Screwball

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May 23, 2015
999
63
I've had a lot of pitchers in FP say they're throwing it but I've never seen it. A screwball is commonly referred to but doesn't work commonly. I can't imagine how you have to manipulate your arm in fast pitch to get a screwball spin.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
I'm not familiar with this pitcher. Its tough to tell from your clip, but it looks like a split finger fastball off the left side of the rubber
Yeah he throws a splitter. MLB pitchers make too much money now to mess around with a pitch which is that hard on your arm.
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
10U we paid an former pitcher to see if she could get our pitchers going. No long term plan, we want them pitching now.

She studied DD for a while and decided She should throw a screwball. Did it break no but she did seem to be a little bit more accurate.
 
Aug 21, 2008
2,386
113
DD's team from last year had a pitcher who's dad was an assistant and his daughter was the #1 pitcher for the team. He always called curve and screwball, this was 10u mind you, so I finally asked dd what the pitch did when she was catching her. She said her curve is an outside fastball and her screwball is an inside fastball :ROFLMAO:

This is very true. And I hear this all the time. Someone tells me about their wicked "screwball" and when I catch it, there is simple forward (dropball/fastball) spin, the pitcher usually takes a massive step to the left and throws the ball way inside to the RH batter. The pitcher's dad usually gushes about how much that moved and how effective that pitch is. On more than one occasion I've broken hearts by telling people it's not doing what they think it is. How can the ball curve inward when it's spinning forward??? This is when they backpeddle to say "but she gets a lot of people out with it!!!" And that's great. Lets talk about the importance of pitching inside and jamming the hands. It's a huge part of pitching. But lets be honest about what the ball is doing and what's happening. Despite all the wild grips, despite all the drastic stepping differences between that pitch and others, despite that it ends up inside: what you have is an inside pitch. Inside pitches can be effective!!! But lets stop pretending they curve the opposite way.

If anyone ever watches the game Cricket, you will see the pitchers (called Bowlers in Cricket) constantly rub the ball on their clothing to keep one side shiny and one side gets scuffed up. Having 2 different textures on the ball provide the ability for it to "swing" side to side from the airflow. Softball and baseball pitchers can do this too sometimes, although mostly by accident. With the right finger pressure on the ball, I could make my drop have a cut inside to a RH batter too. It's just a slight difference in finger pressure that alters the rotation slightly. I would never want to lose the dropping action in favor of a "screw" action.
 
May 23, 2015
999
63
Pitching coaches have a racket. Its like a guitar teacher. When a kid climbs in the car and mom asks what did you learn today and Johnny say smoke on the water. Mom thinks its cool, so mom pays. If Johnny and his teacher do it right mom hears I learned notes A -G on a single string. Then hears the exact same thing until he masters it.

Mom doesn't want to hear a pitching coach that makes their daughter throw for accuracy and work tirelessly spotting a fastball before doing anything else
 
Mar 28, 2014
1,081
113
I've seen a pile of cutters and two seam fastballs breaking throw hand side. Never a screwball. It's hard to get enough revs and the abgle to make that happen. Ive seen pitching machines do it
what is your definition of a screwball?
 
May 7, 2015
844
93
SoCal
3-9 rotation or close to it is a screw for a RHP. Slider is 9-3. Out of millions of pitches caught, you've never seen a 3-9 (or close) rotation from a RHP?
 
May 23, 2015
999
63
3-9 rotation or close to it is a screw for a RHP. Slider is 9-3. Out of millions of pitches caught, you've never seen a 3-9 (or close) rotation from a RHP?
I've seen close from a couple of L/R submariners. 3/9 9/3 curveball not screws. Thats a hard spin to get
 

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