You should choose a grip that feels the most comfortable and allows you to throw the ball as hard as possible. Making them frequently rely on grips taught to them at a young age. While the ideal grip varies from athlete to athlete, it is often the case that pitchers are generally unaware of the various grip options available to them. 4 Seam Fastball Grip VariationsĪt Driveline, we have been fortunate to collect an extensive database of grip options, classified by pitch type, to help us identify potential adjustments and find the grip that “feels right” to our athletes. W e’d expect that fastballs with a higher velocity and more vertical movement would lead to a higher rate of swings and misses. One of the keys to a great four-seam fastball is maximizing its vertical break for your release height. If you throw in the mid-seventies, the movement profile doesn’t matter as much as throwing harder. Second, the movement profile will matter more as the player throws harder. The same vertical and horizontal break will look different to a hitter when they come from different release points. It’s also important to understand that a pitcher’s arm slot or release point matters when discussing movement profile. So while there is less variation in four-seam fastballs, we can still find seven distinct variations. When discussing four-seam fastball variations, it’s essential to understand that each inch of movement matters. If you’re throwing on a Rapsodo device, the movement plots below visualize where you’d see a four-seam fastball fall on the horizontal and vertical break plot. Throws in the field will be with a four-seam grip, and we’d want to get good ball flight when playing defense. Younger athletes should not only focus on throwing hard and to a target but also try to get behind the ball with backspin. While each inch of fastball movement matters a lot, it matters more for older athletes who throw harder. We expect four-seam fastballs to move straight, but with increased horizontal movement, the lower your arm slot gets.įor example, if you throw from an over-the-top position, you’ll likely have almost no arm side run, in contrast to a pitcher who throws from a low ¾ slot, whose ball we’d expect to show a higher amount of run.
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