When to teach drop ball

[Mark H]

Well certainly for slappers. Problem with the down and in (rh drop curve) pitch for natural lefties is so many of the feast on the low and in pitch compared to rh hitters. Use with caution.

 

[jofus13]

Ah, OK. Most lefties I've seen are slappers, for whatever reason, rather than full-swingers. I was just moving forward with the "break away from the bat plane" idea

 

[SBFAMILY]

Against slappers if they are bailing out to first, you want ot throw down and outside. I agree with Mark H, you throw them down and in it is easy to drag it down the first base line. If a slapper is good , they see mostly high and inside. I think my dd has lost count of how many times she has got hit in the helmet.,

 

[FJRGerry]

Back to original question: most girls learn the drop as their second or third pitch; typically it's fastball/change-up/drop, or fastball/drop/change-up.

Since most girls who are serious about pitching, and have been pitching for some time, the drop would be learned in the first or second year of pitching - this is for girls who practice year round. If your daughter is new to pitching then she should learn the drop ASAP since she's already well behind the curve of more experienced girls. If she's an experienced pitcher and successful with other pitches then I'd say still learn it, but it's not as critical to be learned ASAP.