grip it and rip it

Throwing an object is fun thing to do. Being able to throw a ball well, is a coveted skill. Throwing a softball or baseball with speed and accuracy is poetry in motion to me. Throwing is a full body exercise – a toe nails to finger nails movement- if you will. It takes some coordination to do it correctly. Before we begin I want to say how important it is to teach all your players a proper warm up routine and how important it is that we as coaches and parents insist that it is done before we throw the baseball, softball or football, every time. One of the most important parts in throwing is how we grip the ball. I have worked with 8 year old and 38 years olds, softballs and baseballs. So, size matters. Many young baseball players need to use three fingers to control the ball, softball players do that too. Once the fingers are long enough, two fingers is ideal for throwing a baseball. Where we grip the ball is important. The balls have built in seams for us to grip. We want the pads of our fingers across those seams so we can backspin their ball. Science tells us that a lot of spin is good and that the aid of the spin is important too. These start with the right grip. If we turn the ball so we are looking at the “backwards c”, we would love our fingers to lay across that C with the pads of our fingers caressing the top seam. Add a third finger there is your fingers are not long enough to control the flight of the ball when you throw it. One can also turn the ball to where the seams Re closest together and grip it there. The ball still rotates well with that grip and is good for smaller hands. The thumb goes underside of the ball, bisecting the ball down the middle. Once a thrower gets good, and fingers permit, we want to tuck the thumb so that the ball rests on the side of the thumb. This allows for less friction which means more spin. These are basic grips for all. Find the one that works for you; warm up properly, grip it and rip it.