Pitching and Pitchers Discussion "High" Drop ball

[FastBat]

The drop has been discussed before, but I am asking specifically about a drop ball that is deliberately thrown above the batter's belt buckle.

Has anyone ever heard of a pitcher with a true "High" drop ball as a pitch they throw?
What would the disadvantages/advantages be?


My dd throws a drop and when she tries to really spin it down, more with her arm or if she isn't getting over her front side, she will throw her drop pitch high and it has a little bite down, at the end. I feel it is hard of batters to hit. I think it might be a good pitch to work on throwing high, but I haven't heard much about doing that?

 

[Stedman00]

The biggest problems I see with intentionally throwing a drop at the strike zone, is that if it drops too far it will get dropped over the fence or in the grass somewhere. PLUS good hitters tend to lay off high fastballs anyway unless they are confident that they can rip it.

And umps tend to not call that letter high pitch as a strike anyway.

might work once or twice, but much better off throwing that drop at the knee level and other pitches up that move out of the zone, not into it. IMHO.

 

[cobb_of_fury]

You always want to take into consideration what will happen if a movement pitch doesn't move correctly, especially at the young ages. You always want to put your pitcher in the best position to be successful -
Once they have shown COMPLETE mastery of a pitch you can start to move it to a more Dangerous location but till then you don't want that miss pitch to be a Go Ball.

 

[FastBat]

I spoke with my dd's pitching coach today. I asked what my dd should focus on in the future, she is headed into her 12 year old summer. She suggested having her throw two pitches really well, besides her fastball, but keep her 2-3 extra pitches and throw them occasionally each game. One of the pitch's she suggested, my dd has been throwing in games for over a year, the other she has been throwing since June. I notice it's the biggest leap to go from practice to games with a new pitch. Amazingly she did not suggest her drop as one of her core, and my dd throws it so well. But, it's one of the harder pitches to catch and coaches seem to not throw it with runners on base.

 

[Miller]

A good drop can be a pitchers best friend. If it's high I would say she is rolling the shoulder and not snapping it. I would personally never want a "high' drop. Good sharp break at the end equals outs.

 

[manitoudan]

Sounds like a bad idea to me , but I'm not a pitching guy , BUT , throwing a pitch no one else does could fool hitters for a period of time . If I'm going to go up in the zone its with the rise . As an observer of hitters trying not to get burnt by high strikes the most common mistake is swing UNDER the pitch ( like 100% of the time ) so a pitch dropping more INTO the plane of a hitters swing sounds self defeating to me .

 

[Pacerdad57]

Anytime you go around the belt with a pitch that doesn't break like it should, you're gonna get hammered by the good hitters. my DD's pitching coach has always been nothing but down, down, down, nibble the corners. anything flat or above the belt (other than her rise) is a mistake and you WILL end up paying for it.
A good drop[ is one of the best pitches you can have, a fastball will get timed up by the good hitters. You need movement, good sharp breaks. stay out over the front knee and drive the thumb down hard on the drop, and it becomes almost un-hittable, and if it is hit, you're usually just driving it into the ground. i too would stay away from a "high" drop, just a bit too high and it drops into someone's wheelhouse.

 

[dalemurphy3]

Wouldn't a high drop ball be called a hanging drop?? My daughter is in 18U now and what I was always told was that 10-12U you work on placing the ball inside and out. Always keep the ball low so they do not hurt you and practice getting as much spin on the ball as possible. As you get stronger and older then you start working Up and down. We started adding (true rise ball) when she started 15U to be ready for 16U. At 12U I would think mechanics and placement should be priority. I could always tell when my daughter was going to have a good day, by the way she threw her morning warm ups. Good spin, good location, and kept ball down and inside on both sides of the plate and when you looked at the mound at the end of the game you saw a pretty C dug deep into the ground. Think a high drop would flatten out and get hit hard, a good drop always looks like money to the hitter till the last moment, thus why I have so many bruised legs from getting hit by my DD.

As she gets older look out fellow bucket Brigader. Was just talking to my fellow bucket dad at school ball and his daughter put one straight on the knee cap and he could hardly walk. Got to love it, enjoy the ride, 12U is great wait till 16U when you are told to get to the out field.

 

[4TheLoveOfTheGame]

The movement she's getting for the velocity she's losing throwing a "high drop" as opposed to her fastball, would seem akin to me to throwing a change that's not slow enough and doesn't break enough. I wouldn't encourage it, but too each his own. I look at the drop as a pitch that starts low (knee-mid thigh) in the zone (looking like a fastball) and falls out of the zone when it crosses the plate. Most of the time it's going to be a swing and miss pitch rather than a pitch that's a called strike. I kind of doubt most coaches at the 12U and maybe even 14U level are going to feel comfortable calling it unless one of the following are the case: the pitcher has mastered the pitch, the bases are empty, or they have a very trustworthy catcher. Once that pitch hits the ground it's anyone's guess as to where it's going.

My DD played her first summer of 12U this year and had a strong season using solid fastball (hitting spots) and change-up that has really become a strong pitch for her over the course of this season, and one that she now can really throw on any count. I've worked with the pitchers on my daughters travel team and like Dale said have preached pitch accuracy and staying low in the zone. Unless you have a girl that has a dominant fastball, living mid to up in the zone is really just giving good hitters a lunch pass to drive the ball all over the field. I just don't see the point of seriously working on 3rd & 4th pitches unless they have a very strong fastball that they can spot pitch and a strong change that keeps batters from timing the pitcher. You don't see very many pitchers at this level that can do that. To be clear on the change it's not just about change in speed it's about keeping the arm speed that fools the batter into think it's a fastball. I see a lot of girls who throw changes where the lessening of arm speed totally tips off the batter to the change and they just wait back and pound the ball. Developing a solid fastball and change is enough work for most all 10U-12U players unless you have a very gifted player.