Finger pressure and seams

keep in mind, i play slow pitch so i won't be able to help with anything more than the physics involved... i know nothing about fast pitch other than what i've learned in here the past couple of weeks... but i do have a good working understanding of the physics now...

let me show a few pictures to illustrate it... with the arrow through the ball indicating the axis of rotation... from the catchers perspective...

1. SCREWBALL - RIGHT TO LEFT... into a rhb





2. CURVE - LEFT TO RIGHT... away from a rhb





3. RISE BALL





4. DROP

"Have your had success doing this with the ball marked as you showed?"

i do warm up with a windmill delivery... i've done it for the past 45 years... but i only pitch in slow pitch... to answer your question, i do get a lot of movement left to right but that's all... i don't release it anything like IR [which is pretty amazing stuff] but i do try to get sort of a bullet spin in the process... plus my speed is probably not as fast either...

with all the coaches and pitching instrutors in here... i find it suprising that this is being completely ignored... not even a single view since sluggers originally posted it for me and when i bumped it later... anyway... one last bump before i give up...

PC has taken a new job as a long haul semi truck driver.
He and I still talk occasionally. His DD syd the kid is doing great. He says she's headed to the University of Kentucky!

Movement is determined by the amount of air pressure differential. A 2 seam approach has the entire length of the laces rotating in the air stream which will create a strong pressure difference. A 4 seam has 4 seams "bumping" with each rotation. I'm not partial to either. I believe it's a preference. What matters most to me is the axis and spin rate...

I've seen 2 seam movement in person, but have haven't been able to replicate it myself. I find that I get more consistent results working for a perpendicular spin axis.

coach james said:

Movement is determined by the amount of air pressure differential. A 2 seam approach has the entire length of the laces rotating in the air stream which will create a strong pressure difference.

Click to expand...

if you aren't referring to a yawed bullet spin... we aren't talking about the same thing...

if are you referring to a bullet spin that's yawed with this 2 seam approach.. then i'm suggesting this physics [smooth/rough side effect] is more likely to be causing the movement because the 2 seam bullet spin puts a smooth spot in front... i don't see much movement when a smooth spot isn't there... in the rachel garcia thread, shaker1 posted a slow motion gif of 3 pitches... on all of them she has a yawed bullet spin...

as i've said... you guys seem to have most of this figured out already... but you still seem to have some questions about it... i'm saying if you start viewing it from this smooth /rough side effect, you will answer those questions... why does it drop? why does it move right or left... smooth/rough side answers those questions... the bullet spin through the middle of a smooth spot means the seam creates a rough side that's continuous... if it's yawed then it should move away from the yaw...

here's that rachel garcia gif...

https://i.makeagif.com/media/5-25-2018/76kq2G.gif

Ken B said:

I've seen 2 seam movement in person, but have haven't been able to replicate it myself. I find that I get more consistent results working for a perpendicular spin axis.

Click to expand...

are you talking about a yawed bullet spin 2 seam? refer to my response to coach james...

hopefully i'm explaining myself in a way you can understand... i've read a number of threads trying to understand the terminology you all use but i doubt i have it all under control... keep that in mind, if i sound confusing... that might be why...

WiLD53 said:

are you talking about a yawed bullet spin 2 seam? refer to my response to coach james...

hopefully i'm explaining myself in a way you can understand... i've read a number of threads trying to understand the terminology you all use but i doubt i have it all under control... keep that in mind, if i sound confusing... that might be why...

Click to expand...

Yes. I watched John Gay throw it once as a scrop. I think you are explaining yourself well. Some swear by the two seam, others not-so-much. My preference is striving for a perpendicular and high spin rate.

Ken B said:

Yes. I watched John Gay throw it once as a scrop. I think you are explaining yourself well. Some swear by the two seam, others not-so-much. My preference is striving for a perpendicular and high spin rate.

Click to expand...

i understand that ken... i'm not trying to convince anyone to use this... only to let you all know the physics i think is responsible for that movement... in slow pitch, spinning it only gets about 3 inches of movement... using this i get 3- 4 times that much without having to spin it much... in fast pitch, with the higher speeds, both methods are available to you... i'm just trying to provide information that seems to be missing in assessing the yawed bullet spin movement for those who do use it...