Spin on ball while throwing

Our coach came over to me the other day and said your daughter throws really hard, but I think she can gain even more if she has a 6-12 spin on the ball. We watched her throughout the catcher/pitcher practice and sometimes it had a beautiful spin, other times it went at an angle. So, I Googled the subject and basically all I found was that if it is going at an angle, it is either a dropped elbow or the player is stepping off the target line and arm is going more at an angle.
I'd like to read a little more on the effect spins have on the ball and I'm sure pitching overhand is a good place to start. Anyone have any suggestions?
DD has worked hard on Wasserman's drills and at one point he said she had her elbow too high at the start of the throw and then it had nowhere to go but drop. It looked like this was happening again at times, so we've been working on that the last 2 weeks. Her throws have been pretty accurate and she will throw a good spin using the Spinright Spinner, and then throw the real ball at an angle shortly after.
I'd love to have her gain some more speed and accuracy while I have a little extra time to work with her.

shaker1 said:

What I see with mine is, if it's good 6/12 spin, she's bending alittle at release an missing out on some brush, and I usually won't see her hand turn over as good. I like to see the spin at an angle. Glad you brought this up, hope some of the guru's weigh in.

Click to expand...

Are you talking about pitching or throwing overhand? "Bending...at release", "brush", and "hand turning over" leads me to believe you're talking about pitching.

Yeah, lost track of where I was. Lol

shaker1 said:

Yeah, lost track of where I was. Lol

Click to expand...

Yeah. Thought so.

Over hand throwing... Is it considered a 12-6 spin??

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

When you talk about the spin, are you saying her hand is coming through on the side of the ball? Almost like a pitcher would throw a slider? If so, she should get that fixed, and an elbow drop may be causing her hand to rotate to the side a bit. Arm angle comes into play, so it will never be a true 12-6, unless you're a high arm angle pitcher.

MacLobo said:

When you talk about the spin, are you saying her hand is coming through on the side of the ball? Almost like a pitcher would throw a slider? If so, she should get that fixed, and an elbow drop may be causing her hand to rotate to the side a bit. Arm angle comes into play, so it will never be a true 12-6, unless you're a high arm angle pitcher.

Click to expand...

Yes her hand comes to the side a bit and a past coach joked that she should be pitching in baseball. Last night in catching practice, it looked really good while she was concentrating on it but as soon as the girls started talking and lost focus, it would go to the side a bit. When she visited her college this weekend, she was very accurate on balls from third to first. We've been trying to work on it every night.

Yes you need 12-6 spin. That will make the ball fly straight.

This guy will teach you how throw: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_House

Learn how to throw like he teaches then adapt the priciples to different positions. Outfielders will add a crow hop. The infielders can shorten up a little with the arm but still need to get the lower half working with good footwork. Of course 12-6 spin is not always possible.

12-6 spin is important. You dont want your catcher forced to track a tailing throw home with a runner bearing down on them. Or get some funky bounce off a tailing one hop throw home. Short 12-6 throws to home will give the catcher an easy hop to field. Its also no fun playing 1st base when the SS pumps twice winds up and throws a 83mph submarine slider in the dirt. I never had to catch one of those but from my view in left field it didnt look fun.


Throwing should be one of the first skills a ball player masters.

You get that 12-6 spin by releasing the ball over the top at the head of your target (at close range). Watch your hand release the ball as it enters the face of your target. Get that down first and then you can naturally raise the release point for a throw from OF. The velocity at release is not going to be any different but it will be faster through the air. That's why kids who throw straight seem to throw harder.