Pitch grips thread

[SESbb30]

so does anyone think its a gyro? im just wondering because i spent 5 hours last weekend studying dice-k on youtoube, and i want to know if its a gyro or not.

[SESbb30]

can someone show me a proper way to throw a palmball.

[bushywhacker]

I used to throw what I called a palm ball in high school and college...it was wicked with a nasty drop right before it got to the plate. I can't show you pictures, but I think I can explain it.

Hold the ball between your ring and pinky finger and thumb. Ring and pinky on one side of the ball, thumb on the other. I used to put the two close parallel stichings horizontal facing my hand. Your index and middle finger point skyward off the ball. Invariably, my two fingers made like a "Peace" sign. When throwing the pitch, use the same motion and arm action as a fast ball, but instead of snapping your wrist at the end, you pull your palm straight down. If done correctly, the ball will pop out of your grip, pass our two "peace" fingers with small to very little rotation on it's way toward the plate. It mimicks a forkball, from what I can tell but it's much easier to control IMHO. It takes lots of practice, but is a devastating pitch when mastered. The supposed downside is that if the opposition knows you throw it, they can watch for the fingers pointing skyward as the pitch is delivered. My coaches used to point this out, but I never noticed the other team hitting it very well...even if they did know what to look for. Combine this with good fastball control low in the zone and watch the K's rack up. I slowly phased away from it in college as I mastered the circle change and could pinpoint it, with movement, on the outside corner to both lefties and righties. Although I did combine it at times. Had I had a 90+ fastball, I'd be in the show right now!!! As it is, I'm just a working guy with a love for the game.

Good luck on the palm ball. When you get it right, your catcher will be amazed and your infield and outfield will continously ask you, "What was that!?". It's a sexy pitch that not just anyone can pick up and throw.

[SESbb30]

that is harder than hell to throw. its harder than the frickin vulcan change, the reason its hard for me is that i dond have that big of hands.

[Gordo]

I thought a lot more pics would be in this thread.

[SESbb30]

ill post a pic of the "gyro" when i get home. also i pic of the pitchfork change.

[SESbb30]

yup, does anybody else on here throw a gyro? am i the first from kansas?

[starcraftdnn2]

just curious, but who digs their fingernails into the ball when they throw a knuckleball? the way i throw mine is i use my fingertips ...

and does snapping the wrist on a curveball give it more motion? cause as it is, i release mine slightly early and let my index and my middle finger cause a late drop.

[kgbaseball]

Knuckleballers commonly cut their fingernails straight across the top in order to dig their fingers in. I know Wakefield does that.

[SESbb30]

i dont use my fingernails when i throw a knuckleball, they way the pitching video guy on youtoube thows his. on the curve, you dont wanna realease it any earlier than any other pitch, you probably want to try and hold on to it as long as you can, and at the end bring your fingers down over the ball and with your index and middle finger the same way as when you threw the ball, put your fingers "through the loop" on the opposite side of your throwing arm. thats how my pitching coach taught me how to throw it.

[Kccitystar]

I always thought the Gyroball was just a variation of a fastball with a rifle-like spin? If so, it's not news to me, I've been throwing that as long as I could remember

[Pudge77]

SESbb30, how do you grip your gyrobal and throw it?

[alexsays]

Sorry, I´m Spanish and I discovered the baseball the last summer, I enjoy it very much. In my city (Vigo), there is a team and I began this year to play baseball. The last week I´m throwing (i´m not pitcher) and it hurts me in elbow. I couldn´t support my pain. Now I´m well, but is this normal one?¿

Sorry for my english, I only finish my bachelor studies.

[BigPaPa]

erm the gyro ball is common form of changeup for 3/4 delivery pitchers. The japanese guy who supposedly created it cam over and showed it too several american pitchers who then responded by sayng that they have been throwing it for years but call it a "Changeup". SO congrats to anyone who throws a changeup you can throw a gyroball Whoopdy doo

[BigPaPa]

Sorry, I´m Spanish and I discovered the baseball the last summer, I enjoy it very much. In my city (Vigo), there is a team and I began this year to play baseball. The last week I´m throwing (i´m not pitcher) and it hurts me in elbow. I couldn´t support my pain. Now I´m well, but is this normal one?¿

Sorry for my english, I only finish my bachelor studies.

it depends on the type of pain. It is normal to have some muscle aches on and around your elbow but not normal to have a Sharp peicring pain inside your elbow

[yuanshuowu]

I'm only 14 years old yet I throw a pretty good change.

I can't really throw a change though

[KidCavalier23]

I'm only 14 years old yet I throw a pretty good change.

I can't really throw a change though

huh? lol

[SESbb30]

knucklecurve, alot easier to learn than you think. i was told by all my pitching coaches and many former collage and semi-pro pitchers that a knucklecruve is hard to learn. thats bs. it took me throwing it 5 times to get it down. it took me months upon months to learn how to throw a curve. WTF?

[Lucas]

A real knuckle curve? or just a spike curve. I throw a spike curve, and its the easiest breaking pitch to learn, where on the other hand, a real knuckle curve is the hardest to learn.

[SESbb30]

define knucklecurve for me. a spike curve and a kncukle curve are pretty much the same thing. im throwing it like moose does.

[GoRedSox34]

I throw some odd stuff. I never throw a fastball, I throw a pitch that I created myself; called the gavinator. It's a lot harder than my fastball. I throw an ok Screwball, with okay to pretty good 1-7 movement. My changeup is kinda like an Eephus, very slow with a 12-6 movement. I either throw that or a regular change up. My curveball is kinda like Mariano Rivera's cutter. It has a lot of movement, throw it as hard as I can. This winter I'm also going to try to develop a good 2-Seam Fastball.

[SESbb30]

ditch the screwball, trust me, i threw 70 before i hurt my arm, i was 14 when i did that, after it healed, i threw 60. there's one good reason not to throw a screwball. how do you hold your "eephus" change up?

[GoRedSox34]

Thanks for the advice SESbb30 I was thinking of leaving the screwball alone. My eephus? Well, I usually throw it after a hard gavinator (fastball) in the dirt so it won't go 300 flippin feet. I don't really have a very special grip on the ball, I put 4 fingers on it like a Palmball except palmball is 5.

[SESbb30]

right. do you have the same arm speed for the "gavinator" and the changeup. tip: dont throw your curve as hard as you can.

[GoRedSox34]

I try to have the same arm speed with those two, that's actually one of the things I'm working on with my trainer, because obviously the hitter will know it's a changeup if you have way lower arm speed.