Why pitchers and coaches should re-evaluate "drop and drive" pitching mechanics

Today's guest post is by Amherst (Mass.) Mickey Mantle Coach Kevin Graber and was originally published  June 14, 2005, here.

The old “drop-and-drive” pitching delivery. I remember youth coaches teaching it when I was a kid. In fact, I had youth teammates who dropped so much they got their knees dirty. It’s definitely an “old-school” way of thinking, and thankfully, modern technology (such as video analysis and the study of biomechanics) has helped coaches gain a clearer understanding of the pitching motion.

There have been pitchers who’ve been successful with it, like Robin Roberts and Tom Seaver, most notably. But two or three pitchers do not make it a sound delivery.

Needless to say, there are many ways to pitch and be successful. In the Amherst Mickey Mantle program, our pitching principles are based on the common traits of today’s power pitchers. One of these traits is that the posting leg stays straight and firm to maintain good balance. “Stand tall and stay back” is sound advice. Rather than dropping and pushing off the rubber, power pitchers drift forward, leading with the front hip when the stride leg starts to lower. Thus, the lower body moves faster to the plate than the upper body without dropping and driving off the rubber. This action creates a long stride, which is good (stride length should be between 80-90% of a pitcher’s height). The stride leg should be flexed upon landing and then "brace up," allowing the body to get up and over the front foot - a technique that is virtually impossible using the drop-and-drive.

But don’t take my word for it.  Listen to what these experts have to say about the drop-and-drive. 

AMHERST COLLEGE HEAD COACH BILL THURSTON

“In the drop-and-drive, what you’ll see is the pitcher gets into his posting position, and then in the next movement, his whole body lowers into the mound. This causes you to come out late toward the plate, and you don’t generate any force. What you want to see out of power pitchers is that once that stride leg starts lowering, the lower body really goes fast, and they land on a flexed leg. As they rotate the trunk, the front leg braces up and then the hips and upper body come over it. Well, the drop-and-driver never comes over a braced front leg.

The old drop-and-drive guys - Tom Seaver and Robin Roberts - both of those guys had huge legs, big butts and were real strong in the lower body, and they didn’t brace up with their stride leg. Instead, they transferred their weight using a hop. Most drop-and-drivers who are young kids (or grown men, for that matter) aren’t strong enough to do the hop step at the end to keep their weight going forward with the pitch.

The drop-and-drive is definitely something you wouldn’t want to teach. Nobody pitches that way anymore, because in the drop-and-drive, you don’t really use your body. It doesn’t allow the core muscles of your body to get up and over a braced front leg. And it creates a very unfavorable effect on the rotator cuff muscles, because the arm is going forward but the body isn’t. True power pitchers bring their back hip through and brace up, then the body comes with the arm. For this reason, the drop-and-drive is extremely stressful on the rotator cuff and back shoulder muscles.”

STEVE ABNEY, PITCHING COACH, THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

“Tom Seaver was a drop-and-drive guy, but he was a power-armed, 5-11, 215-pound guy who could get his arm through. By staying tall and not dropping-and-driving, you allow the arm to get out of the glove and get your fingers on top of the baseball. Basically, staying tall lets a guy pitch to his height and his leverage. The thing I always tell high school and college pitchers is that ‘IF THE HANDS ARE LATE, THE BALL WILL ELEVATE,’ and that’s something you definitely don’t want. In the drop-and-drive, there just isn’t any advantage in leverage. Only those shorter-armed, power-bodied short guys who pinch their scapulas can drop-and-drive.”

MIKE SWEENEY, PITCHING COACH, UMASS AMHERST

“Basically, the drop-and-drive totally takes away the advantage of throwing downhill. It makes you throw the ball on one plane, which is much easier for a hitter to track. On the flip side, when you stand tall and throw downhill, the ball crosses planes, and the hitter not only has to track the pitch coming at him, but he also has to track it coming down and moving in and out.”

BILL MOONEY, BIOFORCE BASEBALL

“We know that the least amount of posture change makes for a more efficient delivery. The more efficient the delivery, the less stress and strain put on the joints. The less stress and strain, the less chance of injury.

Think of Olympic sprinters, 25 yards into a 100-yard sprint. How much posture change do they have? Minimal. They want as much energy being transferred as possible. Posture changes are energy leaks and energy killers. The more posture change and energy going into the ground, the less going forward toward the hitter.

Let gravity and the mound get you going toward the plate. Your leg kick helps gather your energy around your center of gravity and increase your momentum. More momentum equals more opportunity for velocity.

I had the pleasure of meeting Nolan Ryan a couple of years ago. One thing he told me about his delivery was that he wanted to do as much work out front as possible. That means he never wanted to pause - he wanted to get to a balance point and go. Find some footage of his delivery. He stepped into his windup and gathered his leg kick as he was falling toward the target, never pausing or pushing off the rubber.

Pitchers who drop-and-drive need to alter their posture to get that momentum going again. Keep all the energy you've worked hard to recruit, and keep it going to the intended target."