Tighter later break on the curve

General Pitching Topics
#1

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions to get better bite on the curve.

Mine is almost dead 12-6 and maybe that is part of my problem

I’m throwing it in the bottom of the 60’s give or take with my fastball being in the bottom of the 70’s (not quite 15 years old, freshman)

I get good solid break, and throw it with a marginal amount of control for my age.
However I feel like it’s not very sharp, it breaks at the end but I mean, it’s doesn’t seem to be enough to make good hitters miss.
Maybe they’ve just guessed right on it, but I hit a great location and it still gets a ride to the outfield.

Either way, there still hitting it, so I’m just looking for some suggestions for harder break.

#2

The biggest thing I think would be your control, even Barry Zito has his curve hit from time to time. The one thing that I do with my curve is that even though I am in the curveball grip I throw it just as hard as my fastball and that might help with the break too. Also mess with arm angles as well, maybe throwing a slurve would be the best for you or try changing the grip to get better bite

#3

getting a late break is so important, i dont know how big your break us but i have friends with big curves but it doesnt have a tight spin and is real easy to read and see and it gets hit. i think what makes mine good is well i have a huge break but it also breaks very late and thats why people will swing at it no where near the strikezonem, you can have a huge break but if its not late anygood hitter will just wait back and watch it in and take it or serve it up for a hit

the late break is the difference between the pros and everyone else i went to spring training last season and have video of Mark Buerhle and Demaso Marte doing a bullpen (i hate the sox but i couldnt pass up getting video that good of pro pitching) i was right behind there bull pen catcher on the other side of this cage about 3 feet behind the catcher a great video and well the curves i will not lie have a great break but ive seen many highschool kids that get as much or at least close to as much break as both, i have video of me and my curve i think has as much total break as both

the difference though is when it breaks, i thought i had a late break LOL well its rediculous it seems like the pitch is a fastball until about 2 feet from the plate and just drops like 3 feet its amazing. like my curve has a big drop like and a later break then most highschool pitchers but well if mine dropped as late as theres i dont think anybody in highschool baseball could hit it, really sort of hard to describe how late it breaks its amazing how could of hitters there are in the majors that they can still hit these pitchers consistenltly

another major difference is there curves are faster then mine and the spin is real hard to pick up, like when i catch my friends they give me the glove signals for pitches but its no biggie if they dont cause i can still react when i see the spin but with these guys if they said a fastball was coming and it was a curve the ball would probably miss my glove by 2 feet

what i would give to have the stuff of pro pitchers those people are just freaks

#4

well, my curveball has a quick hard late break on it, all i can suggest is throwing it as hard as the fastball, and snap the wrist down and across with a finger on the top-right of the horseshoe, and if you get enough break do what i do and start it at the batter’s head for an outside corner strike.

good luck

#5

throw the ball harder than the fastball

#6

I threw my curve with a sharp karate-chop wrist action (I was a natural sidearmer) and boy, did that baby break! You might try that. And if you still have trouble with the curve ball, you might do what a lot of pitchers in that situation have done—investigate the slider, which can be easier to throw and control because the wrist action is easier. My old pitching coach told me, when he was showing me how to throw the slider, “Throw it like a curve, but roll your wrist, don’t snap it.” for me that meant easing up on that karate chop. So I had both pitches, a curve (which had come attached to my sidearm delivery!) and a slider. And contrary to popular belief, you can work with both pitches; you don’t have to choose between them. 8)

#7

dodgerfan, this was from 2005.