Screwball Video

[GOINGDEEP]

I don't, but you're posting videos of college players, not elite pitchers. There's a huge difference.

Are you sure she struck out a batter earlier using that pitch, or were you listening to the announcer tell you what pitch she thought it was

-W

Star, yea I got confused on the 2 videos. #86 is her erratic jump, then the second ( slow mo ) that you and I just spoke about. Then I've looked at both again and a couple more on YouTube and with that outside pitch she has that little jump jump thing. None are dropping so I can't believe all could be "hanging".

Yes again, the slow mo is not where she struck out the batter earlier with her "curve".

I'm not saying she is the elitist pitcher of all time, but making history as a school and being in the circle is not anything to be ashamed of.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

(I've noticed that even the expert ESPN commentators have difficultly seeing break and frequently label pitches, then during the slo-mo replay, the spin and break show differently.)

Man I'm not going to argue that one. I think they have a "wheel of fortune" they spin after every pitch and just call what the dial lands on. And that wheel only has drop, curve, screw, CU, rise for choices.

What should I look for?

Coming from BB pitching its easier for me to "see" what's NOT happening. And there are lots of times a "breaking" pitch is not doing Jack.

Which leads me in another direction. With women's increasing speed 75+, at what time do we start looking at velocity inhibiting break.

 

[CoachFP]

Who throws 75+? Besides at the higher speeds the breaks are sharper or at least to appear as such. If you have ever hit against an 85mph drop ball you know that it will move very well.

 

[BoardMember]

Can FFS, Boardmember, Tojo, CoachFP, anyone else is invited too...........

1st Pitch OS Curve
2nd Pitch OS Drop.......
3rd Pitch IS Screw........
4th Pitch OS Curve with accidental under-spin.......

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Who throws 75+? Besides at the higher speeds the breaks are sharper or at least to appear as such. If you have ever hit against an 85mph drop ball you know that it will move very well.

Maybe I should have said "women's increasing speed towards 75+". When you say sharper, are you meaning tighter/late break?

I never have played men's FP, but I have hit 95 mph FB's and wicked 80 mph curves. We would both probably look silly swapping places in the box to hit off what the other is use to seeing.

At those speeds in men's, is the drop what breaks the most?

 

[Greenmonsters]

Maybe I should have said "women's increasing speed towards 75+". When you say sharper, are you meaning tighter/late break?

I never have played men's FP, but I have hit 95 mph FB's and wicked 80 mph curves. We would both probably look silly swapping places in the box to hit off what the other is use to seeing.

At those speeds in men's, is the drop what breaks the most?

IME and IMO, the faster the speed, the later the hitter recognizes the movement therefore the break seems sharper or more sudden even if it is physically less. I'd say that the FP drop is similar to the split finger FB or forkball in BB - effective because of the late recognition of the movement and the hitter swinging over the top of it.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Elite screwball pitchers, as you call them, are generally very large girls who throw hard. They step left, throw right and get inside on the batters. Pitching inside is a good strategy against a lot of women because far too many of them can't turn on the ball as well as they need to for that pitch. But what you bring up is an excellent point as to the "essence" of the screwball. Because it can be effective and it can get outs for the reasons I mentioned above, people have called it a movement pitch. They will swear that it moves when the spin is not conducive to movement. I really don't know why I care that these people think they see something that isn't there. Maybe it's because I teach other pitches, ie drop, rise, change, curve that to master you must get the proper spin and good mechanics, and this pitch is so different and doesn't do anything other than get to a location, I think it diminishes the work and effort to throw real movement pitches.

I can agree with you re the screw-speed relationship; but size has nothing to do with it unless you also want to make the arguement that large girls throw faster than smaller girls. Tall v. short there is a potentially valid longer lever case, but large v. small, no.

 

[Ken B]

I think I found one. Watch the pitch just after the 20 second mark. Looks like it breaks and drops a bit.

 

[CoachFP]

1st Pitch OS Curve
2nd Pitch OS Drop.......
3rd Pitch IS Screw........
4th Pitch OS Curve with accidental under-spin.......

The third pitch was not a screwball. It was an inside cutter. She just reared back and threw it in there.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

I think I found one. Watch the pitch just after the 20 second mark. Looks like it breaks and drops a bit.