Baseball pitchers are constantly inventing new pitches and each pitch serves a purpose in a pitcher's arsenal of already established pitches. The most common pitch with a high arc and slow speed is the 12-6 curveball, which is thrown by many professional and amateur pitchers.
Grip and Delivery
A 12-6 curveball is gripped differently than a standard two-seam or four-seam fastball. When you grip the ball for this pitch, your index and middle fingers are the only fingers on top of the ball. Both fingers are pressed together and placed alongside the narrow seams of the ball. Your thumb should be tucked underneath the ball and your ring and pinky fingers should be off to the side. The arm motion for a 12-6 curve is identical to a fastball, but just before releasing the ball, you must turn your wrist clockwise if you are right-handed or counter-clockwise if you are left-handed. At the point of release, your palm should be facing inward.
Effect
The "to the side" positioning of your fingers and angle of your wrist at the end of your arm motion put a hard spin on the ball immediately after it's released. The ball will initially sail up in the air higher than a fastball because of the lack of force. This also causes the ball to travel slower than a fastball because less force is being put behind the ball upon release. As the ball approaches the plate, the downward spin drives the ball toward the ground at a sharp angle, sometimes causing the ball to break as much as a foot and a half from its highest to lowest point.
Misconceptions
For many years, people believed that the top to side arm-torque that occurs when throwing a curveball posed a potential health risk to children who have still-developing skeletal and muscular structures. A 2008 study by athletic surgeon Dr. James Andrews found that curveballs cause an equal amount of stress on a young pitcher's arm as a standard fastball, thus dispelling the myth that a curveball can ruin a young arm because of its unnatural torquing motion.
Potential
A 12-6 curveball is a standard pitch in the majority of pitchers' repertoires. It's not uncommon for a pitcher who throws a fastball in the low to mid-90s to have a curveball that clocks in below 70 mph. This disparity in velocity can lead to hitters swinging well before a curveball reaches the plate, or if a curveball is followed by a fastball, well after the fastball passes them. The break on a curveball can also have a batter swinging in a location far away from where the pitch crosses the plate. A hard-breaking curve can look like a pitch right down the middle to a batter, when in fact it could very well bounce on the plate by the time the batter is done swinging.
Verdict
Knowing how to throw a curve and when to throw it is imperative to the development of any pitcher. Starting at a young age by throwing through a tire or to a parent can help a budding pitcher develop a good feel for the pitch. Barry Zito, a professional pitcher with a respected curveball, claims to have begun practicing his curve when he was 7 years old. Ultimately, a long, slow, looping 12-6 curve can transform you from a run-of-the-mill hurler to a professional prospect with swing and miss stuff.
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