When to Give Up on a Pitch?

[daywalkerdad]

Are you just not seeing drop or not able to locate it?
Last fall I was about ready to give up on it did not think it was doing much. Since a fastball drops 6” +/- it was hard to tell from catching. When I saw the video from the side I saw the drop. Wanted to share before you give up watch it from the side.
Was probably the best pitch this season, one game threw it 80% they kept grounding it to short or second.

 

[sluggers]

Sluggers' Paradox (similar to the Fermi Paradox):

If the NCAA pitchers have all these pitches, where are they at the NCAA CWS tournament? Why don't slo-mo cameras pick up the spins? Are aliens coming to Oklahoma City and interfering with the broadcast?

Either (a) there is a giant softball conspiracy dedicated to hiding spins or (b) the pitches don't exist.

(My poor DD threw only a FB and drop. I guess I should return the scholarship money.)

 

[uncdrew]

As I've said before many times, the hardest part about the drop is the simplicity. Too many pitching coaches over complicate this pitch soooo much. Does she have 12/6 spin on her "fastball"? IF so, the rest should be easy. If not, that's what I'd be correcting first and foremost. I'd be curious to hear about why she's having so much trouble with it.

Have you considered changing pitching coaches? That's just a question not necessarily a suggestion. I know everyone likes to believe they have the greatest pitching coach around. Kind of like the Seinfeld joke about how everyone thinks they have the very best doctor. "Oh you're sick? Go see my guy he's the absolute best at fixing that!!" lol

Having a dropball will make her rise seem even better. The 2 pitches should compliment each other. And, I'm a stickler for playing percentages. If I was her team coach, and we're up 1 or 2-0 vs. a really good team, I'd change pitchers to a dropball pitcher for the final 2 innings. % wise, dropballs are hit for HR's less. So, when protecting a 1 or 2 run lead in the 6th or 7th inning, I want my dropball to be my primary pitch.

Not changing pitching coaches. Ours is the best.



But seriously, it's on us much more than anyone else. When we go to lessons and discuss what we all think we should work on, it's never drop balls. If my DD and I wanted it to be, it would be. But drop balls aren't fun to catch and seems we always have another pitch we want to work on.

And we just don't have time. Sucky answer, for sure. Between school and hitting and practices and lessons and being a kid and injuries... It's just hard to make time to work on every pitch. And... we've been spending any time we have on getting the Change Up back to excellent level, as it was falling off a bit.

 

[PJR202]

Sluggers' Paradox (similar to the Fermi Paradox):

If the NCAA pitchers have all these pitches, where are they at the NCAA CWS tournament? Why don't slo-mo cameras pick up the spins? Are aliens coming to Oklahoma City and interfering with the broadcast?

Either (a) there is a giant softball conspiracy dedicated to hiding spins or (b) the pitches don't exist.

(My poor DD threw only a FB and drop. I guess I should return the scholarship money.)

Genuine question. Other than a screwball with 9-3 that moves, what pitches are you NOT seeing in the CWS?

 

[uncdrew]

Are you just not seeing drop or not able to locate it?
Last fall I was about ready to give up on it did not think it was doing much. Since a fastball drops 6” +/- it was hard to tell from catching. When I saw the video from the side I saw the drop. Wanted to share before you give up watch it from the side.
Was probably the best pitch this season, one game threw it 80% they kept grounding it to short or second.

It drops. But she does throw about 30% of them in the dirt. And that makes the pitch callers stop calling them as much, as it can result in runners advancing.

We just need time to work on it. I think she knows what to do, we just need to get consistency with it. And I'll admit, it's not fun to catch as a bucket dad who wears flip flops.

 

[DropcityUSA]

It drops. But she does throw about 30% of them in the dirt. And that makes the pitch callers stop calling them as much, as it can result in runners advancing.

We just need time to work on it. I think she knows what to do, we just need to get consistency with it. And I'll admit, it's not fun to catch as a bucket dad who wears flip flops.

Some umps also won’t call a drop a strike. Ball might go in at the knees but some call it where the catcher catches it. Saw it happen to Gabbie Plain in the WCWS one game.

 

[daywalkerdad]

It drops. But she does throw about 30% of them in the dirt. And that makes the pitch callers stop calling them as much, as it can result in runners advancing.

We just need time to work on it. I think she knows what to do, we just need to get consistency with it. And I'll admit, it's not fun to catch as a bucket dad who wears flip flops.

I hate catching it.
It will be in the dirt sometimes That is why catching is so important. The other issue is sometimes it is called a strike, sometimes it is not.

 

[sluggers]

Genuine question. Other than a screwball with 9-3 that moves, what pitches are you NOT seeing in the CWS?

In the last CWS, I didn't see anything other than bullet spin pitches and some change-ups. I don't remember any drops, but maybe there were some. (It's possible to get some movement with a bullet spin pitch.) In previous CWSs, pitchers threw riseballs with 6-12 spin and drop balls.

If you watch MLB WS, you see all kinds of different spins on the ball. Most MLB pitches are impossible to duplicate in softball because of the rule-required vertical arm
slot.

 

[uncdrew]

Some umps also won’t call a drop a strike. Ball might go in at the knees but some call it where the catcher catches it. Saw it happen to Gabbie Plain in the WCWS one game.

Ugh, yeah. I do recall her throwing a great one last week and it was called a ball.

 

[sluggers]

Between school and hitting and practices and lessons and being a kid and injuries... It's just hard to make time to work on every pitch.

And that is EXACTLY why your DD has to pick a pitch (drop or rise) and work on that one. There will never be the time for you DD to learn several different pitches.

Compare that with MLB pitchers. They start full-time at 18YOA or 19YOA. Even then, it will take them 3 or 4 years to learn maybe 3 pitches. Little Suzy, who is squeezing in softball pitching between piano lessons and studying for an Algrebra test, is supposed to know 6 pitches by the time she is 14YOA.