Switch Pitching 101

Curveball  - The curveball is a type of pitch in baseball thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball causing it to dive in a downward path as it approaches the plate. ( Wikipedia  ) How to throw a curveball  (video) Explains the curveball grip and throwing technique. When Should Young Players Start Throwing a Curveball? One thing that I've noticed in my 15 years working with pitchers is that there are more pitchers who hurt themselves from throwing fastballs due to poor mechanics or because they aren't functionally strong or because their workloads are too high - than ever hurt themselves throwing curveballs. Any one pitch thrown with the proper mechanics is not going to hurt your arm. Any pitch thrown with improper mechanics can and will lead to arm problems. (www.hardballacademy.com) Know when to throw the curveball Once a Little League player learns the curveball, they fall in love with the pitch. When they star

Is pitching velocity overrated? Yes, maybe. Young pitchers with a strong arm often have trouble locating the fastball in the strikezone. An experienced umpire commented that pitchers would do better if they took a little off the fastball - maybe 3-5 mph and controled the location of the pitch. The best pitchers have success locating the fastball low and away for strikes. It is more important to locate a pitch, have movement and change speeds. This will keep a hitter off balance and mess up their timing. My son prefers to have a low pitch count inning - under 10 pitches.  By locating his pitches and changing speeds, he is able to get out of an inning quicker than the power pitchers. A Little Leaguer can use three pitches to keep a hitter guessing: 4-seam fastball, 2-seam fastball and change up (10 mph slower than the fastball). Add in a splitter or a knuckle ball and watch the hitter walk back to the dugout shaking their head. Remember, a ball with movement is very hard to hi

A baseball glove for switch pitchers is available from  Akadema Until recently, ambi gloves were custom made and very expensive ($400 - $600), so players used two separate gloves. Now you can order a high quaility ambidextrous glove for $135 from Akadema or $100 from Amazon . This can be cheaper than owning two separate pitching gloves - plus it's really cool. My son has been using an Akadema ambi glove for six months and likes being able to switch between throwing arms without changing gloves. The six-finger glove is stiff out of the box, and requires breaking in like other quality gloves. I tried it out and it's fun to use. The glove doesn't have webbing like a standard glove - which is actually ok since it means you use two hands on the catch. When you get it down on the ground to snatch ground balls it fans out like a large scoop which is really nice. Sure beats the old flattened gloves. Akadema's Ambidextrous Glove 12" Trap design.  E

IKM-Manning High School (Class of 2011) Manilla, Iowa #5, Wolves Baseball Positions: RHP / LHP Glove: custom ambidextrous glove TPX $400 Bats: Switch hitter Stephen Kenkel, a high school switch pitcher, hopes to follow Pat Venditte's example and play professional baseball. He says he still has some work to do. Sometimes when he switches sides, he gets confused and forgets his form. Kenkel also said he needs to work on his velocity. KETV.com feature (YouTube) Interview with Stephen Kenkel, ambidextrous pitcher - shows him pitching from both sides. Ambidextrous  Pitcher  Jeered, Cheered - Sports News Story - KETV Omaha World Herald honors area baseball players August 19, 2011 The Omaha World Herald released its All-Western Iowa baseball teams on Wednesday. IKM-Manning senior pitcher Stephen Kenkel was named to the second team in Class 2A/1A. Kenkel two-hits West Harrison in Wolves’ victory June 17, 2011, DBRnews Kenkel also hurt West Ha

Joey Watson, a switch pitcher, was featured in the news during his junior year in High School. HS School Team: Harselle Tigers (Class of 2003) Harselle, Alabama College: Wallace State Community College, Hanceville, Alabama - 2005 Dominant hand: Naturally right-handed Glove: six finger custom glove with two thumbs LHP: 83-84 mph fastball; curveball RHP: 86-87 mph fastball; curveball His father taught him to throw with both arms when he was five-years-old. Practice throwing a bucket of balls every day. Started switch pitching in games at 10-years-old. If he is pitching well with one arm he will usually stay with it until he gets tired, then he can switch and fool everyone. According to the coach, nobody notices the switch since he is so smooth. Averaged 10 strike outs per game. The coach said that his best pitch is the curveball - on both sides. News feature in 2002 48 WAFF - Double Duty  (YouTube) Fox News feature story  (YouTube) Two armed pitcher (AU Ba

It is critical for a pitcher to have good glove control. Pitchers who control the glove side throw more strikes and reduce their chance of injury. This young pitcher finishes a throw with the glove up behind his back - with the body totally exposed to a hit up the middle. The uncontrolled glove arm puts a lot of strain on the shoulder. Blocking the glove, in front of the chest, would help solve the problem. Problems I see with young pitchers: - glove side elbow moves behind the center of gravity creating counter rotation - no glove control; the glove goes way behind the back causing shoulder strain - yanking the glove into the armpit causing them to open up to early - glove flops to the side and causes release point to be off Lack of glove control results in fielding problems: - no glove protection from a line drive - glove is out of position for fielding ground balls - pitcher is off balance, falling way off the mound, with their back to the hitter

Thursday, 18 November 2010 Right-handed pitcher Felix Hernandez captures the AL Cy Young Award. Henandez did a great job on the mound despite the lack of run support by the struggling Mariners team. Felix Hernandez wins AL Cy Young Award Felix Hernandez wiped away tears of joy and praised the support of Mariners teammates in helping him capture the AL Cy Young Award. But the support of Baseball Writers' Association of America voters came through in a far bigger way for Hernandez on Thursday than did most of those bat-wielding teammates. The voters overlooked, in unprecedented, historic fashion, the fact Hernandez won only 13 games in 2010 and chose instead to laud his statistical dominance in most other categories. Read More

Pitching Tips: - do dynamic warmups before pitching - have a plan for each hitter  - communicate with the catcher and know the signs - keep the batter guessing; change the tempo    - take your time, don't rush the delivery - stay balanced and keep your head steady - control the glove side - move your chest to the glove - keep the elbow up and inline with the shoulder - stay closed as long as possible   - use the lower body to generate power - keep the glove in front of your chest  - follow through with the delivery - relax and have fun Practice, Practice, Practice   - play long toss twice a week   - do mirror drills to work to improve balance and mechanics - get the mechanics perfected on the dominant side first, before switching to the other side - if you don't have control of the fastball, then try slowing down a little  - after you have the pitching mechanics down  - go faster - work on developing a good changeup - get feedback from a pitching coach

Tuesday, 16 November 2010 Roy Halladay was amazing this year -  throwing a perfect game plus a no-hitter for the Phils.  He went 21-10 with a 2.44 ERA and 219 stri keouts. Phils' Halladay unanimously wins NL Cy Young Award Roy Halladay arrived in Philadelphia to a standing ovation, a $60 million contract extension and the billing as baseball's top ace. That was before he threw a single pitch. By  BEN WALKER AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK — Roy Halladay arrived in Philadelphia to a standing ovation, a $60 million contract extension and the billing as baseball's top ace. That was before he threw a single pitch. Doc delivered, and then some. Halladay added another victory to an almost perfect season Tuesday, unanimously winning the NL Cy Young Award and becoming the fifth pitcher to earn the honor in both leagues. "It's by far the most fun I've ever had playing this game," he said on a conference call from Mexico, where he was golfing with Phillies teamm

Alex Adami Hometown: Thornwood, N.Y. High School: Iona Prep HS, 2008 College: SUNY Binghamton Height/Weight:  5' 11", 175 lbs. Bats: Right Throws: Both (ambidextrous) Gloves: used two different gloves to throw right- or left-handed Alex does a nice job of blocking his glove on the throw. At Ion Prep HS, Adami had a c umulative record of 16-8 with a 1.16 ERA over three seasons.  He was 8-2 with a 0.93 ERA during his senior year in 2008.  Naturally right-handed, Adami started to alternate pitching left-handed in games. Alex Adami Biography The Switch-Pitcher  - The LoHud Baseball Blog Adami pitches five-hitter to beat the Mount

Switch Pitchers  on  YouTube  >> Make sure to take pitching lessons from an expert before you start switch pitching. Many of the video clips posted online show young pitchers with very poor pitching mechanics, which will lead to arm or shoulder injury. Here are a few examples of good and poor pitching mechanics. Switch Pitchers with good mechanics Pat Venditte -  minor league switch pitcher This is the switch pitcher featured all over the news. He was a walk-on pitcher for Creighton University, then was drafted by the NY Yankees organization. Glove: Switch pitches using six-finger custom glove Feature on Venditte Venditte had instruction from college and pro pitching coaches, which helped to develop his mechanics. Note the good glove control - he blocks the glove out in front of his body. Pat Venditte Northwoods League Allstar Game 2007 Venditte warming up  left- and right-handed Ambidextrous Pitcher Drew Vettleson Features pitching and hitting videos of

Ryan Perez Hometown:  Hampshire , IL High School:   Westminster Christian  ,  Elgin, IL HS Team : Warriors  - 1A State Champions 2010 Travel Team:   McHenry County Hurricanes   Height:   5-11   Weight:   165 Positions:   RHP, LHP, 1B, 3B, SS Pitching     Fastball:   RHP: 84-86 LHP: 83-85     Curve:   RHP: 67 LHP: 64-66     Changeup:   RHP: 72 LHP: 73 Bats:  Switch hitter Dominant hand: right-handed When it comes to brushing his teeth, eating, writing and playing other sports, Ryan is always right-handed. Glove:   Akadema Abidextrous Glove Ryan Perez  uses a special glove his brother found after a long search led him to Akadema, a company that specializes in baseball and softball equipment. The glove has six fingers, allowing Ryan to easily switch from one hand to the other. Goal:   "At first I didn't think about that stuff, or at least I'd try not to," Ryan said. "But I think if I keep working really hard I can definitely get to the major