So.....Peel or Roll-over....why is one better then the other?

[Rick Pauly]

Inde
Hope this drill helps a bit.


This is a great drill to help learn the "snapover" dropball. This drill uses a rubber cannonball...a great pitching tool.
Pitcher steps one stride to her right; catcher steps one stride to her right...creating a fairly significant angle. Pitcher strides straight (not at catcher) and throws a fastball that bounces half way to the catcher. Note the wrist and finger action....it is what I term a snapover dropball. Very natural and easy to learn.

Love some teaching ideas Rick on the snap drop

 

[DB1]

Boardmember or others. Can anyone outline a basic progression for learning the drop? We've recently started working on it and my DD can throw balls that drop fairly consistent. Every once in awhile, the stars align and the ball really breaks sharp and is much different than before. We've tried the drills shown and they don't seem to help with becoming more consistent. Is it repetition as she says she can feel what's different, but just has a hard time reproducing it or are there any other things we can try to become more consistent?

Thanks!

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

DB1 ... if a pitcher has mastered a 12/6 IR-Fastball, then they already have a dropball.

Mike White stressed to me that I remove the word 'fastball' from my vocabulary. From his way of thinking there was no such thing as a 'fastball'.

 

[Rick Pauly]

DB1
Check out post #71 on page 8 of this thread. Should give you an idea of things to work on.

Boardmember or others. Can anyone outline a basic progression for learning the drop? We've recently started working on it and my DD can throw balls that drop fairly consistent. Every once in awhile, the stars align and the ball really breaks sharp and is much different than before. We've tried the drills shown and they don't seem to help with becoming more consistent. Is it repetition as she says she can feel what's different, but just has a hard time reproducing it or are there any other things we can try to become more consistent?

Thanks!

 

[sluggers]

Is it repetition as she says she can feel what's different, but just has a hard time reproducing it or are there any other things we can try to become more consistent?

Mainly repetition. Your job is to come up with different ways to have her pitch so that it isn't ridiculously boring.

The other thing is to help her focus on the "feel" when she throws it correctly. After she throws a good drop, ask her what it felt like. Have her describe the feel of the wrist and hand in throwing the ball.

Here are a couple of drills:

Bucket toss:

1) You need a bucket of balls. Set up some kind of barrier between the pitcher and the plate. Lay your pickle bucket down where the plate is supposed to be, with the opening facing the pitcher. Have your DD throw the ball over the barrier and into the bucket.

2) Drop ball bowling. Same as before with the barrier, but you put soda cans on the inside corner of the plate and the outside corner of the plate. Have her try to knock down the soda cans.

You start with the barrier at 25 feet from the plate. As she gets better, you move the barrier closer to the plate.

Here is another drill:

[video=youtube_share;LDU6KNYVgEE]http://youtu.be/LDU6KNYVgEE[/video]

 

[javasource]

Can anyone outline a basic progression for learning the drop?

Javasource's Magical Drop Ball Tutorial

Step 1

Step 2

Congratulations! You now throw a drop ball! (I'm not being facetious, either.)

From here, you can style it as you like. Few ideas, try them all, and use what works best for you:

Prerequisite - Taped Ball: For whatever reason, people actually own balls without a taped or drawn line... Why?!

Stride Marking: Mark your normal stride point, and then mark one stride foot-length less. Nothing else changes. Hitting this new mark will shift your posture forward, thus raising your release just a bit. Glove shoulder will be slightly forward. This is not a bend at the waist, the stride hip is lower, too. Hips and shoulder line are still parallel.

Think Thumb: Same grip - but instead of putting the thumb over the lace, put it under. Don't understand? Grab a ball and do it. Hold ball with this grip at approximate release point, with thumb forward, visualize running the thumb down the front of the ball; pushing against the seam. The reality? The thumb is off first, but because the grip puts the ball on the fingertips more, this lack of grip surface/friction enhances the finger pressure off the middle finger. The thumb queue also helps some get 6/12 easier, and creates a slightly later release point.

Less Closing: I was going to say stay open more... Can enhance I/R, as you end up throwing across the body.

Stride Marking L/R: Want a crop? A scrop? WHOLE BODY LEAN in direction of desired pitch. Striding a little to the left or right helps get that lean going. It's NOT a bend, as Rick P said, spine remains perpendicular. This change in stride angle changes the release angle, which changes the axis angle.

Exaggerated Release: This is often the "different strokes, for different folks" item. These happen after the ball leaves the hand - but for some, thinking of it 'magically' helps them accomplish their drop. 1) Hand to ground... Point the hand down after release... 2) Roll the arm after release... think long-axis rotation, not just the forearm 3) Don't do anything different, and enjoy your hard-to-hit inside drop.

End Tutorial

You are now the proud owner of your very own Drop Ball!!! At the end of the day, you can name it whatever you like. I like this name: Drop ball.

Want to know what I call my off-speed drop ball???!!! An Off-Speed Drop Ball. Inside? Inside Drop Ball. Outside? Outside Drop Ball! Pretty fancy, I know...

I could care less if it's a peel, turnover, crop, scrop, etc... These names just cause confusion... and make a REALLY SIMPLE pitch (that your DD is most likely already throwing), much more complicated than it needs to be.

The truth is this: Hitting one location with a drop ball is not the goal. You should be able to hit all locations. It's not really a different pitch, IMO. It's a different location... and this is what you should be working towards.

So... moral of the story: K.I.S.S.

 

[Perfect Circle]

Nice organized outline JS !!! We call ours..the "Off the Table Drop". Looking for it to start its magic 3-5' out in front of the plate, but yet not hit the ground, requiring worlds greatest catcher...even for practice... Now that's what I call K.I.S.... & simply 2 seams...

 

[DB1]

Thanks Sluggers and Java! As a dad trying to help your information helped out quite a bit. Rick's earlier post makes sense, but how to actually do it was kind of vague. It seems odd to me that it sounds so simple. There has to be a little more to it, because why aren't drop ball pitchers more prevalent? Maybe they are more prevalent, as I'm fairly new to softball, but in our area, very few pitchers throw what I would consider a decent drop.

As I mentioned earlier, she has thrown very good drops albeit not very consistent. Hopefully the tips and repetition will make that much more consistent.

Thanks again!

 

[Madsdad]

CoachFP,

Kind of inappropriate, she was a very good pitcher. My dd works closely with her old college coach, and remembers her well. Let's try to keep it friendly, no need for the comment even if it was in jest. JMHO

 

[CoachFP]

What she's doing doesn't even look like it's reasonable. It's nothing that resembles what could happen at anytime on a pitch. It is horrible looking at best. You say inappropriate, I say worthless.