Teaching to spin

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For her age DD has good speed and good control. We are just working on how to make it move as much as possible. As I stated earlier about 1 in 20 pitches it will dart so much my eyes pop open like how did you do that. As for the 10-4 it may be4-10 she is throwing what we called her drop but she has been feathering it pinky last to leave the ball on top outside of ball. She pitches it straight to the batters hip and it breaks towards the edge of the plate. It works so we use it. I feel that’s not what that pitch is supposed to be doing so Im trying to learn. Im wanting it to drop so we are working on hand straight behind the ball and leaving all fingers at same time. Our tournaments started back up so changes have to stay minimal until we get a break. Thanks for any additional information you can think of.
 

sluggers

Super Moderator
Staff member
May 26, 2008
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Dallas, Texas
What did she do to vary her speeds without making it look different?

Nothing...a little less leg drive. We're not talking about a huge difference in speed--4 or 5 MPH. It was enough to disrupt the batters timing.

Off-speeds are thrown a lot in MLB. It is referred to as "taking something off the pitch".

With an off-speed, you are trying to get a ground ball. A batter isn't going to miss the ball by 12 inches, like with a changeup. It keeps the batter off-balance. And, it makes the full-speed pitches look a lot faster.

Unless a pitcher is throwing 70MPH, a pitcher can't blow pitches by college hitters. A pitcher can vary location, movement and speed of a pitch.

I've never figured out why softball pitchers throw pitch after pitch after pitch the same speed. It makes no sense to me.
 
Last edited:

BigSkyHi

All I know is I don't know
Jan 13, 2020
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2 fantastic points by Sluggers (dare I say the first time we've agreed? lol, I'm kidding). I'd add on to what you said by replying to a comment earlier, someone mentioned Osterman and fastball in the same sentence. I can guarantee you she does not throw a fastball. Nobody at her level does. GROWN MEN throwing 86mph from 42 feet away don't throw a fastball!!!!!!!!!!!

I know the turnover drop was mentioned again, even as an offspeed. I am against this for a couple reasons. First, the motion needs to change when throwing a turnover drop. MOST pitchers don't explode off the rubber the same way and the finish is 180 degrees opposite of what I want when a pitcher whips. 2. Personally I have found when I try changing my motion from pitch to pitch, it messes me up. I want routine. I want consistency. I wanna be smooth. Effortless. And I don't believe that happens when I change my stuff. If I want an offspeed drop, I"ll suck it back into my palm and throw it regular. The grip changes, the mechanics do not. Palm ball and squeezing of fingers takes about 10mph off, give or take.

Ray, what was the speed difference between your DD's drop and her "fastball"? Silly question maybe given the names of the pitches but did she throw her drop harder than the "fastball?"

Bill
Do you work on throwing the 'faster' ball; the 'slower' ball and the 'breaking' ball being in the same slot about halfway to the hitter?
 

sluggers

Super Moderator
Staff member
May 26, 2008
7,133
113
Dallas, Texas
Do you work on throwing the 'faster' ball; the 'slower' ball and the 'breaking' ball being in the same slot about halfway to the hitter?

It is not hard to do. You stand off to the side and have her throw a fastball. You can see the apogee (top of the flight path) for a fastball. You put a physical obstacle (we used a lawn chair) at that point, and have the kid throw drop balls that go over the object and into a bucket laying on its side with the mouth facing the pitcher. The opening of the bucket is at the back tip of home plate.

I think that is why my DD became good with the drop. We had probably 50 balls. So, I would stand next to her and hand her the balls. We would both yell when she got it in the bucket. Then, we would go pick them up and do it again. It was the most fun we had pitching. She kept saying, "Just one more"
 

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