Power Pros Forum

well actually i got one back today signed in the mail from Pat Neshek

I wish I was in a school that big as far as Athletics go. I'm a decent player, I don't throw all that hard, but I'm smart with my pitches and can play anywhere if needed. I have my high school coach as of next year to thank for that, he coached me in Little League for 5 years. He taught me well. I hit for contact mostly, I'm starting to get some more power in my swing, but I'm still gonna be a line drive single/double hitter for a while with my speed. I rode the bench in middle school ball this year as a Three seed team, I would've started on probably 6 other teams in the league, maybe 7. I'm often written off for pitching because my speed isn't as fast as the others, but I change speeds and arm angles well and can throw strikes. I'm not an ace, but I can be a swing man starter/reliever in high school. I hope I can contribute to JV next year.

Anybody have any tips on how to throw a knuckle curve? Our pitching coach is trying to teach me how to throw one, since I can't throw a curve either, and he told me to practice it. I just can't get it to break. My main breaking pitch is a knuckleball, but he thinks I can learn the KNCB pretty easily. I sure hope so.

I don't know how to, but here's a fact I didn't know before: Justin Verlander used to throw a knuckle curve, but got injured throwing it in '05, and then he stopped throwing it.

My pitches I throw right now are 2SFB, 4SFB, CCHG, and CUR, but I've thrown a "Baby" curve before, which is very similar to a knucklecurve.

Basicly, you grip the ball like a two seam fast ball, and raise your index finger as if your throwing a knuckleball, sliding it over so that its just barely not touching your middle finger. But, you middle finger stays "flat" on the ball like a fast ball. You apply pressure on the seams using your middle finger and use your index for stabilty. Throw it like a fastball as far as mechanics, arm speed etc. It should break to your left about 1-7 if your a right hander, to your right about 11-5 if your a lefty. It's not gonna have a wicked break as a normal curve, but it will break a little, catching the batter off guard.

Depending on how old you are (13?), I'd learn a real curve by High School. Its not that hard. Grip like a fastball, but move the index to right beside the middle finger. Apply pressure to the seams using your middle finger. Use your same throwing motion, but as you bring your arm to your relase point, rotate your wrist 90 degrees and snap in downward. This puts spin on the ball, causing it to drop at angle.

All in all, speed isn't everything. If you can change speeds well and throw strikes, you can pitch well against most teams. Also, except on a changeup or palmball etc., Keep the ball AWAY from the palm. This allows more pop and rotation on your pitches.

Hope this helps. I'm by no means an expert, by I have a couple I've worked with before that I'm paraphrasing here

K, thanks for all the help!!

Sorry for a DP, but S-jax has disappeared with 7,000 posts. Is he done??

To be continued...

Probably just on hiatus. Not much actual Power Pros discussion going on as of late.

...if you would check my user page, you'd see I check a couple times a day

Although you tempted me to think about some mean stunts in response to this.

Thanks for holding fire then!! Also, I'm glad to see you are back. I am also finishing my Leo Hayward log.

Maybe he was trying to stay on 7000 for as long as possible.

In that case, I ruined it! Sorry S-Jax.

post counts don't mean squat.

You guys already know I'm number one, so...

Kidding, kidding...

We have our first game tonight for baseball, at 6 p.m. I still don't have baseball spikes though. I'm hoping we can win, but I'm just excited to play a game. I'm gonna get to pitch too.

My first game is tomorrow, but I've alread played about 12 because there's two travel teams and the other one was short on players.