The Cutter

[Bower]

Some people were asking how the cutter is thrown or gripped. This is the way I do it and it's been successful for me.

It's pretty hard over the internet to show good grips so this is the ball with the big horseshoe.

This is the way that I believe Mariano Rivera throws his cutter. This is a way to do it and this works for me also. Correct me if I'm wrong.

This is the way I throw my cutter. If you want to throw this pitch and you work on the first way I'm not sure if it's better than this way. I throw it this way but I'm used to it and this is how I like to throw it. I'd expirement with both grips to see which you like best.
Again here is the picture of the close seams.

And this is a picture of my grip when I throw my cutter.

[4pie]

the way you do it is the way i was thought when i was younger now i just hold the ball slightly off center and lift my index finger just so it doesn't touch the ball and i throw a fastball.

[eeeeasassa]

i throw my cutter like this, in case anyone wants another way to try:

[Bower]

I'm bumping this for the new topic to get it up

[nocurve4me]

How do you prefer to release it? I've thrown one for a year but haven't been satisfied with the little movement there is for me. How have you come across getting a good cut to it?

[Bower]

I believe the best way to get a good cut to it, is to release it right over the top. You really want to focus on spinning the ball sideways. A lot of it depends on how fast you want to throw it to. I can throw a pretty big looping one but it's not as fast or I can throw one that's quick with some good dip to it. It's a very experimental pitch, and it's hard to explain how to throw it. You have to throw it just like your fastball but let your fingers throw it on the 3rd base side of the ball for a RHP.

The second Blue Jay Mariano faced last night I forgot his name but I think he was a quality hitter, was a RHB and was constantly getting cutters outside and maby a fastball outside 4-seam maby. The 1-2 pitch possibly, there were 2 strikes, he throws him a 2-seam inside tailing in and the hitter swung and missed miserably then his eyes got huge when he realized he just got fooled and he looked out at Mariano and shook his head walking back to the dugout. Poor guy never saw it coming.

[RawTalent]

Seriously i think this way is the best. Its the 4 seam grip just with one little tweak so you maximize velocity while having a hard cutter.

just hook the middle finger tip and apply pressure and throw the ball and pull down with the middle finger upon release.

[Bower]

bump

[kbm2589]

im going to try this pitch because i need a ball that i could throw to left handed batters, i like the way bower holds it, it looks like it will move by the way he is gripping the ball.

[Bower]

Which one? I would try the first one first because I threw it once in a while changing the grip around from my first one (the second set of pictures) and I liked it better than the second grip shown. I will have to compare and go back to my old way but I seem to like the newer way better the first one shown. It's really not that big of a difference probably just personal preference.

[Bakersdozen]

The second way is how I throw my cutter. Only I choke it more with my thumb so that I have no room between my fingers. Before release, I supinate a little so that it spins differently than a fastball. This is how I get my break. Tell me if this is right, because I don't want to hurt my arm.

[Bower]

if your over 17 thats fine, but if your throwing it as hard as your fastball and your supinating, you could hurt your arm. I'd say it depends on how much. If your doing it a lot, you'll feel it right away, sometimes I don't notice when I'm doing it but I'll end up feeling it a day after or two, because it will start to hurt.

How old are you and how hard do you throw?

[Bakersdozen]

Well I've been throwing this pitch for a while and it doesn't hurt I'm not 13 yet but I get hard movement. I don't supinate a lot, i just throw it so that when I release it my hand is pretty much aligned vertically, meaning my pinky is under my ring which is under my middle which is under my index, in a straight line. I don't snap my wrist or anything.

[xv84]

Jason Isringhausen of the Cardinals also throws a great cutter. Here is his grip.

[Bakersdozen]

Well first of all, I supinate and set the angle as my arm comes up, not as I release. I throw about 62-65 mph and am 12 2/3 years old.

[Bower]

It can be common at your age that you don't throw hard enough to hurt your arm. I know that sounds weird but if your really throwing the ball hard, in a couple of years you may notice some hurting from even the slightest supination. If I were you to avoid all of that, I'd try to cut down on it as much as possible.

[xv84]

This is how much, actually how little, a cutter breaks. It should approach the plate looking like a fastball and then break abruptly.

[6_pack]

http://pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=314&size=550x550_mb&ptp_photo_id=380975

What pitch is he throwing here?

[Hammer]

Great pick xv. Damn that pitch is absolutely nasty. Talk about unhittable

[Greg516]

I agree with bower.. I was throwing pretty hard for being 12 and a last year i had to go to the doc cuz it hurt to throw and im 16 now.