Making the pitch move

The pitcher who can produce movement on a pitch will keep their team in the game, if she can keep the ball around the strike zone. Notice I said keep the team in the game, not win the game. The pitcher is only important until she releases the ball. At that point she becomes an infielder, and what happens next depends on 9 players. Hitting, defense, pitch selection, and catcher positioning all play a part in winning a game. Execution by each player contributes to overall team play, but for now, we'll deal with making the ball move.

    Movement, in its most basic form, is putting more pressure on one part of the ball than the other. This can be accomplished by exerting more force with one finger than the other or positioning the ball in the hand so more force is exerted by a certain finger, or combination of fingers. For instance, a normal fastball is thrown with the middle finger exerting finger pad pressure at release. Try pushing with the pointer finger, and the ball should cut away from a right hand batter. Move the middle finger so that it is on the inside of the ball at release and it will cut in to the right hander. By applying an upward pressure at release (pulling up on the seams), the ball will sink. By experimenting with these styles, and varying your grip, you will produce movement to the basic fastball.

    The pitch you will want to steer clear of is the straight fastball. This pitch has no movement, and what the batter sees is what she gets. It is very easy for a decent hitter to hit a straight pitch. Your catcher can tell you if the ball is straight. The first thing she will see is a dot in the center of the ball with rifle bullet or spiral spin. This indicates the hand is not staying behind the ball at release, but is snapping under the ball. Correct this immediately!

    With significant practice, you can make the fastball do a lot of things. Remember to have a loose wrist at snap, and apply pressure with the finger pads. The pads are the parts of the fingers that you would use to grip something small, such as a penny.

    This page is devoted only to fastball movement, but there are pitches such as the drop, drop curve, curve, screwball, rise ball, and changeup that add immensely to a pitchers arsenal. These will be dealt with on another page.

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