My mom moved from Long Island to the Scio/Wellsville NY area, close to Alfred. I bit of culture shock for us when we moved her stuff there. She spent her last 20+ years there, happily.
I am surprised at the number of pitchers that I talk to who have no idea about ball spin. When I ask them how they know the difference between their curve and their drop all they can say is that they hold and throw them differently but have no clue about how they should spin. And they usually have no idea how their fastball spins.
I place a number of nickle size black spots on the balls that I use when I teach spin. The first thing I do is make them catch my overhand curve ball so they can see the side spin and the break. We work a lot on spin recognition so they can experiment on their own and make adjustments to their grip and hand/wrist action to get the correct spin and maximize their rpm's. I also go over this with the catchers on the teams that I work with.
I think that a bullet spin pitch can be effective even though it is not ideal. In the book "The Physics of Baseball" there is a section where the author discusses how the brain of a hitter calculates the trajectory of a thrown ball. If the speed is overestimated (change up) the bat will be early to the contact point and more importantly pass above the path of the ball. If the brain underestimates the speed of the ball the bat will be late to the point of contact and will pass under the path of the ball. Ideally if you can combine the break of a pitch with the brain's trajectory miscalculations you can maximize the effectiveness of a pitch. This is easier in baseball with the overhand motion. If you follow the logic a slower than normal pitch should have spin to make it break down and a faster than normal pitch should have spin which will help it rise or at least stay flat. So if a pitcher's fastest pitch has bullet spin it can be effective.
I am surprised at the number of pitchers that I talk to who have no idea about ball spin. When I ask them how they know the difference between their curve and their drop all they can say is that they hold and throw them differently but have no clue about how they should spin. And they usually have no idea how their fastball spins.
I place a number of nickle size black spots on the balls that I use when I teach spin. The first thing I do is make them catch my overhand curve ball so they can see the side spin and the break. We work a lot on spin recognition so they can experiment on their own and make adjustments to their grip and hand/wrist action to get the correct spin and maximize their rpm's. I also go over this with the catchers on the teams that I work with.
I think that a bullet spin pitch can be effective even though it is not ideal. In the book "The Physics of Baseball" there is a section where the author discusses how the brain of a hitter calculates the trajectory of a thrown ball. If the speed is overestimated (change up) the bat will be early to the contact point and more importantly pass above the path of the ball. If the brain underestimates the speed of the ball the bat will be late to the point of contact and will pass under the path of the ball. Ideally if you can combine the break of a pitch with the brain's trajectory miscalculations you can maximize the effectiveness of a pitch. This is easier in baseball with the overhand motion. If you follow the logic a slower than normal pitch should have spin to make it break down and a faster than normal pitch should have spin which will help it rise or at least stay flat. So if a pitcher's fastest pitch has bullet spin it can be effective.
Last edited:
I give lessons in Wellsville... Small world.
