The art of the curveball

The art of the curveball

By Jack Robinson

When baseball pitchers are taught to try and fool a batter, a curveball is often the pitch to learn.

“It gives you an upper hand on the hitter,” Todd Eaton, SIU junior relief pitcher, said. “If you can get the pitch to move and miss barrels it helps you out.”

When it comes to the technical aspect of the pitch, the curveball is much different than the more common fastball, he said. Grip is key when the curveball is pitched. The middle finger must be placed on the inside seam with the pointer finger next to it. The ball needs to be thrown just like any other pitch.

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Next is where the pitcher’s arm comes into play. The pitcher starts to throw the ball and his elbow and arm need to form an L-shape. The ball’s curve comes from the arm pulling down the front of the ball to increase its rotation rate.

When SIU junior pitcher Lee Weld pitches a curveball, he tries to pull the top of the ball as much as possible.

“When I learned how to throw a curveball, I was taught to really get on top of the baseball,” he said. “You don’t necessarily want to snap down, but you are trying to hook and lead with your elbow just a little bit to get that downward angle on it. “

Weld said the curveball is a devastating pitch because of the increasedmovement of the ball. Movement on pitches is important to try and trick batters, he said.

“You try to give (batters) the least opportunity to square up to the baseball,” he said. “You are trying with your movement to catch a little bit of the bat, not the whole barrel, and that little bit of movement is really important.”

Similar to the curve ball, the slider is a pitch where the pitcher pulls on the ball in order to draw some spin out of it. Eaton said when he pitches the slider he pulls more from the side than the top.

“Slider is a little bit different. Instead of getting more on top of the baseball you want to get more on the side of it. It’s got more right to left movement than up and down,” he said. “You want to always throw it with conviction and not baby it. You really want to give everything you got.”

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Although having a number of pitches that a player can go to is an advantage, SIU junior pitcher Tyler Dray said he’d rather have two or three solid pitches instead.

“It’s important to have a pitching repertoire, but at the same time you want to make sure the pitches that you do throw are good,” he said. “I think it’s more important to have a few solid pitches than five or six all right pitches.”

However, Weld said having an arsenal of strong pitches is what can set good and great pitchers apart.

“Coach Cal told me that a good college pitcher has two really plus pitches, whereas a great college pitcher has three solid pitches,” he said. “You don’t need more than that. If you go out there with three really good pitches you are going to be successful.”

Now when does a pitcher use these crucial pitches?

Weld said how he selects pitches is based on scouting reports and what occurs in a game.

“If runners are in scoring position, you obviously want a strikeout more than you want a ball in play so it depends.” Weld said. “Some days you have a pitch that is working really well for you and you tend to gravitate towards it more.”

The curveball is a pitch some pitchers learn when they are younger by simply testing different grips, whereas others don’t learn until later in their career, he said.

Weld said his brother taught him how to throw his first pitch.

“I was around 8 or 10 and … he taught me the grip and mechanics of (a curveball) and how to throw it right,” he said.

Eaton said he learned how to throw a curve much later than Weld did.

“I always heard if you throw it when you are younger you are more prone to injury,” he said. “I didn’t start throwing a breaking ball until high school. My coach helped me out and showed me how to throw it.”

The curveball is a pitch that not everyone can throw effectively but once mastered can become quite useful.

The key to throwing the pitch is the technical aspect with a hint of confidence, Eaton said. A pitcher needs to know when to throw the pitch and to select the right batter to fool.

As it shows, there isn’t much art greater in baseball than the curveball.

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