Knuckle ball grip

[Crystal Brown]

At the end of my daughters' pitching lesson with Rick Pauly, it was mentioned by her dad that she also throws a knuckle ball. My daughters face lit up and she got excited to show Mr Pauly her grip that she has been playing around with. It was something that SHE figured out on her own. After having a long lesson, her energy is renewed and she wants to pitch more. Come to find out, she can use the knuckle ball grip for her changeup, drop ball and her rise ball. Not only can she use it, she pitches faster with control using this grip.

I wonder if it has something to do with this thing she always does with that finger when she pitch. I have tons of pictures where she does the same thing.

 

[1bucketmom]

Interesting!!!!!

The best thing about this post - her face lit up and she got excited. That's some love right there.

Any chance you can post the grip???

 

[Crystal Brown]

Here is a video of her throwing a rise ball with that grip….I have to try getting a close up of her grip another day.
Side note: I know I may be partial, but considering she just learned the spin of the rise ball recently, only thrown her first rise ball about two weeks prior to this lesson and this was the first time throwing it with that grip…she did pretty good.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uyQVx1WJuvo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Doug Romrell]

Crystal,

Are you sure it's a knuckle ball grip? Or is it a jammed index finger with the inside of the index finger big knuckle pressed against the ball?

 

[Crystal Brown]

Crystal,

Are you sure it's a knuckle ball grip? Or is it a jammed index finger with the inside of the index finger big knuckle pressed against the ball?

Here is a picture with her demonstrating the grip.

 

[Fastpitch86]

Thanks for posting the info

 

[Sparky Guy]

My DD used that grip for her rise and screw. Except she dug her fingernail into the seam of the ball. She lifted two fingers for her change.

 

[Rick Pauly]

Interesting!!!!!

The best thing about this post - her face lit up and she got excited. That's some love right there.

Any chance you can post the grip???

We took Dominics knuckle grip and turned it into the Man's finger tip grip you see in this pic. It is a very typical method of gripping for a rise in the men's game.....for those who struggle with good rise spin axis, this grip tends to help the axis get closer to the desired 6/12 view that we talk about.

 

[Vertigo]

My DD uses a knuckle ball grip for her CU. She uses a 4 seam grip but then puts her pointer, middle, and ring finger knuckles on the ball. When it's on it's a great pitch.

 

[jwrunner]

That is the exact grip that my DD uses for her CU also. We are working on other changeup options as well, but this seems to be the one she can throw most effectively and consistently. At release, her thought cue is simply to flick the index finger to push the ball off. Ball comes out with greatly reduced speed and a small amount of dropball spin, and no perceivable drop in arm speed.