Breaking Pitches and Wear and Tear on the Arm

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Jul 17, 2012
1,091
38
Just a question out there to the masses with pitchers who have been throwing the movement pitches.

My DD is 12, playing 14U this year and has survived on Velocity. Last year she added a change that was hit and miss....but just knowing it was there helped her FB. I don't know how well that's going to work for her this year. She's probably in the average 14U velocity range.

She just started working on the roll over drop with her PC. I am pleasantly surprised how well she's picking it up. She's around the strikezone...but often in the dirt before the plate.

My concern is I notice her doing a lot of arm and wrist shaking when she's working on it during practices and at her lessons. Mechanically, she's "safe" as far as my uneducated brain thinks. Arm is tight to the torso at the bottom and the shoulder isn't flying out. Rotation is almost always a dead 12-6 spin and her revs vary from 14 to 17 on the RevFire. It's got the makings of a great out pitch for her......but I'm concerned about how much we should work on it due to the signs I'm seeing. When I ask her, she tells me it doesn't hurt....but she feels tight in her forearm and wrist after a series of a dozen or more in a row. Like I said...it's new to her body...so I'm thinking it's muscles she's using that she's never used before. Is this typical with regard to the new release patterns that the arm might get a little sore/tight....similar to the feeling a weight lifter might have after working a muscle for the first few times??
 
Nov 7, 2014
483
0
I am not a firm believer in the roll over drop especially at 12. I much prefer the peel or variation of it
 
Jan 4, 2012
3,852
38
OH-IO
Never worked on that pitch. One thing I picked up from learning the CU's is that you don't want to throw the same pitch twice. Keep them to every other one in pratice. Another thing we do with drop pratice, is keep a marker of some kind out @ 3-5' so you can see where it starts breaking down. Sure you know this, but just reminding you.

Liike the CU/FB combo... I like the Drop/Rise. We work on them together. I went with the finger pressure dynamic ala Xpitcher.

Good lookin out. :cool:
 
Jul 17, 2012
1,091
38
I know this thread didn't generate much interest....but for those of you that may have also wondered, but not had the experience to comment.... I will share what I know now. The tightness and soreness has subsided 100% as I suspected it would.
 

gvm

Sep 3, 2010
311
18
just be smart because it is a lot of wear and tear on a young wrist/arm. if it gets uncomfortable move onto the change up, then when it feels a little better go back to it. you don't want to hurt her wrist ,its a long recovery
 

JJS

Jan 9, 2015
276
0
My concern is I notice her doing a lot of arm and wrist shaking when she's working on it during practices and at her lessons.

My DD throws this pitch, and throws it pretty well. The "arm/hand shaking" is a defense mechanism that I have seen a bunch out of girls this age. Throw a bad pitch, and they shake their hand. So, I am guessing that is the response that you are seeing.

A little help on this pitch for your DD... When girls are learning this pitch they tend to "smother" the ball into the ground because they think a drop is always supposed to be low. Two biggest mistakes I have seen on this pitch(no expert just personal experience) are young girls will bend at the hips because a PC has told them to get their weight forward. This creates a "bowling" motion with the arm stuck behind the body, and the ball pushed into the ground. Weight forward is correct, but the pitcher still needs to be tall.
The second thing to watch on this pitch is the shoulder angle. It may be too angled into the dirt towards home. A 1+/- inch adjustment up or down can really change the trajectory of the roll over drop.

Most probably, it is issue #1, but without video who knows for sure. Again, I am no expert, but have worked a bunch with this particular pitch.

$0.02
 

javasource

6-4-3 = 2
May 6, 2013
1,347
48
Western NY
Perhaps the tension in the forearm and wrist she feels afterwards was a result of trying to rollover the ball with tension in her wrist and forearm... like turn a doorknob style? Not the way to throw it, IMO. Is this pitch as fast as her FB? What was the instruction she received?
 
Dec 5, 2012
4,143
63
Mid West
A good peel drop with complete IR will finish with the palm down. Most people think this this a rollover. Zero strain on the arm and wrist if done correctly. Spin should be manipulated with the fingers more so than the arm, wrist, or step direction.
 
Jan 18, 2011
196
0
I'm of the opinion that no pitch should hurt. I don't understand why throwing breaking balls would have any different "wear and tear" on a arm as to any other pitch. I believe you can have over use but I don't think it would be because of the pitch you are throwing.

But there are people here more knowledgeable than I and I'm still learning, always learning.
 
Oct 22, 2009
1,781
0
You have other issues beyond shoulders with college and pro pitchers, such as torn biceps, swelling, stress fractures, numbness and tingling, ripped up skin/nails/blisters on the fingers. Hard to say whether it would change if they just threw fastballs

Well the game would change that's for sure.
 

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