Rise ball and drop ball

Setup

1. Set the plate at your competition's distance (43 ft / 13.1 m for most senior play; check your competition's rules).
2. The catcher wears full gear: helmet with mask, throat guard, chest protector and shin guards, even for a bullpen.
3. A stand-in batter in a helmet with a face guard stands in the box but does not swing, so the pitcher sees a real hitter's height. Swap sides every 10 pitches.
4. The pitcher has already done a full warm-up and arm-care routine and thrown easy spins and fastballs before this block.
5. Agree the pitch budget before you start: 40 to 60 quality pitches for this block is plenty, inside the pitcher's weekly plan.

How it runs

1. Start every pitch from a legal set: pivot foot on the plate, the other foot touching it, hands together and a clear pause. Check your competition's rules on leaping and crow hop, and stay legal on every rep.
2. Block 1, rise ball (10 to 15 pitches): the catcher sets the target at the top of the zone. The pitcher drives under the ball and spins it backwards with the fingers coming up the back of it, finishing the arm high.
3. Block 2, drop ball (10 to 15 pitches): the target goes to the knees. The pitcher gets out over a firm front side and spins the ball forwards, with the fingers coming over the top or snapping down the front (peel or turnover drop).
4. Block 3, pairs (10 to 20 pitches): the catcher calls rise or drop at random and moves the glove. The coach charts every pitch as hit spot, right height wrong side, or miss.
5. After each pitch the catcher calls the spin they saw: tight, wobbly or bullet. Wobbly spin means the pitch will flatten out.
6. Stop when quality drops: two misses in a row by more than a ball's width, or any loss of mechanics. Finish with five easy fastballs and a cool-down.

Coaching points

• Same arm speed for both pitches. The spin and release change; the effort does not.
• Rise: a slightly lower body and release point, the ball comes off the fingers under it and the hand finishes up near the shoulder.
• Drop: a longer stride and a stable front leg, release out in front, and the hand finishes low and through the ball.
• Spin first, location second. A tight spin axis that is slightly off target is a better rep than a flat pitch on target.
• The rise is a chase pitch: aim to finish just above the hands. The drop should start at the knees and end below them.
• Catcher: receive the rise with the glove turned up and the drop with the glove under the ball, so neither pitch gets pulled out of the zone.

Common mistakes

• Throwing the rise harder and letting the arm flail, so it comes in flat and belt high.
• Leaning back on the rise, which drags the release point up and leaves the ball high and slow.
• Releasing the drop late, so it bounces in front of the plate.
• Changing the pitch's look: slowing the arm for the drop or leaning in early tells the batter what is coming.
• Going past the pitch budget because the last few felt good.