- Apr 16, 2013
- 1,113
- 83
By now most here know my DD is a baseball player that's joining the world of softball. One question I have is about fastball pitch spin. My DD was a junkball pitcher so she knows a world about putting spin on a baseball and what it looks like at the plate. At 14u we don't expect a TON of girls bending the ball, but the fastball is one thing I'm honestly curious about. In baseball, or any overhand throw, you're finishing it with a flick on the seems that creates a lot of backspin, keeping it "up". I'd think, if you reverse that, and pitch underhand, that you'd create forward spin. However, as I know it, a drop curve is like a 12-6 curve in baseball with all forward spin. I remember lots of people talk about IR when pitching so that makes me think that sliding your hand to the side of the ball and pronating could create strong backspin. So is that how a pitcher creates backspin on a fastball? Or, does the typical fastball still have some forward spin?