Peel or Rollover drop

[garyt]

My daughter is 14 and will be working on a drop ball this off season.

Which should we work on...Peel or Rollover?

She already has a little experience with something close to a Peel. Her old pitching coach had her pulling back on ball release to create spin. Problem was that if she got it up in the zone at all it didn't break and normally would get crushed.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Ade's Dad]

Will she be looking at throwing a rise in the future? If so,you may want to stay with the peel. A roll over drop and rise are totally opposite and nearly impossible to master both.

 

[rowdy]

Any drop thrown up in the zone will not break as much and will get crushed. The key to being a great pitcher (not average) is total control of your locations and master the correct miss for each pitch. Some misses are balls which don't hurt you, and others are missiles and usually end up getting you pulled.

The other issue is a role over is more likely to create arm issues than the peel for your pitcher. Make sure you as a parent always strell mechanics because everyone else will focus on the speed.

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

The rollover drop is hard on the shoulder and unless your DD has very good mechanics the peel is the best choice IMO.

 

[starsnuffer]

The rollover was invented by a man who figured girls are not strong or fast enough to pitch a peel. I disagree, but you may not.

-W

 

[tojo]

The roll-over is tough on the shoulder if you throw it the wrong way.

 

[Dusty]

The roll-over is tough on the shoulder if you throw it the wrong way.

Agreed, but the peel can also be tough on the shoulder if thrown incorrectly.

 

[bobbyb]

My preference would be the peel...IF she has the hand/finger size to do it...because it can be thrown more similar to other pitches. We do the roll over because my DD has small hands... and could not get enough movement on a peel.

 

[garyt]

hmm...my daughter has small hands too.

 

[fastpitch91]

I teach either one depending on the player. My bias is that for girls they can get higher spin rotation on the ball with the rollover than they can with peel, but a lot depends on the size of their hand and fingers. Clearly there are men and women who throw a peel with enough spinto make it break down real well. Peel is a lot easier to learn as it is not a lot different than a fastball and mostly a focus on a slightly earlier release point and a good hard spin.

We experiment and practice with both and see what works.

With the rollover and proper teaching and mechanics the shoulder is not an issue. The shoulder getting into the pitch is often coupled withthe advice to shorten the stride. I find that the exact same stride as a fast ball and lots or work on spinning the ball gets the result and keeps the shoulder out of play and not an issue.

and any drop ball thrown too high is a homerun waiting to happen. Great spin on a drop ball will induce lets say about 10-12 inches of drop. Gravity gets you 3 feet of drop from the mound to home (yep few realize that but its true go ask a physicsist or engineer). So your fastball is actually thrown with a slight upward velocity at release to make it go "flat". release it earlier and it will drop thanks to gravity. Now gravity's drop is not sharp but steady. Add the spin and it drops hard at the end.

BUT if you release late with and significant upward velocity no amount of spin will save you and the drop will hang and kaboom away it goes. Same for peel or rollover. Fact is most pitches that are released a bit "late" are slower cause they miss that magic point where the legs, elbow, wrist all "snap' together that gives speed. few mph slower, waist high, mmmm tasty.......

and there is no reason a pitcher can't throw drops (any style) and rises. all the good ones do. Most are better at one or the other but that is often a matter of working harder at one than the other or using one or the other more based on early success.