one of my high school pitchers it vertically challenged, will probably not get over 5 feet, but she has heart and works very hard, really just looking to be a decent high school pitcher and is developing fairly well, won half her games last year with good fastball placement and a cu ,and making progress, but her hands are small and fingers are short, spinning the ball besides trying to throw peel drop seems to be an issue, any thoughts on what might be the easiest spinning movement pitch or another off pitch for someone with such small hands?
small hands and breaking pitches
- Thread starter wannahit
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In my opinion, a big part of it depends on how you teach the pitches. Some are more difficult to learn than others, even within the same pitch.
What I would recommend is find a grip that works for the pitcher. I've worked with a lot of girls who have small hands; they're never going to be able to grip a rise or curve like Cat Osterman, whose hands make a softball look like a tennis ball. Knuckle tucks and fingers laying on the side of the ball probably won't work either.
The good news is when you find a grip they can handle, they can pretty much learn any pitch. Those same girls with small hands can get some nasty break once they're not worried about the ball flying out of their hands prematurely.
What I would recommend is find a grip that works for the pitcher. I've worked with a lot of girls who have small hands; they're never going to be able to grip a rise or curve like Cat Osterman, whose hands make a softball look like a tennis ball. Knuckle tucks and fingers laying on the side of the ball probably won't work either.
The good news is when you find a grip they can handle, they can pretty much learn any pitch. Those same girls with small hands can get some nasty break once they're not worried about the ball flying out of their hands prematurely.
I had a pitcher that was an early trainee that won 105 straight HS games until she discovered a loser (a boy)! She was 4'11" when she graduated. She pitched travel ball also through 18U and was very competitive. She threw a fastball and changeup like your girl, but she also learned a curve since it is a palm-up cupped hand position. She never threw a rise-ball. However, just remember grips are as good as you can grip them! Small hands should throw a rise ball with fingers against the shortest distance between the seams (at the top of the horseshoes). The same can be said of a roll-over drop. My girls claim to fame was impeccable control. She never threw once over 55mph, and she threw mostly around 53-54.
Just read Ken's post; Amen!
Just read Ken's post; Amen!
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The larger the hands, the less strength you need in the fingers. The smaller the hands, the more strength she'll need. Have her work on her strengthening her grip as well as stretching the fingers. There are many finger stretches available for piano, guitar, etc.
I would recommend the rollover drop. Throwing the rise with small hands will be a challenger.
I would recommend the rollover drop. Throwing the rise with small hands will be a challenger.
I have small hands and had trouble gripping certain pitches with the grip I was shown by men whose hands were large. So I worked with the gripps and modified them to fit my hand and got the same results the men with larger hands were pitching with. So I say if a pitchers hands allow them to grip the ball and get maximum results with normal grips then do it. But do not hesitate to modify a grip to allow your student to pitch the same pitches all of the other pitchers are pitching. So far my idea has worked for all my students tall to short.
My dd has small hands too...and was always worried about the ball slipping out during arm rotation when first working on spins.
When she understood that the middle finger and ring finger are the grippers...it helped her.
If she could get either of them near a seam... that can help...then like other said..rotate ball some if you have to.
DD can do curve and rise with two grips....straight finger and knuckle (except its the tip of the finger rather than first knuckle of the index finger).
Roll over drop shouldn't be a problem cause she should be able to get the middle gripper finger...just behind the seam for a 4 seam drop.
When she understood that the middle finger and ring finger are the grippers...it helped her.
If she could get either of them near a seam... that can help...then like other said..rotate ball some if you have to.
DD can do curve and rise with two grips....straight finger and knuckle (except its the tip of the finger rather than first knuckle of the index finger).
Roll over drop shouldn't be a problem cause she should be able to get the middle gripper finger...just behind the seam for a 4 seam drop.
