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Pitch grips thread


MarkB

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funny you should mention zito, i learned how to throw a slider from his way of throwing a curve. How he throws it is with the usual grip, however he likes to get a hard break loop rather than a slow loop. How he throws it is he keeps his wrist as steady as possible and torks his forarm. That is how he throws a hard looping curve as oppose to a slow looper like one david wells throws.

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I'm working on my pitching a lot lately, trying to make it as a relief (if needed) pitcher next year on the HS team.

What I'm best with:

- 2-Seam Fastball

- Change-up

- Curveball variation (I'm not quite sure)

What I'm working on:

- Knuckleball variation

- Palmball (probably useless, but I've got it decent a few times)

- A proper 4-Seamer

The Knuckleball variation is odd... because I'm not sure if I could really call it a knucklecurve, because it's just... strange. I'm a righty, when I release it dips down and to the left, but then it breaks back up and to the right? I don't get it, never have. All I know is that sometimes it works pretty well, and other times there's no telling where it goes.

I grip it oddly, too. My middle and ring finger are behind the ball (touching the ball where my nails are) and my index and pinky are along the seams like a 2-Seamer. Hopefully I can get a picture or something.

If any of you guys can explain any of that to me (what I'm doing, why it's like that, if it has already been done) then it would be greatly appreciated.

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Speaking not as a pitcher, but as a batter (high school). When you get up into Varsity and have a good speed as a pitcher, a changeup is 100% better than a curve. We have some pitchers with great curves and yea its great, but a change is easier to throw and can have a greater effect. Nothing better than seeing the guy behind the fastball, then swing way out in front of a change.

Its the change of speed that makes a good pitcher, I know you may have heard it before, but coming from a cocky Varsity High School player I swear to god a good changeup is one of the best pitches you can have.

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Can i reccomend a splitter/forkball thing i throw. you hold it like a 2 seamer, but you have your index and middle fingers about half way down the ball. And you put the ball as deep in between your fingers as you can. When i throw it it has little rotation and i use it as an offspeed pitch.

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  • 3 weeks later...

yourhomiejosh, as a high school coach I would recommend you lose the knuckleball variation and palmball but definately work on the 2 seamer. There is a reason not many pitchers throw the knuckleball and palmball .... most get crushed.

also I think some people are getting a knucklecurve confused with a knuckleball that just seems to move down and away from a righty batter. I knucklecurve is not really a knuckleball at all. It is just a curveball that gets it rotation from the finger "flicking" the seam to get the same spin as a curveball but without snapping the wrist as much. Whoever origionally deemed this pitch as a knucklecurve was misleading with the name choice.

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I'm usually on the other end of the pitch, but I do have a variety of pitches.

4-Seam Fastball

Change-up

2-Seam Fastball

Curveball

Cutter

Splitter

I'm working on a slider, but so far I'm liking my cutter. Curve, 4-seam, and 2-seam are all good, but change and split are another story. Slitter I get little movement and change has none; very slow though.

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My pitches are:

fastball

curve that usually doesn't move, but sometimes drops into the dirt about ten feet in front of the catcher, who then points at me and laughs

fastball

weird fastball that tails off and hits lefties right in the thigh (it's got crazy movement, though)

fastball

Heh.

Actually, I had a question for some of you more knowledgeable types that are following this thread. When I was a kid and used to play catch with my dad, he had a pitch he'd throw every now and then which seemed like it'd be pretty effective if you mixed it in with a decent fastball and changeup. He'd grip the ball like if you were throwing a knuckler, but instead of the low speed that most knuckles have, it'd have full fastball velocity and no spin. This thing would be travelling 80-85 mph, but it looked like it was crawling at you. And every now and then, he could get it to drop like a murder weapon.

Anybody have any idea what the $#^# he was throwing?

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I think that would be a split-finger. If thrown properly, it can be pretty nasty. Ive been working on throwing it in practice and the thing drops 2 feet. And if he was throwing that 80-85, he must have been able to throw a fast ball around 90.

Other pitches Im throwing:

-4 seam

-2 seam

-spike curve

-circle change

-slider

Another thing to all those pitchers out there, dont focus on velocity as a lot of kids do, focus on being able to throw strikes and location with every single one of your pitches.

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I got a question. When I throw my four seam fastball it tails to the left like a cutter. Why is this. Four seam is supposed to be straight, not cut. I never noticed it until about a year ago when I was pitching and my center fielder said my ball was tailing insanely. Is there any reason it tails?

My pitches when I pitch (which is never anymore)

- 4 seam fastball

Guess that's why I never cut it as a pitcher.

I mess around with throwing a curveball in practice and stuff, but you have to stand about 80 feet away for it to break because it hangs so much.

Maybe if I can't cut it as a hitter in the majors, I can go the Chad Bradford way of making it to the majors. Throw sloooooooooow and submarine.

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I got a question. When I throw my four seam fastball it tails to the left like a cutter. Why is this. Four seam is supposed to be straight, not cut. I never noticed it until about a year ago when I was pitching and my center fielder said my ball was tailing insanely. Is there any reason it tails?

Everyone has their own natural movement. Yours is in towards a lefty. Try messing with fingertip pressure to get it to move a little differently.

How do you throw a sinker?

It's just a 2-Seam fastball. Stay on top of it more, and it will have more sink.

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Thank you for that little note you wrote about not throwing any sliders, or curves. I'm just waiting for someone on my team to pull something like Dravecky. I kepp telling them but they always come up with lame excuses. It's great to watch them throw a 12-6 and see it break as much as a 4-seam.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

I got a question. When I throw my four seam fastball it tails to the left like a cutter. Why is this. Four seam is supposed to be straight, not cut. I never noticed it until about a year ago when I was pitching and my center fielder said my ball was tailing insanely. Is there any reason it tails?

My pitches when I pitch (which is never anymore)

- 4 seam fastball

Guess that's why I never cut it as a pitcher.

I mess around with throwing a curveball in practice and stuff, but you have to stand about 80 feet away for it to break because it hangs so much.

Maybe if I can't cut it as a hitter in the majors, I can go the Chad Bradford way of making it to the majors. Throw sloooooooooow and submarine.

You're probably not releasing the ball correctly. Many people like to say natural movement is a good thing, but actually it means you're not throwing a pitch right.

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  • 2 months later...

ok, i think i figured out how to throw a gyroball. you hold it like a curve, but put your pointer and middle fingers together in the middle of the ball and your thumb in the center on the bottom, and when you release it, throw it like a football, but like a curve when you snap your wrists, instead of doing that you bring your fingers straight down and to your opposite arm a little bit. it is slower than a fastball, but faster than a slider, it justs drops off the table at the end, very very nasty. if its not the gyroball, correct me.

ill try to post pics later.

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