I think "lead with the thumb" can be a decent over-correction cue for some pitchers.
example: my dd "gets" IR. she is palm facing forward over the top, with slight flexion in the elbow, and "stays inside the ball" (leads with the pinkey) down the backside... BUT she tends to STAY inside the ball at release, making it difficult to get true 12-6 drop spin. She's a natural "cupper" and getting her to get a thumb forward/fingers down position at the instant of release for a drop ball has been a struggle for her. We often give her the cue to get the thumb DOWN rather than "lead with the thumb" when working the Drop, but it is pretty similar cue to the OP. She does pronate forearm THROUGH release (as KenB stated, the instant of "thumb forward" should not be discernible in real-time) but the pronation happens a bit late, and her more "cupped" hand-wrist position are things shes been working to work-out of this particular pitch for a while now. Shes made great strides with it this off-season, but shes got a little ways to go. Throws a good "tumbling forward" ball when she wants to now, but its still a bit wobbly work-in-progress...
Here's a still from a recent vid I took of DD to illustrate. The image is at release. You can see her hand still "inside the ball" (thumb orientation is pointing about mid-way between HP and 3B), and her wrist position is a bit flexed and not inline with her forearm as it should be for a drop ball. Also release point is a bit too far forward, and better proximity would be preferred...
example: my dd "gets" IR. she is palm facing forward over the top, with slight flexion in the elbow, and "stays inside the ball" (leads with the pinkey) down the backside... BUT she tends to STAY inside the ball at release, making it difficult to get true 12-6 drop spin. She's a natural "cupper" and getting her to get a thumb forward/fingers down position at the instant of release for a drop ball has been a struggle for her. We often give her the cue to get the thumb DOWN rather than "lead with the thumb" when working the Drop, but it is pretty similar cue to the OP. She does pronate forearm THROUGH release (as KenB stated, the instant of "thumb forward" should not be discernible in real-time) but the pronation happens a bit late, and her more "cupped" hand-wrist position are things shes been working to work-out of this particular pitch for a while now. Shes made great strides with it this off-season, but shes got a little ways to go. Throws a good "tumbling forward" ball when she wants to now, but its still a bit wobbly work-in-progress...
Here's a still from a recent vid I took of DD to illustrate. The image is at release. You can see her hand still "inside the ball" (thumb orientation is pointing about mid-way between HP and 3B), and her wrist position is a bit flexed and not inline with her forearm as it should be for a drop ball. Also release point is a bit too far forward, and better proximity would be preferred...
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