lag -- Sawyer is a long time student and at times has shown a nearly flawless swing. In fact, I would say that there is one significant flaw that has hurt his exit speeds; casting. Casting is simply releasing the elastic energy stored in...

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Bat Lag -- Sawyer is a long time student and at times has shown a nearly flawless swing. In fact, I would say that there is one significant flaw that has hurt his exit speeds; casting. Casting is simply releasing the elastic energy stored in the wrists, too soon. This takes the hands out of "hammer mode" and makes them more passive at contact.

Solution -- Bat lag is a tough skill to master because it is hard to describe and harder to think about during the swing. The answer in this case is a device with a few drills that actually make the casting worse momentarily. Hold on, I know that sounds crazy, but muscles tend to oppose the force used against them. A physical therapist when working with a person that has lost use of a muscle and is in re-hab, will push against the muscle to get it to push back. This opposing tendency is alive and well with the use of a new product on the market. The NOS Timing Training Device is end loaded and tends to make the hitter cast the bat head early. The wrists however, when this happens begin to fight back and the effect is much the same as the physical therapist sees. When the hitter gets a bat in hand, the casting tendency is lessened. This is exactly what happened to Sawyer.

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