About the Drop

[radness]

This is a tid bit i noticed pitching instructors either did recommend or some not recommend when throwing the drop.
Thought to bring it up for others to share experiences.

*Shorter stride
in specific
*Shorten stride by the length of your foot.

When pitchers were struggling getting over the top...
Even those who did not shorten stride...
I made the suggestion
"Shorten stride a little"
It generally always helped.

Did my notation of this come from out of the blue?
Nope
It came from noticing the instructor who taught shorten stride pitchers were consistantly more effective with their drops!

Really helped going to all those pitching lessons...
To Catch

Whats your experiences with the drop pitch?

 

[joe720]

Whats your experiences with the drop pitch?

They hurt my shins a lot.

Never heard of shorting stride though, was more about getting front hip down.

 

[Lance Steckler]

slightly shorten stride, and focus on staying tall thru release. The other point can be head position. just moving pitcher's head forward 6-8" can really effect pitch dropping. It's all relative and a timing thing.

 

[Hillhouse]

a coach telling a pitcher to "shorten the stride" is essentially telling the pitcher to "let it go earlier". That's all shortening of the stride does, it brings the release point up quicker.

Personally, I don't think anyone has to shorten their stride to find the release point, it can be done with repetition and practice. It's just a timing issue. Shortening the stride can lead to some things which aren't so good: disruption of mechanics, tipping the pitch to the hitter, inability to regain rhythm after changing the step, etc. I'm not going to say I have NEVER told a pitcher to do this shorter stride, I have. But, it's a last resort for someone who just can't find the release point. Once we get it, I'll get her going right back to normal stride for the same pitch.

 

[ArmWhip]

For my pitchers that naturally throw topspin I don't teach a drop. Trying to put extra topspin on the ball always seems to lead to problems. For those that don't throw topspin we work on getting good 6-12 spin.

 

[radness]

Like off-speed drop also!

 

[Gags]

For my pitchers that naturally throw topspin I don't teach a drop. Trying to put extra topspin on the ball always seems to lead to problems. For those that don't throw topspin we work on getting good 6-12 spin.

So if a pitcher already has 6-12 spin, do you just call it a drop and move on to the next pitch? If the spin is right, is it just a matter of throwing it harder to get more drop? I guess I'm confused by the "extra topspin" phrase - in your opinion, is a drop ball just a FB with 6-12 spin, or is there something else that needs to occur (other than increasing spin rate) to get more downward movement?

 

[Bullseye]

a coach telling a pitcher to "shorten the stride" is essentially telling the pitcher to "let it go earlier". That's all shortening of the stride does, it brings the release point up quicker.

Personally, I don't think anyone has to shorten their stride to find the release point, it can be done with repetition and practice. It's just a timing issue. Shortening the stride can lead to some things which aren't so good: disruption of mechanics, tipping the pitch to the hitter, inability to regain rhythm after changing the step, etc. I'm not going to say I have NEVER told a pitcher to do this shorter stride, I have. But, it's a last resort for someone who just can't find the release point. Once we get it, I'll get her going right back to normal stride for the same pitch.

This describes how dd found a better release point by shortening her stride 6".
Kept it as her normal.

 

[lhowser]

a coach telling a pitcher to "shorten the stride" is essentially telling the pitcher to "let it go earlier". That's all shortening of the stride does, it brings the release point up quicker.

Personally, I don't think anyone has to shorten their stride to find the release point, it can be done with repetition and practice. It's just a timing issue. Shortening the stride can lead to some things which aren't so good: disruption of mechanics, tipping the pitch to the hitter, inability to regain rhythm after changing the step, etc. I'm not going to say I have NEVER told a pitcher to do this shorter stride, I have. But, it's a last resort for someone who just can't find the release point. Once we get it, I'll get her going right back to normal stride for the same pitch.

Very good! Shortening the stride changes the release point to earlier. When it is earlier the ball is not thrown slightly uphill (like a fastball) and so gravity kicks in and the ball drops. Same idea for the peel and turnover drop. The ball gets released earlier than a fastball sooooo...you've got a drop ball.

 

[ArmWhip]

So if a pitcher already has 6-12 spin, do you just call it a drop and move on to the next pitch? If the spin is right, is it just a matter of throwing it harder to get more drop? I guess I'm confused by the "extra topspin" phrase - in your opinion, is a drop ball just a FB with 6-12 spin, or is there something else that needs to occur (other than increasing spin rate) to get more downward movement?

I tell them they have a topspin fastball and that some people will call it a drop. Since it's also their fastball they are already throwing it at max velocity. It seems that whenever I tell them to put extra top spin on the ball by tipping back their wrist or releasing it earlier or 'peeling' up the back of the ball they lose some consistency. I've worked with pitchers that have a 6-12 fastball and a drop and I don't seeing much of a difference. If I had a RevFire I might think differently. Whenever I catch for one my pitchers I frequently give them feedback on their spin. It's common for a pitcher to throw a different spin, and when I bring it to their attention, they have no idea what they did differently.

A typical fastball that I see has topspin with the axis tipped about 30 degrees off line. In this case we'll work on a 6-12 spin pitch. Sometimes they will keep both pitches, sometimes the 6-12 becomes the fastball.