In this video. Let's talk about how to throw a curveball.
We'll cover some of the different common curve ball grips.
We'll talk about the Spin ,the action.
One seven, 12, six.
All these different things in this video.
All right.
First thing, let's talk about curveball grips.
So you're going to take the ball like this
and we're going to slide our fingers
down the inside edge like so.
And the thumb is going to come on the inside of the ball like this.
What we do with our index finger is up to us.
It can lay gently on the ball like so it can stick up in the air like this.
We can put our knuckle on it.
That's what we call a knuckle curve.
You can put your fingernail in it.
That's another version of the knuckle curve, whether it's here, here.
Or you can cross it over.
Any of those are valid curve ball grips.
It's up to you.
So you should tinker with them and see which one works for you.
But again, thumb on the bottom, the inside of the seam.
This is on the inside of this seam so we can catch it.
And then where you place your index finger is going to be up to you.
All right.
Let's talk about the curveball spin and what it's supposed to do.
So we're trying to get top spin, so forward spin as if we drilled a hole
through the baseball and it's spinning in the direction that it's traveling.
The type of spin we don't want on a curveball is side spin.
We don't want to do this.
This is what we call a little league curveball.
We don't want to get around it and we don't want to impart side spin
because that's not going to help the ball be forced downward to the ground
with the physics of the flight of the ball.
So it's called the magnus effect.
When we have the ball spinning towards
the direction, towards the plate with top spin,
it creates a sort of pressure effect on top
that's going to force us towards the ground.
The more side spin that we put into the ball
where it's a mixture, say it's not perfect topspin
that's going to make the pitch more loopy and appear less sharp to the hitter.
Okay.
So if we know we want to get really clean
topspin, really topspin without any side spin mixed in.
How do we accomplish that?
Well, one good cue that I would always teach the pitchers I was working with,
and that worked really well for me,
is trying to get your fingernail forward to the front of the ball.
So now when you actually throw your curveball,
if you look at high speed video, your fingers sort of go around it
and then the ball slips over top and then your fingers
sort of help to correct and right the spin.
So it does have as close to 12, six as we can get.
Again, if it's 12, six or one seven either is completely fine,
but our fingers are never actually going to go in front of the ball.
They're going to go around the side and then help to tilt the ball as it falls
out of your hand. This is important.
Thinking the fingernail forward cue Because when we think about being side
to side, it's going to in part side's been on the ball too much
and we don't want that.
So mentally as a pitcher, if you feel like you're opening your front side up
and your ball is starting to get loopy and your curveball has more of a
sweep to it and it has a lot of sides been mixed in which you don't want.
It's a good cue
to think about taking your chin and your chest forward towards the catcher
and to think I'm going to try to get my fingernail, especially on my middle
finger to face home plate as I'm as I'm releasing this pitch.
Again, that won't exactly happen in real life,
but that's a good way to think about it, because you're trying to go forward
to get on top of the ball rather than getting on side of your curveball.
How hard should you throw your curveball?
You should throw your curveball.
Absolutely. As hard as you can throw it.
And that is from an intensity standpoint.
Now, when you throw your curveball, the fact that you're getting energy over
top of it and converting some of the velocity
into spin, that will cause your curveball to come out slower.
That's one.
If you see in the major leagues, guy's throwing 95,
his curveball comes out around 80 and that's about normal.
Somewhere in 15 to 20% slower than your fastball.
So that speed does not come from these pitchers
easing off it and throwing it mentally slower.
They throw their curveballs with mental intensity
at 100% or if not more, never ease off your curveball.
Don't throw that slow, loopy one intentionally.
The more you ease off your curveball and throw it loopy,
it's going to take a difference.
Your injector right out of your hand.
It's going to go up a little bit
rather than the fastball kind of going down right out of your hand.
And that will look like it pops up and it will look like a different pitch
immediately to a hitter.
How do you develop a great curveball and what's the process for learning it?
Number one, you have to practice it a lot, but at low speeds.
So play catch with it a ton, throw one fastball, then two curve ball,
throw one fastball, then one curveball, alternate fastball and curve ball
so that you can continue to keep the same arm speed in the same mechanics
with both pitches and then just work on, okay, this is a curveball.
That's a fastball.
The more you can mix it to in when you're playing catch at low speeds,
the more you'll start to get the feel for it.
You also should ask your throwing partners for feedback.
Tell them which ones are sharper.
Which ones are Looper?
Which ones
can they see sort of pop up out of your hand versus ones
that look more like a fastball.
When you're throwing bullpens, asked your catcher for feedback
so that you can feel and see which ones are better than others,
they can be really tough to tell.
Which are your sharpest curveballs in a bullpen?
All that being said, you can't throw a million curveballs and expect your arm
not to sort of react in a negative way and or maybe have some problems.
Research has shown that pitchers that throw more breaking balls,
which is curveballs and sliders, report more arm pain than pitchers who don't.
So be careful with the percentage you throw.
I suggest pitchers should throw about 20% breaking balls,
no more than that and really more like 15%.
And they should only start learning the pitch at 14 years old
so that they have the pitch developed
and it can be a good pitch in their arsenal by 16.
Expect your curveball to take 1 to 2 years to become good
and even then after that, expect more time for it to be accurate.
It's important to understand
that the curveball will not be the best breaking ball for every pitcher.
Pitchers with lower arm slots,
they're going to be better suited for sliders almost all the time.
Some pitchers are going to spin a curveball.
Really?
Well, naturally, I was one of them
and they're not going to spin a slider as well.
Other pitchers will naturally pick up a slider really fast
and they won't be as good with a curveball.
It just depends.
So understand that throwing a curveball is not the end all.
Be all.
The goal is just to have one outstanding breaking ball, whether it's a slider
or a curveball, and you need to tinker and try both and figure out
which one is going to be best for you.
Learning how to throw a curveball is a big rite of passage for young pitchers,
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