Help! Lack of Drop Ball Bite

[speedseeker11]

Personally think a traditional peel drop is hard to throw with true IR. Pronation drop like Pauly teaches or Hillhouse drop would work better IMO.

I love setting a Tincher Band about 4 feet in front of home plate and trying to hit it and throwing drop. Gives you an idea of how much dropping and how high the ball has to be.

Just ordered the Tincher band you mentioned. We'll give it a try. Her PC uses them and I do see it help when we're there.

 

[speedseeker11]

Personally think a traditional peel drop is hard to throw with true IR. Pronation drop like Pauly teaches or Hillhouse drop would work better IMO.

I love setting a Tincher Band about 4 feet in front of home plate and trying to hit it and throwing drop. Gives you an idea of how much dropping and how high the ball has to be.

"Pronation Drop"? Can you expand? Or provide a link?

 

[TonyK]

Assuming good 12-6 spin axis based on the coach "seeing good spin" then maybe just not enough spin rate yet to offset the more upward trajectory of the higher pitches.

Also, a "pronation" drop is basically what is described in the "IR in the Classroom" thread. 12-6 spin naturally created by good IR mechanics.

 

[Shiloh]

This is sort of what I was thinking as well, as a layperson of course. She's 5'4" so not super tall and not "big handed" so to speak. As to feeling the difference, I'll have to ask her...not something I've thought to ask. I'll get back to you on that one.

OK great.

Just last weekend another pitching parent mentioned to me that his DD was too short to throw a drop. I had never thought about that before but it does make some sense. She's 5'4".

 

[ArmWhip]

You have to be sure you know what type of spin she's putting on the ball and if it changes from pitch to pitch, otherwise it's just speculation. Take a marker and put quarter size spots on the ball, this will allow you see the spin. If the spin changes from the pitch that drops to the one that doesn't then you know what the issue is and where to start. And for IR just use your phone and take some video in slow motion. If her elbow is leading down into release and her hand is on the side of the ball you're good, if her hand is getting on top of the ball coming into release then she's pushing and not using IR efficiently.

 

[El Oso]

Would love to see some video because it sounds like her posture might be an issue as well. My DD has a tough time with the drop when she stays too far back.

 

[Hillhouse]

OK great.

Just last weekend another pitching parent mentioned to me that his DD was too short to throw a drop. I had never thought about that before but it does make some sense. She's 5'4".

Shiloh, I'm 100000% baffled by how that made sense to you. I keep writing things and then deleting them here because I don't want to sound insulting. But, for the life of me, I cannot understand how that makes sense. If someone is "too short" to throw a drop, does that means someone can be too tall to throw a rise? Please explain how someone's size effects how much and what kind of spin they put on the ball.

You mentioned that another pitching parent had said that to you. I assume their pitching coach is who told them this. I'd love to ask that coach how tall someone has to be to throw a drop if 5'4 is too small. Is 5'5 the winning height? 5'6? What is the cut off size that this coach believes is too small?

 

[Rolling Hard]

A belt high dropball is a meatball. So is a thigh high rise ball. I know some throw a low riseball but unless it is right at the knees and the ump is really good it is not effective imo.

 

[Shiloh]

Shiloh, I'm 100000% baffled by how that made sense to you. I keep writing things and then deleting them here because I don't want to sound insulting. But, for the life of me, I cannot understand how that makes sense. If someone is "too short" to throw a drop, does that means someone can be too tall to throw a rise? Please explain how someone's size effects how much and what kind of spin they put on the ball.

You mentioned that another pitching parent had said that to you. I assume their pitching coach is who told them this. I'd love to ask that coach how tall someone has to be to throw a drop if 5'4 is too small. Is 5'5 the winning height? 5'6? What is the cut off size that this coach believes is too small?

Let's say someone was physiologically normal but 4-1/2 ft tall. Would they be able to throw a drop for a strike against typical height batters? How about if they were 4 ft tall? How about 3-1/2 ft tall?

I think we can agree that there's some lower bound on height that precludes being able to throw an effective drop for a strike. I don't know where that lower bound is, but I know it exists.

Haven't thought about it before but I suppose someone say 8' tall might have trouble throwing a rise to say a 5' tall batter. Imagine how far they would have to stride to get to an effective release point and how close they'd be when they released the ball. Would that even be legal??

OK, so another pitcher's dad suggested to me that his 5'4" DD was too short to throw an effective drop. OK by me; makes sense that someone shorter wouldn't be able to use a drop as effectively as someone taller. Do I know if 5'4" is the cutoff? No, of course not. My DD is 5'10".

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BTW these mental images of very tall and very short pitchers throwing to typical height batters are cracking me up.
Thanks for the prompt. I'll be laughing to myself all night.

 

[Hillhouse]

A belt high dropball is a meatball. So is a thigh high rise ball. I know some throw a low riseball but unless it is right at the knees and the ump is really good it is not effective imo.

10,000% disagree. A good drop ball pitcher who has a low rise can drive a team insane. I do agree that the pitch has to be spotted correctly. Thigh high is too high and often results in a long home run.