How To Pitch A Baseball

These are tips to help you learn how to pitch a baseball. By following these tips you will get undeniably better at pitching and impress a few people while doing it. These are the pitches you will need to learn to be successful.

To pitch a baseball, you will need:

• A baseball
• Someone to catch for you
• A pitchers mound and home plate
• A winners mentality

1. The first thing to consider when pitching is your grips. There are many different grips and pitches to throw. These are the most popular grips that set good pitchers apart from great ones.
   
2. The fast ball is the most fundamentally sound pitch you can throw. The mentality behind throwing it is simple. You want to throw it faster than the hitter is swinging. Unlike other pitches, you are not trying to fool the hitter. To throw this pitch you want to place the ball sideways so that your pointer and middle fingers are placed on the same seam as each other. The ring and pinky finger do not go on the baseball. Your thumb is directly underneath the baseball. That is a fast ball grip.
   
3. The change up is used to fool a hitter. It has the same exact movement as a fast ball, so the hitter thinks it is a fast ball. In reality though it is going around 10 MPH slower than your fast ball. These two pitches work together and one cannot be successful without the other. To grip a change up you will place your pointer and middle finger on the same seam. Now you take your ring finger and put it on the seam as well. The thumb goes underneath the baseball and the pinky finger is not used. Your grip should resemble a fast ball grip except with an extra finger on the the red seam.
4. The splitter is great because when you release this pitch the movement on it will make good contact almost impossible. Most of the hitters who hit this ball will hit ground balls. To grip a splitter you will take your baseball and position it so the seams are going upwards right next to each other. Now take your pointer finger and have it run up the left seam as your middle finger runs up the right seam. It is called the splitter because both of your finger should be completely split from one another. The thumb should go underneath the baseball and both the ring finger and pinky are not used. Using this arsenal of three pitches should be extremely handy. It is important that you have at least three pitches, even if they aren't these three. There are around twelve pitches to choose from, and the more you know how to throw, the more chances you will have to fool a hitter.
   
5. The second thing you need to learn when you are pitching is your motion. There are many different types of deliveries to choose from, but the most common is your typical 3/4 delivery. To throw a 3/4 delivery you will start out by taking your foot closest to the mound and stepping back. After you step back you will step forward and raise your knee. Your knee should raise to your glove's level. Now you will plant your foot. As you are planting your foot you will release your other foot, using the momentum to throw harder.
   
6. The third and last thing you will have to learn when pitching is your follow through. It is important to follow through all the way on your pitches to ensure your consistency and accuracy. When following through you will whip your back leg after releasing forward. This will give you the same motion every pitch, allowing you to fall into a groove, and will also position you to field greater if the ball is hit back to you.

By following these tips when learning how to pitch you will maximize all potential and throw harder and with more motion.