Wrist confusion

[Amy in AZ.]

It's my understanding that a former very famous college pitcher who now coaches was encouraging one of my students to actually work on throwing the ball over the backstop

Yes, to this. I saw it just the other day. I don't mean that I agree with it. I mean I saw it and just shook my head.

 

[sanchosj]

I think that she should try the peel drop as an addition to the roll over.The flip change is very hard to master and it confusses muscle memory.Why not try a simple palm change or circle change or knuckle change with the middle fingernail dug into the seam?Steve

 

[Gbucz]

Sanchosj, I agree with the flip change being a hard pitch for the same reason of muscle confusion. I also do not like it as most batters can recognize it early enough to adjust. My DD team crushed a girl when they saw it. Pitcher was effective at throwing it but our girls quickly learned that if they saw the back of the hand just before release they sat down and crushed the pitch. It was the girl's killer pitch and because it was easily recognized we destroyed the team.

All pitches should look the same to the batter. My DD started with circle grip palm change and now curls the middle finger. She throws a "fastball", wrist snap and all, and great control. Batters bite on it constantly and cannot tell the difference until they are swinging at air. When she throws it twice in a row (nobody would do that! would they?) they really get frustrated which sets up a flamer down the middle to make them really look stupid.

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

My DD is a some-what beginning pitcher. She is getting a late start at pitching. Just turned 14 and starting over on pitching. Trying to get ready for HS ball. She primarily throws fastball, flip change and drop. She has always had a real good snap on her fastball. Since starting to throw the roll-over drop she is starting to lose the good fastball snap. Many times her fastball release is somewhere between the fastball and drop. Occasionally it even comes out with the flip change release. She is just having trouble singling out each release, sometimes throwing a combination of two spins on her fastball.

Is this just going to take repitition to correct? Or is there something else we can try? Sometimes I think it's just a lack of focus, but I can see the frustration in her when she combines two spins and can't throw her fastball as well as she is capable. Pitching coach suggested throwing three fastballs to every drop, trying to make sure the fastball has the right snap. Just looking for any additional input. I'm sure this is fairly common with new pitchers. Thanks.

Repetition and focus on correct mechanics for each pitch.

My DD has been pitching for 5 years. For the first 4 years she focused on speed and location and for the last year she has focused on spin. I know exactly what you mean when you say "I can see the frustration in her when"...... It has taken 3 months for her to be able to combine the spin with the velocity. She has worked hard almost every day with slow progression, but she is finally back to nearly full velocity, but now with wicked movement.

 

[Ken B]

The info is right at our fingertips. Thanks Mike!