IR and the screwball

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Apr 28, 2016
81
8
DD is trying to learn a screw ball. When I think about how she throws, I can’t figure out how she is supposed to externally rotate her wrist (essentially). So, how does your DD who throws with IR throw a screwball?


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I can’t figure this out either DD trying to throw for rise spin and gets clock wise bullet spin. This is the only time she throws bullet spin. So when I try to “in slow motion” show her she says “uh huh you can’t do it either”. I’m at a loss unless I keep my arm away from my body so far I can’t get brush for rise and cut arm across body for screw. I just don’t know.
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,105
0
Portland, OR
Basically the same pitch, with your finger(s) saying "good bye" to the ball differently. For me, I simply cut inside the ball with the index finger. Will be interested in other's responses.
 
May 17, 2012
2,804
113
Screwballs are like unicorns. I have seen more legit riseballs than screwballs in 20 years. An inside pitch is not a screwball...

Having said that cutting inside the ball with the index finger as Five Frame mentioned will get you the right spin. Can you spin it enough at the proper speed...most pitchers cannot.
 
Jul 14, 2018
982
93
Basically the same pitch, with your finger(s) saying "good bye" to the ball differently. For me, I simply cut inside the ball with the index finger. Will be interested in other's responses.

This is exactly how DD threw every pitch when she first made the move to IR. She was letting go as she made her motion across her body, rolling the ball off the top of her index finger, so every pitch had clockwise bullet spin. The pitch would randomly (when the spin was hard enough, I guess) break inside like a screwball. Lots of hit batters. After many months of work, she's got more of an 11 to 5 spin, but I'm nervous about having her go back to trying to intentionally put that clockwise spin back into play.
 
Apr 12, 2015
792
93
"Screwballs" are pretty much step left/throw right. The different angle of the throw creates most of the "break", which is just an illusion. Throw from that angle with a good IR motion and you'll have a slight down and in break. A base IR throw will have that down and in break anyway. All you are doing is combining it with a different look.

ETA: This is the spin you are looking for. https://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-pitching/17133-what-do-i-mean.html#post210940
 
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Chris Delorit

Member
Apr 24, 2016
343
28
Green Bay, WI
That's right, there's a disadvantage to a screwball when thrown windmill. You've correctly described it as the contact/brush point. Whereas, baseball pitchers don't have the same roadblock (thigh) with the supination. Either way, you can get run, but generally need to adjust the mechanics upstream to a point where the delivery has to be altered to achieve a larger degree of it.

There's three reasons that the screwball isn't used in men's fastball. 1) Spin 2) Plane 3) Altered mechanics. Bill has mentioned it before, so it's just not my BS. :)

Does she throw a drop (plane chane - potential to increase stikeouts or keep the ball on the ground and in the yard)
Does she throw a change (potential to achieve an advantage in predictability and possibly promote effectiveness of her other pitch(s)?
Does she throw a rise/slurve (plane change - potential to increase strikeouts or influence popup outs)?

If you answer "no" to any of the questions above, my opinion would be that it would be much more beneficial for her skill development to alternatively work on any of those three pitches.

Ask an olympic softball hitter which pitches she would love to see in tournament action and my bet is on the hitter's "full-house"... 1) fastball, 2) screwball and 3) curveball. Why? Because they all have one advantageous thing in common for hitters, and one disadvantageous thing in common for pitchers.

Chris
 

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