Two Seamers

[riseball]

Softball pitchers do not get the difference, as they have so many other variables going on (and I don't really want to argue about why, it just is), and yes, in the old days 2S peels (or other pitches) were used all the time, as hands were smaller and perhaps you could say ignorance or not. Many just dropped, no tail, and did so really well. I can tell you from swinging the bat against them in our team's BP. We had one. The drop was plenty enough...

As expected your experience in HS is much different than others. Just because you or your pitchers do not "get it" does not mean it does not work well for others. You seem to regularly sell you players short. Maybe all they lack is proper instruction?

 

[Perfect Circle]

This is all there is to finger pressure. Important but no real magic, just giving a pitcher a mechanism for making sure the finger they want to dominati spin is consistently the last thing to act on the ball.

Yep.... "this game is easy"~Smity

 

[riseball]

Finger pressure is an important but often over looked aspect of pitching. Pitchers need to develop the fine motor skills to feel the pitch. Once they do this the possibilities are wide open.

I just spent an hour with a 16yo who threw a decent traditional curve. Just by altering her finger pressure we improved the movement of the original pitch and ended up with distinctly different movement.

 

[pobguy]

The placement of the fingertips and pressure determines the last finger off the ball which influences the geometry of the pitch. The grip determines the orientation of the seams within that geometry. Experiment with the pressure until you get the desired geometry then adjust the grip to get the most movement.

I am guessing that by "geometry" you mean the spin axis. A small tilt of the axis one way or the other will determine whether the ball breaks left or right.

 

[AndyS]

Finger pressure is an important but often over looked aspect of pitching. Pitchers need to develop the fine motor skills to feel the pitch. Once they do this the possibilities are wide open.

This statement is almost exactly what my DD would say. She says it as what finger or fingers she uses to "drive the spin". Her words not mine so they may or may not make sense. And she uses finger pressure on 2 seams as an alternative look to her straight peel or rise. She feels like she gets more velocity than her peel and can move the ball sideways which she does not with her peel.

Great post...simple but says alot about the next level of pitching in my opinion.

 

[Cowdogz]

With a baseball, I can make a two-seam fastball run in on the batter's hands by holding the ball along the seams and putting pressure on my index finger. I can't make a four-seam fastball move the same way. Seems to me that neither grip nor seam orientation are sufficient on their own to get good movement on a ball.

 

[Perfect Circle]

With a baseball, I can make a two-seam fastball run in on the batter's hands by holding the ball along the seams and putting pressure on my index finger. I can't make a four-seam fastball move the same way. Seems to me that neither grip nor seam orientation are sufficient on their own to get good movement on a ball.

There is more to great movement than just finger pressure, but thats where you start... JMHO the best movement comes w/ 2~SEAMERS

 

[Fastpitch86]

Can anyone post a pic of the grip variations?

Looking for pics as well. That would be beneficial.

 

[MK37]

I found this picture I saved a while ago that shows the two seam rise.

 

[Perfect Circle]

I found this picture I saved a while ago that shows the two seam rise.

Nice Find.....