Hey guys im 14 and throw a 4seam 2 seam and a realy good circle change but i cant seem to get my cover ball working i throw about 60 but when i go to throw my curve ball i cand get it to work. My coach thinks i throw to hard but if i throw it not as hard it will be noticeable how do u gu ys throw your curveball??
Thanks
Brandon
If your coach is telling you that you are throwing it too hard it could be a couple of things. You could be too far “behind” the ball, the curve you have to get on top of and as your arm moves into the front of your body you should be pulling it down, if your hand isn’t getting there then it’ll spin but won’t bite and break. Work on the fundemental in practice at about 70 to 80% effort concentrate on the transition from fastball in back to curveball up front. You are right about keeping the same motion, but you should work on being able to keep your motion and still be able to “take something off” as far as velocity. You hear many “Guru’s” say that a curve is a 85% pitch where a fastball should be at 90 to 95%, if a batter you are facing can discern that difference…well tip your cap, he’s a good one.
Make sure you use the same mechanics, the same arm slot and the same arm speed as your fastball. Set the wrist/arm angle (i.e. supination) early - when the throwing hand is in the glove - and maintain that all the way to release. Throwing with a supinated wrist/arm will take enough off the pitch just as throwing with a pronated write/arm (i.e. palm out) will take enough off your change-up.
I have some questions for you to see if you are throwing the curveball right. One- Are you throwing it over the top? What I mean by this is, are you throwing it with your hand/fingers over the top of the ball creating a 12-6 spin. This is key, if you throw it with different spin, you could create arm problems. Second- Is your arm angles all 90 degrees? That also helps create the 12-6 spin necessary to have a good curveball with no pain resulting in the elbow/arm. Third- Are you pulling down on the ball and ending your arm up at your hip? That is another key that creates good spin and a sharp break. These are some basic things you should be doing.
i had the problem of not being able to get the curve to “curve”. i totally dropped it and learned a slider.(much better pitch)
I throw 2 types of curves I throw a slower curve that just drops down and a curve that goes pretty fast and drops barely. I grip them the same way but when I release it I “turn the door nob” harder on my “power curve” but when i turn it slower I get the “slow curve” but i use the same arm speed
Not really, most sliders stay pretty much on the same plane.So if you make a mistake, any good hitter will piss on it :lol: You shouldn’t throw a curve in games untill you are COMPLETELY confident in it and have “good” control. If you’re 14 dont even think about throwing a slider, i missed pretty much all of my JV season from messing around with a slider. Don’t throw a slider untill you get older. Right now if you throw in the sixties, with a good change, you won’t need a slider. As far as the uncle charlie goes, think about it like turning a pop bottle end over end. As Papelbon would say, “A fastball is an up breaker, a curve ball is a down breaker”. Like i said, think of it as turning a bottle end over end downward. And i read a book by Leo Mazzone, he said do not snap your wrist down untill the ball gets to the back/top of your head, up untill there it should look like a fastball. 8)
Sorry for it being so long, but one last thing. If you think your change is really good, i would stick with the F-ball change combo untill you’re completely confident in your curve. Also you want to hold the ball pretty deep in your hand (i’m not comfortable all the way, i have it so i can fit 2 fingers on my other hand inbetween the ball and that fleshy part of your hand.)
Don’t get frustrated, dont throw the curve too much, i went through the same thing. Then i talked to a guy that hunts by my cabin kind of, he could throw 88 as a freshmen w/ a sick curve :shock: he was going places. Then he tore his ACL, now he’s making BIG $$ managing a walmart :lol:
Hope that wasn’t too confusing :lol:
#1. never and i mean NEVER!!! turn a door knob to throw a breaking pitch. you can go ahead and schedule your orthopedic right now if you do. hold your elbow when you turn a door knob motion with your hand. feel all the movement going on in there. that is soft tissue working really hard and after a while it starts grinding away, then inflamation and snap-it breaks.
#2. most people throw their curveball hard and think spin down at the end. to do this, when you release the ball, your middle finger needs to be in front of the ball and your thumb up (your hand is in the position like you were pointing with your thumb up and the wrist is firm during release. this looks more like a fastbal at release and that is what you are striving for.
slider is a much better pitch than curveball. curveball moves more but a hitter can pick it up sooner. a slider looks like a fastball until very late and is harder to hit.
can’t you read, this kid is 14 or 15. whoever wrote this can do whatever he wants…but if you throw a slider at this age you might as well call a doctor and schedule your appointment right now.
i’m not saying you shouldn’t throw a slider, it’s a good pitch but your too young. i know this from experience. 8)
you must have been throwing your slider wrong, i have thrown one since freshmen year and have had no problem.
again. never and i mean NEVER! throw a pitch using a turning the doorknob motion to get spin. if you want a great explaination and example of one of the best sliders in the game, go to steve carlton’s web site. his article is outstanding. it’s been awhile and i’m going there now.
i wonder what steve’s opinion on the slider is
Not really, most sliders stay pretty much on the same plane.So if you make a mistake, any good hitter will piss on it :lol: You shouldn’t throw a curve in games untill you are COMPLETELY confident in it and have “good” control. If you’re 14 dont even think about throwing a slider, i missed pretty much all of my JV season from messing around with a slider. Don’t throw a slider untill you get older.
I am so sick of hearing people say how bad the slider is for you! The slider is no worse than anny other breaking ball, or splitter, or forkball your going to throw. The injuries occur because stupid people dont know how to throw it properly, which is true of all pitches. So rather than bashing it, why dont you explain how to properly throw it, so you can actually help him.
OH, and no, sliders, good sliders anyway, are not flat and dont stay on the same plane, they have slight late downward bite to accompany the lateral break making them a much better pitch than a curveball.
Would near 17 still be too young to learn a slider??
Nah, your plenty old enough, go for it. Just make sure you learn it correctly, once your 14, your old enough, as long as it is done right
Well… my curveball seems to work best when I focus on rotating my wrist so as to make sure I point my thumb at the catcher. Some people will disagree, though about rotating your wrist. I don’t know that either way is better, but rotating my wrist works best for me.
On my curve I just flick my wrist sideways, instead of rotating all the way over the top. I also hold the curve on the other way of the horsee shoe is that bad?
back to what i said earlier about how i learned as slider, it was a mistake to,dont throw a slider, even though it may be better. now that i started throwing bullpens this season each time i tried to throw a slider my arm started throbbing. im worried i injured my arm and it could be serious
[quote=“Too-Mutch13”]
Don’t get frustrated, dont throw the curve too much, i went through the same thing. Then i talked to a guy that hunts by my cabin kind of, he could throw 88 as a freshmen w/ a sick curve :shock: he was going places. Then he tore his ACL, now he’s making BIG $$ managing a walmart :lol:
Hope that wasn’t too confusing :lol:[/quote]’
haha, he was a freshmen in college? or highschool? either one it was his ACL, IN HIS LEG!!! he shoulda been back on it in a few months and that really would not affect his throwing… he coulda just retried out and woulda still been throwing just as hard if he kept throwing.