Carly
Pitching Coach
When wisdom comes around, people had better take notice. Carly's post is excellent. Sluggers.
The only thing that is necessary for college is throwing a few pitches really really well. It really doesn't matter WHAT those pitches are (unless the coach at your target college is closed-minded and doesn't believe in certain pitches... but that's a whole different can of worms); It matters how good they are and if they get people out. Sure, lots of elite pitchers throw/have thrown terrific drops. That's because the drop is/was their best pitch. Lots of elite pitchers never threw drops too, because something else was their best pitch. At 13, you probably do need to go through a few to find out what your best pitch is... but you do have to be careful to keep a balance between discovery/experimentation and just ending up with 6 lousy pitches, as others have said. A good pitching coach should be able to see what your daughter's hand and body want to do naturally and help you determine what pitches to try first based on which are most likely to succeed.
Pitches get reputations as "gimmicks" when there are a whole bunch of pitchers around who don't throw them well. Sure, a drop curve is a poorly thrown drop if you can't throw either of them right, just like any other movement pitch is just a really terrible slow fastball if you don't throw it right. If you CAN truly command a pitch, it's a different story.
I don't usually teach the drop curve as its own pitch unless I see that it would benefit a pitcher. I had one pitcher whose only two movement pitches were the drop and the drop curve. They were distinctly different and both very nasty. We moved to the drop curve when she couldn't get the regular curve; her hand just didn't want to do anything but turn over hard.
My DD (13) throws a curve...most times...should she be learning the drop curve also? I have heard opinions around here both ways. One camp says it is a gimmick pitch and the other says it is necessary for college ball. Her current PC does not teach a drop curve or a drop change. Is this a needed pitch going forward?
The only thing that is necessary for college is throwing a few pitches really really well. It really doesn't matter WHAT those pitches are (unless the coach at your target college is closed-minded and doesn't believe in certain pitches... but that's a whole different can of worms); It matters how good they are and if they get people out. Sure, lots of elite pitchers throw/have thrown terrific drops. That's because the drop is/was their best pitch. Lots of elite pitchers never threw drops too, because something else was their best pitch. At 13, you probably do need to go through a few to find out what your best pitch is... but you do have to be careful to keep a balance between discovery/experimentation and just ending up with 6 lousy pitches, as others have said. A good pitching coach should be able to see what your daughter's hand and body want to do naturally and help you determine what pitches to try first based on which are most likely to succeed.
Pitches get reputations as "gimmicks" when there are a whole bunch of pitchers around who don't throw them well. Sure, a drop curve is a poorly thrown drop if you can't throw either of them right, just like any other movement pitch is just a really terrible slow fastball if you don't throw it right. If you CAN truly command a pitch, it's a different story.
I don't usually teach the drop curve as its own pitch unless I see that it would benefit a pitcher. I had one pitcher whose only two movement pitches were the drop and the drop curve. They were distinctly different and both very nasty. We moved to the drop curve when she couldn't get the regular curve; her hand just didn't want to do anything but turn over hard.
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