Thursday, May 8th, 2008
at 11:30am
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FYI: I can’t hit a curveball to save my life, but for those of you who are still trying, here are a few tips from the Baseball Rampage staff:
How to Hit a Curveball
Hitting a good curveball is one of the most difficult things to do in any sport. The ball starts out in the zone and before you know it, your bat is 8 inches away from the final location of the pitch. The key to hitting the curve is early recognition. Knowing that the curve is coming gives you plenty of time to see if the pitch will stay in the strike zone, whether the pitch is going to break as intended or hang, and allow you to adjust to the break on a good curve to drive it opposite field.
To figure out if the pitch is a curve, study the pitcher intently. Great pitchers won’t tip their pitch but the other 95% may hold their glove a certain way, have their arms positioned only one way, or similar habits that will give you the tip you need to hit the curve. Once you know it’s a curve, move up in the batter’s box so you reduce the amount of movement on the pitch prior to hitting it.
Even with a great pitcher, you still have some time to figure out if a pitch is a curveball. Upon release, the seams on a curveball will spin around a hole, or a 12/6 rotation, which is an immediate clue that the pitch is a curveball.
After identifying the pitch, now you need to spot the location. A curve can only physically move 9 inches so use that information to determine if the pitch is going to break in the strike zone or outside for a ball. A curve that’s located low in the strike zone is guaranteed to break out of the zone so lay off the pitch. Curveballs thrown high can level out, turning into a hanging curveball, which is one of the best pitches to hit for power.
