Skip to main content

10 replies

Curveball

C Chief4210+ posts
I have a little lefty pitcher on my team. He is about 5'10" and 165 lbs. He has a pretty good arm, throws anywhere from 85-89 right now but has a really hard time throwing a curveball. Once in a while he will get the right spin but most of the time it spins like a slider. We've worked on getting him to stay on top of the ball, keeping the same "body" as the fastball, and even had him try to over exagerrate getting on top of the ball. Like I said, sometimes it works, most of the times it doesn't. He has really small hands and I'm wondering if this could be part of the problem? Does anyone have any tips or has anyone dealt with someone like this? Thanks in Advance.
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

W Will1,000+ posts
the toughest thing in teaching the curve ball is getting the 12 to 6 spin. the kid just sees what the ball does. When I coached i used to tape up the cans that tennis balls came in. The Circumference of the lid was about the same as a baseball. have the boy grip the can at the lid with the rest of the can as an extension of the ball pointing up. Have him throw the can with the spin of a proper curve 12-6. If he does it right he will see the spin of the can being 12 to 6. If not he will also see it.
A Ametsman10+ posts
We just a video tape on how to teach the curve ball. Basically it shows the same thing Will was talking about. The difference is they taped a tennis ball on top of a baseball to show the 12-6 spin. They also had them start first with one knee down. Working on just getting the correct spin. The tape was made by the Bradley pitching coach.
C Chief4210+ posts
I play catch with him, short catch, and just get him to flip me the baseball, working on the spin. He gets it sometimes and knows what it feels like to throw it (which I think is very big to learning this), but then he can't do it more then 2 times in a row. I will try that tennis ball thing, sounds like a good idea. Do I actually get him to throw it just like he would be throwing a baseball, or is he just working on getting the spin by short arming it or whatever?
Mr. BaseballMr. Baseball10+ posts
quote:
Hey Chief,
First thing, A lefty with a slider is a good thing, more effective against left handed batters than a 12-6 curve...and with the proper location the back door slider or one that shoot beyond the inside corner to the right hand batters...location location location...with his above avg. fastball, a good change up, will be his ticket to the next level..Now I'll answer your question....Sounds like it's more of a wrist postion than arm postion...Since he already can throw a slider, he understands spin..the slider comes out of the hand just like a fastball, in order to get the 12-6 spin you **** your wrist inward...rest your elbow on a table with your arm pointing upward with your wrist go limp, this is the position your wrist and arm must be in at deliverly...get a baseball, tape or draw a circle around the ball, begin short throws and extend the distance when he can make the circle around the ball apprear to have a straight line as the ball is in flight. and even had him try to over exagerrate getting on top of the ball. Like I said, sometimes it works, most of the times it doesn't. He has really small hands and I'm wondering if this could be part of the problem? Does anyone have any tips or has anyone dealt with someone like this? Thanks in Advance.
C Chief4210+ posts
I want him to be able to throw both. Not that he needs 100 pitches or anything, but beyond this level if he's not getting more then 2 pitches over in a game, he will struggle. Also, some of the scouts are telling me that that is what they want to see. I worked with him last night and really concentrated on him getting fastball arm extension and being a little tighter in the wrist and he actually threw some really good ones. He can feel the difference between throwing it right and throwing the slider so I think we are on the right track. Thanks guys. Im still going to try the tennis ball tube thing.
J JustAMom2Member
I'm curious, how many different pitches does a college pitcher need if he throws with average velocity for his conference? My son is a college freshman (D3) and is getting some appearances on the mound. He had average velocity in HS (topped out around 80 mph) but was successful because he could throw several pitches for strikes. This year he is in the low 80s and his college coach has helped him with his breaking pitches so he can use 4 pitches confidently in games (fastball, changeup, curve and splitfinger). Of course he is also working on his strength and mechanics to improve velocity, as his goal is to get to 90 mph during his college years. I'm sure he also understands about changing speeds, location, etc. I'm not asking on his behalf, as he is happy to just do whatever his college coach asks, but I find the topic of pitching very interesting and was curious what is a typical number of different pitches for a college pitcher to use to be successful.
CADadCADad5,000+ posts
Hard to keep 4 pitches sharp. Big leaguers have been throwing their pitches for years and can afford to cut back on one pitch to develop a new one. In any case, if one of those 4 isn't working well he won't end up using it very often so I wouldn't worry about it. Sounds like he's doing the right things.

Most pitchers need a fastball (usually two and 4 seam), a breaking pitch and a changeup to be successful. If they have two very strong pitches they can sometimes get away with two pitches.
Last edited by CADad
J JustAMom2Member
Thank you, that makes sense. I guess these aren't new pitches for him, since he worked on all of them for 4 years in high school. He rarely used the changeup in games in HS because it wasn't very reliable, but he kept practicing it every year because he thought he would need it at the next level. He is kind of excited that his college coach has helped him learn to throw the changeup well enough to use it in games.

Add Reply

Post

Membership Required

We're sorry. You must be signed in to continue. Sign In or Register
×
Are you sure you want to remove from your Block List?
×
Loading...
×
When you block a person, they can no longer invite you to a private message or post to your profile wall. Replies and comments they make will be collapsed/hidden by default. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content.
Note: if you proceed, you will no longer be following .
×
Advanced Search
Advanced Search
Link copied to your clipboard.
×