lastest thinking on ball position face up or to third( rhp)???

[fastpitch91]

what is the latest on the optimal hand position to get best IR? Should the ball face third or be palm up until IR begins?

I'm in the basement throwing and trying to figure out what I actually do????

thanks

 

[cnardone]

Palm up. Rich balswick , who is very respected, says 3b is good enough. But if you watch slow mo of Scarborough, finch, Abbott, oesterman, ueno, etc they are all palm up or pretty darn close.

 

[djcarter1966]

IMO its palm up preferred and if you can't the closer the better but never past facing third...you can't go past this 90 degree point because at that point your hand is on top of or behind the ball....as always emulate the best...you will see a little variation but mostly palm up or close to it.

 

[joe720]

Way i've taught it is: 12:00 Ball faces the catcher, 9:00 ball faces the sky, 6:00 ball faces 3rd. Was easy for my DD to digest at 11 as opposed to getting all technical.

 

[ArmWhip]

It depends on the pitch and the spin you want to impart. Up for a rise or palm up curve, 3b for topspin or rollover curve, tipped over a little for the change up.

 

[fanboi22]

If I try to think of it logically, palm up gives the most potential for rotation to create more whip. If you are getting palm down, there isn't any available rotation, 3rd base is halfway to palm up, and palm up should then be the most optimal.

 

[Ken B]

Ball/palm orientation is the result of how loose the lower arm is going into release. Palm up at 8 is a good indicator of loose whip.

 

[Hillhouse]

I only mention turning the ball towards 3rd as a correction. Unless the kid has a funky spin or isn't getting a full whip motion, I will not utter a word about their downswing hand position. In many cases it starts when girls go from the 11" ball to the 12". That extra inch feels like a basketball in their hand so they curl or cup their wrist to hang on. This develops into an issue if it's not addressed. In my experience the majority who curl their wrist as I'm describing never uncurl it and the wrist reaches it's release point in an already "snapped" position which makes them lose speed and spin. As the old saying goes: this is one of God's only mistakes in the world, making boys with big hands throw a smaller baseball and girls with smaller hands throwing a larger softball. It makes no sense.

NOBODY will keep the ball pointed to 3rd the entire time, the natural movement and rotation of the wrist will take over and they will be be "palm up". But as a corrective measure for someone who is giving the ball "the claw" like grip... pointing it to 3rd will help correct it.

Bill