hard breaking hammer curveball how to throw?

I always recommend positioning of fingers to the bottom side of the c as you look at it, middle finger resting on the seam, open end toward your palm. In the glove position your hand like you would a fb (Instaed of setting it with your hand already supinated)..back of hand to body. At hand break think fb grip until the ball is out front or just past the shoulder, then allow your wrist to supinate (As a lefty it'll look like a C as a righty backward to that), at release pull down don't reach for target like with a fb. Important to throw the ball through the target to throw it for a strike, don't attempt to "add" spin or it'll go 55' and break into the dirt in front of home. The mechanics of the pitch and the torque provided by the proper gripping gives a consistent snapping curve that will be controllable and break tightly.
Other folks throw the curve differently, this method has worked and produced a scout considered "plus" curve in my son with no elbow or shoulder issues rising from it..he's thrown it since he was 12, hes 18 now and very successful and effective with it.

quote:

For the best downward break you need to make sure your wrist is bent at nearly 90 degrees inward so that your fingers are out in front of the ball at release.

Pitcher18--I agree with most everything you said except for the quoted bit, above.

If you try to keep your wrist bent like this while simultaneously trying to achieve typical pitch release velocities with a 5 oz ball in your hand, I think you are headed for real trouble.

Check out release point stills or, better, good video that shows elite pitchers throwing breaking balls. They do not bend their wrist--in fact, a straight-ahead firm-wristed 'karate-chop' release is the most effective: It allows the ball to roll off of the fingers with topspin without causing too much stress on wrist and forearm as the hand/wrist/forearm go into pronation immediately after release.

ive started messing around with it trying different ideas and trying to find whats most comfortable and affective for me.
thanks for your input