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You step into the box for your turn at bat. The pitcher stands on a mound 60 feet 6 inches (18.4 m) away from you—looming over you—, standing on the rubber 10 inches (25 cm) above the level you stand on. You stand there knowing that you could be facing a 95 mph (154 kph) fastball speeding at you like a light beam, or a much slower breaking ball that will seem to hang in space before it dips and dives away from the place where you expect it to be. You will have less than 2.5 seconds to decide which pitch is coming—from the time the pitcher releases the ball to when it crosses the plate—either to be hit with your bat, or to smack into the glove of the catcher crouching behind you. Will it be a strike, or a ball? Should you swing, or not? These decisions need to be made in fractions of a second and could make the difference between winning and loosing. Baseball is one of the most demanding sports for hand-eye coordination. Hitting a 9.25 inch (23.3 cm) circumference ball with a 2.75 inch (7.0 cm) diameter round bat is one of the most challenging things an athlete can attempt to do. That is why succeeding just one out of three times can make you a great hitter.

Great hitters will actually be able to see the spin on the seams of the ball as it travels towards them. They also use the slight changes in position of the pitcher's hand when the ball is released to make the split second decisions required to swing their bat and make contact. They use all of this information to help try and determine how fast, and how soon, they need to swing. Swing too soon at a curve ball, and the batter will end up waving the bat at a ball diving down and away from you. Swing too late at a fastball, and the smack of the ball striking the catcher's glove will reach your ears before your bat passes through the strike zone.

The strike zone is an area over the plate that is determined by the Umpire. Officially, it is an area the width of the plate, from the height of the batter’s knees to the armpits. Effectively in professional baseball it is much smaller, roughly 18 inches (46 cm) wide and a similar distance in height above the knees. If the pitch passes through the strike zone it is a strike, otherwise it is a ball. Three strikes and the batter is out. Four balls and the batter gets to take a free base.

How do the pitcher’s do it? How can a human arm propel a 5 ounce (140 g) baseball over 60 ft 6 in (18.4 m) at speeds faster than most cars can drive? How do they manage to hurl the ball into a square space suspended over home plate and control not only where it will be, but also what it will be doing when it gets there?

Pitching Starts with Repetition
The body needs to learn exactly what is required to make sure the ball gets to the plate every time. Practicing over and over will imprint on the leg and arm muscles of the pitcher what it takes to pitch the ball. Having not only a strong arm, but a strong, fit body is key to becoming a successful pitcher. Using the body like a coiled whip generates the speed of the pitch. The legs generate most of the power behind the pitch. That is why the legs start the pitching motion. The legs generate the first fifty miles an hour. If you want to see how true this is, try sitting on the ground and throwing a ball. You will be amazed at how slow your throw is. The back and the shoulder generate the next twenty miles an hour. The next 15 miles an hour are generated in the arm and the elbow. Only the last 10 miles an hour are actually generated by the hand and the wrist. Only by using every muscle from the feet to the end of the arm can a pitcher generate enough of a slingshot to release the ball at such amazing speeds.

It is not enough to use all of the body; the way in which the body is used can be key in making the pitcher successful. Maintaining balance, while using the entire body in a coordinated fashion is the only way to pitch well. Relying on the power of the big muscles in the legs, back and shoulder to generate the speed of the pitch allows the pitcher to use the fine control available in the fingers and the wrist to control the precise location and spin on the ball when it leaves the hand. If the pitcher grips the ball too loosely, control will be lost. If the grip is too tight, the power and spin will be lost. Griping the ball like you would hold an egg, lightly but firmly, provides that perfect balance of control and power. How the arm is held also is key in making sure the pitcher gets the most possible speed out of the arm. Hold the ball behind your back with the palm facing up and you put huge strain on your shoulder. Hold it with your palm facing down and the ball feels lighter and it is much smoother on your arm as you come over the top to hurl the pitch. Understanding that the speed with which the pitch leaves your hand depends on perfect coordination of all of your body will help you focus your efforts.

The Fast Ball

FourSeam Fast ball

TwoSeam Fast ball

The fastball counts on speed to overpower the batters. The hand is typically held in one of two ways: the twoseam and fourseam fastball. The ball is thrown directly towards the plate, and is allowed to roll off of the fingers as they are snapped down on release—putting a straight backspin on the ball as it travels towards the plate. Fastballs typically do not have a lot of movement, and go directly from the release to the plate. This is the fastest pitch, as it requires the least amount of control on the spin of the ball. Some pitchers are able to propel their fastballs over 100 miles per hour (162 kph) . This is the easiest pitch to learn, but requires a certain amount of natural ability to able to pitch over 90 miles per hour (146 kph). There are two typical ways to hold a fastball, known as twoseam and fourseam (named for the number of seams that will be in the direction of primary spin). In both pitches, two fingers and the thumb provide the primary grip. The fingers are flicked down on release giving backspin to the ball. In the fourseam, four seams catch the air as the ball rotates, and the ball tends to float due to the lift generated by the four seams. For the twoseam, with only two seams catching air, the ball tends to sink.

The Changeup

The Changeup

The changeup is the ultimate attempt to fool the batter. The pitch is thrown identically to a fastball, but thrown 10-15 miles per hour (16-24 kph) slower. The way this is done is by holding the ball closer to the palm of the hand and placing all five fingers on the ball with an equal grip. The lack of tight grip on the finger tips prevents the fingers from imparting that last little bit of speed as they snap down on the release of the pitch. The result is a pitch that has the same arm motion as a fastball, but one which will float into the plate at a much slower rate of speed. The idea is to fool the batter into believing that a fastball has been thrown, and have the batter swing before the pitch gets to the plate. Masters of the changeup use it effectively to make their fastball seem faster and to fool batters into waving their bat at the pitch.

Breaking Balls

Breaking ball: Forkball

There are a number of breaking ball pitches. Most pitchers manage to master two or three. The forkball, and split seam fastball are similar pitches to the fastball in how the ball is held, but rely on the slippage of the ball through the first two fingers to put some irregular spin on the pitch. The fingers are placed wide apart of the seams, and the pitch is thrown like a twoseam fastball. This pitch is typically only slightly slower than the fastball, but can move left, right or down depending on how it spins off and through the fingers. The splitseam fastball is a slower version of the fastball thrown with the two fingers spread apart, but not as wide apart as the forkball. Because the flick of the fingers is not as effective as the fastball, the pitch is slightly slower and tends to move left or right a little more than a conventional twoseam fastball.
 

Breaking ball: Curve

The curve ball is the most well known breaking ball. Two fingers are held along an outside seam of the ball, and the wrist is flicked down and over the ball (towards the outside of the ball). This spin causes the ball to dive down as it moves towards the plate as the spin is more sideways and no lift is created by interference of the seams as the ball passes through the air. The curve ball is typically 10-20 miles per hour (16-32 kph) slower than the fastball.

The slider is similar to the curveball, but is typically pitched with the arm out slightly wider and lower than the curve ball, with the grip higher up on the seams. This puts some sideways spin on the ball, which will cause it to break from the pitching hand down and towards the opposite side of the plate (right to left looking at the plate for a right handed pitcher).
 

Breaking ball: Screwball

The screwball is the most difficult breaking ball to pitch, as it goes against the natural arm motion of the pitch. For this pitch, two fingers are held along the inside seams of the ball, and the wrist is flipped down and inside the ball as it is released. This spin will cause the screwball to move away from the pitcher (right to farther right for a right handed pitcher). This pitch puts a lot of strain on the elbow of the pitcher and is extremely difficult to throw consistently.

Knuckle ball

Knuckle Ball

The final type of pitch is the knuckle ball. The fingertips are pushed into the ball so that the knuckles grip the ball very tightly. When the ball is released, the fingers are popped out, in the effort to propel the ball towards the plate without any spin. This pitch relies on the natural air currents to push on the seams of the ball as it floats towards the plate without any spin. This can cause the ball to do virtually anything in terms of direction of movement. The knuckle ball is an extremely slow pitch, but can be very effective due to its lack of predictability. Batters have a very hard time hitting this pitch, but it is extremely hard to control. There are only a few successful knuckleball pitchers playing professionally today.

The ability to pitch over 90 miles per hour (146 kph) is a combination of a natural gift and hard work, but anyone can learn how to become a successful pitcher, causing a baseball to curve, slide or float. All it takes is hard work and practice.

How does the pitcher control what the baseball does? The key is in the seams on the baseball. The ball is covered with two pieces of leather that are stitched together with red cotton that creates 108 stitches that hold the ball together. These stitches (together know as seams) bite into the air as the ball spins towards the plate and cause differences in pressure and force on the sides of the ball, causing the ball to move in one direction or the other.

Each different pitch is started with a slightly different grip on the ball. The ball is hurled towards the plate using basically the same motion in the legs, back and shoulder. Only in the arm and the hand is there any difference. A flip of the wrist can cause the ball to curve, slide or drive towards the heart of the strike zone. Truly great pitchers release all of their pitches with their arm in the same place. Most pitches do have small differences in how their arm moves for the different pitch types, but these differences are often picked up by the batters and can become telltale signs which help the batter hit their pitches much more easily.

There are essentially four kinds of pitches: the fastball, the changeup, breaking balls and the knuckle ball. Each pitch has different advantages and disadvantages, and some are harder to throw than others.

Notes:

• Many of these pitches put a lot of strain on the elbow and wrist if not thrown properly. No pitcher who is not already an expert in their throwing mechanics should attempt to pitch anything other than a fastball or a changeup as it could do permanent damage to their arms. Most coaches will not let pitchers younger than 13 or 14 years of age to start pitch breaking balls to make sure their arms are strong enough to handle the strain.
• References in baseball are all in old Imperial units. Baseball is a sport heavily steeped in tradition, and it has resisted all attempts to change to metric.