Looking for help on the peel drop

[Tatonka]

Yes sir. Front hip for RHP would be the left hip. One of the best cues my dd received to help achieve proper hip position was to imagine throwing her drop striding down a hill (as if on a baseball pitcher's mound) and opposite for rise.

Yes, to this. Body awareness is key to make this happen with the proper timing.

 

[Fury_Mike]

Slugger's daughter does not have what I consider to be a 'classic' peel drop action, she rolls over it a little. If you look at her follow through you can see this. Cat Osterman's peel follow through is different. It will be interesting to see what Bill H says if he checks in.

A rollover drop often has some curve spin on it so it breaks down and away from a righty. I typically teach that action for a hard curveball vs a palm up curve which is often slower.

There are many ways to spin a ball which is why it's a good idea to experiment with different grips and actions. As always it is very important for a pitcher to be able to recognize the spin on a ball so that she has feedback for what she is doing.

Armwhip, this is the first I’ve heard of using rollover to throw the peel as well. For me it’s always been more of getting to fingers on top of the ball and leading with the heal of the hand. I also teach the middle and ring finger to be together and both split from the pointer finger.

BH, how do you teach it?

 

[ArmWhip]

The peel and rollover are two ways to get topspin on the ball. From the video it looks to me like Slugger's daughter uses a little bit of both methods.

 

[Ken B]

Since an IR release should generate a 1/7 tilt spin wouldn't that alone cause drop if spin rate was sufficient?

It will drop, but the closer the axis is perpendicular to the trajectory, the more pronounced the drop. It really makes a noticeable difference and the work put in to achieve perfect spin is well worth it.

 

[Ken B]

I will sometimes use the rollover cue with girls to "trick" the hand into getting into the correct position, but if you show them a clip in slow motion, they can see what's really going on.

I like a rollover release for an off-speed drop. Grip it so the pinky and ring fingers are in the spots where the index and middle would go, then work for a feel of rolling the palm over the top of the ball and releasing off the tips of the ring and pinky fingertips. With a little work, you can get something in between a change a drop, but with 12/6 rotation.

 

[radness]

There are many ways to spin a ball which is why it's a good idea to experiment with different grips and actions.

Agree!
Like that the many ways/differences add to the difficulty of hitters trying to read pitches.

 

[sluggers]

The peel and rollover are two ways to get topspin on the ball. From the video it looks to me like Slugger's daughter uses a little bit of both methods.

The fingers are always behind the ball at release. The fingers have to be moving up at release, otherwise the ball isn't going to get the 12-6 spin.

The only 100% peel drops are 12YOA kids who throw 40MPH and some instructional videos. As soon as the players start throwing the ball in the game, you see the follow through with the arm down.

PCs who can teach kids to throw movement pitchers are worth their weight in gold. It is very difficult to do, and the PCs who can do it (@Hillhouse and @riseball being examples), deserve a lot of respect.

 

[ArmWhip]

I just rewatched Cat O in a 2006 WCWS game against Az. St. I replayed a number of her pitches and did not see any where she followed through like the picture posted above. Her drops had a much higher finish with her hand at shoulder height. I also watched a summary of her no hitter against Australia. The link for some of that game follows. The second pitch thrown is a clearly a drop and it does not have that contorted, twisting finish. Maybe she has changed how she throws her, I doubt it. The finish in that picture must be for another pitch, she pulls up on the back of the and does not roll over it.

 

[ArmWhip]

Here is a link to a Mizuno ad with Jennie Finch. At the very end is a good slo-mo of her throwing her drop, you can plainly see the top spin, and she has a high finish, not the contorted rollover arm twister in the picture. Skip to 1:30 and watch how she does it.

 

[sluggers]

Here is a link to a Mizuno ad with Jennie Finch. At the very end is a good slo-mo of her throwing her drop, you can plainly see the top spin.

Top spin doesn't make it a drop ball.

"Pitching" is about using pitches in combination. The important factor is "how much and in what direction does a pitch move relative to the other pitches". *IN A GAME*, it doesn't matter how much a pitch moves relative to a non-existent theoretical pitch with no spin.

A kid can have perfect 12-6 topspin at 30RPS. In a game, it doesn't matter *UNLESS* the kid has a second pitch with different spin.

The amount of movement of a drop ball is directly proportional to the RPS. That is, a 12-6 rotation pitch with 30 RPS will drop more than a 12-6 rotation pitch with 15 RPS.

My DD threw a fastball and a drop. Her fastball had 12-6 spin at 10 RPS. She also threw her drop with 12-6 spin at 30RPS. Both pitches drop compared to the non-existent theoretical no-spin pitch, but the 30RPS pitch moved a heck of a lot more than the 10RPS pitch. The 30RPS pitch is a "drop ball".

Suppose you have a kid with a 30 RPS riseball. If the kid is throwing a 10 RPS 12-6 fastball and a 12-6 15 RPS pitch, then the 15RPS pitch is a drop ball.

If a kid doesn't have a riseball, and is throwing just 10RPS and 15RPS 12-6 pitches, then she doesn't have a drop ball because the difference in movement is not enough.