In baseball you have a person throwing the ball who is the pitcher. He has to throw it to the catcher hoping that the batter won’t make contact with the ball.There are many ways the pitcher can throw the ball. One way and probably one of the hardest pitches any pitcher can do is a curve ball.
A curve ball is a pitch that appears to be heading straight, but then suddenly drops to either the left or right depending on the throwing hand of the pitcher. For many summers, I practiced throwing the curve ball to perfect my technique. The curve ball has been a major key to victories I’ve had as a pitcher. I have used the curve ball to keep batters guessing since I was old enough to throw the pitch. The proper throwing motion is the first aspect of throwing a good curve ball. I start by placing my feet parallel with my shoulders. Next, I turn the foot that’s on my throwing hand side, so my toes point out. I bend at the knee and push forward with that foot, while stepping with the opposite foot. Simultaneously I throw my arm, bent 45 degrees at the elbow, directly over my shoulder. I release the ball when my hand is right above my shoulder. I use only about half of my arm strength to throw the ball; I let my legs do the rest. I repeat this several times, until I am comfortable with the motion and until the muscles in my arm are warm. It is very important to warm up because the curve ball can hurt my arm muscles that aren’t prepared for it. The next step in throwing a curve ball is gripping the ball the correct way. I rotate the ball in my hand until the long red laces are vertically in front of me. I make sure that I can only see two lines of laces, on the side of the ball that faces me. On the top and bottom of the ball the laces curve to fit the shape of the ball. Now, I place my index and middle fingers together, and stick my thumb out. I never separate the index and middle finger when throwing a curve ball. I take the other two fingers and bend them down, at the knuckle. Next, I place my middle finger on the right lace of the baseball. I place my thumb on the left side, where the lace curves on the bottom. I use the other bent down fingers to push against the side of the ball for better control. Finally I Launch the ball hoping for it to not fail me and getting the batter a strike.In simple terms for beginners you have to Grip a baseball and place your index finger on the ball. Place your middle finger along the bottom seam of the baseball. Place your thumb on the back seam. When this pitch is thrown, your thumb should rotate upward and your middle finger should snap downward. The arm action is a little abbreviated at the end. Bring your throwing hand elbow to the opposite hip which will shorten your follow through, but, will permit you to snap off the pitch. These are the steps on how to throw a curve ball and give the batter a strike.
Mauricio Garcia – Fenwick – DMSF