The other day I asked a 10-year old pitcher how many pitches did he throw and he said “six”. He said he threw a fastball, cutter, curveball, change-up, knuckleball and slider. That’s quite an assortment of pitches for such a young pitcher. The question is how many pitches do youth pitchers (Ages 9 to 14) need to learn?
I teach youth pitchers 3 pitches: A 4-seam fastball, a 2-seam fastball and a change-up.
The 4-seam fastball grip is the basic grip taught to all pitchers. The 4-seam fastball is generally faster than the 2-seam fastball. Place the index and middle fingers across the horseshoe seams of the baseball and place the thumb on the bottom of the ball. Use a relaxed grip and hold the ball ‘like an egg’. It’s important not to jam the ball into the back or palm of the hand. It’s acceptable for younger players to grip the ball with 3 or 4 fingers with their thumb placed on the bottom of the ball until their hands grow.
T
he 2-seam fastball grip provides pitchers with an alternative fastball that breaks or cuts. The 2-seam fastball is held generally the same way as the 4-seam fastball, but instead of gripping the ball across the seams the pitcher places the index and middle fingers on the seams of the baseball where the seams are the closest together.
Pitchers that throw a change-up create timing problems for hitters. The most common change-up grips are the Circle Change (pictured) and Palm Ball. But unlike the fastball, the change-up is held deeper in the back of the hand (palm) and gripped slightly tighter (‘choking the ball’). The general rule for a change-up is ‘the more skin touching the ball means more friction and less velocity’. The key to throwing the change-up is using the same arm speed as the fastball so the batter visually thinks the pitcher is throwing a fastball. The change in grip will slow down the pitch.
One last note…arguably New York Yankee pitcher, Mariano Rivera, is the best closer ever. Rivera has appeared in 88 postseason games. He’s pitched a total of 133.1 postseason innings and has an incredible 0.71 earned run average and 107 strikeouts. He’s also only given up 21 walks and 2 homeruns. So how many pitches does he throw? One. That’s right the best closer in baseball throws a 4-seam fastball. So why would a youth pitcher need to throw six different pitches?