Spin

[Ken B]

I'm thinking about picking up a spinner. When I've tried them in the past, I haven't been able to get it to work for some of the spins. As a result I haven't tried one on the kids. Occasionally, however I can't get the kids to feel what needs to happen using a ball and I wonder if the spinner can help give them a jump start?

 

[Amy in AZ.]

KenB. One of the dads at my lesson bought an 88 cent hockey puck to try. I think the spinner is either a hit with a girl, or they hate it. I can't throw it overhand very well and would love to. But, no one wants to try to catch the darn thing.

 

[USC 4]

The most important thing about spin is that you have to have strong fingers/finger tips. The older the pitcher the stronger the fingers the tighter the spin. Some people use a weigted ball, a spinner or a 14 inch ball to work on their spin.

As has been mentioned the RevFire is nice and expensive. It does give immediate feed back. For some pitchers the RevFire can create more problems than it is worth. They focus on the spin number (over rotating the ball) rather than throwing a pitch with good fundamentals. I would not recommend using a RevFire every day. I would recommend using a spinner or a 14 inch ball as part of the warm up every day to strength the fingers.

 

[Ken B]

But, no one wants to try to catch the darn thing.

Can't see that working out well!

 

[Boomers2012]

This may be a dumb question but what is a Rev Fire??

 

[GunnerShotgun]

A $300 softball.

RevFire

 

[Boomers2012]

Wow. Thats pretty neat! What will they come up with next??!!!

 

[Ken B]

What will they come up with next??!!!

I'm hoping for a rise and screwball that actually break!

 

[gvm]

she used to have alot of spin? on a good day you could hear it coming in? but for some reason she isn't getting that great spin on her fastball. and the rotation is not exactly 12-6? we have been working on her dropball and again not great with rotations, and not a true 12-6 axis? let me ask you this,she uses a two fingered grip,but when she goes with three fingers on her drop? she gets a great spin and a 12-6 rotation? how much speed will she lose if she stays with three fingers on her dropball?

 

[Ken B]

With the two finger peel, have her try rotating her hand a little harder through release so more pressure is coming off the index finger. Experiment with placing the thumb exactly opposite the middle finger, or directly between the index and middle finger. (If you use a striped ball, make sure the thumb is on the line and the middle finger is either on the line or the index/middle on each side.) You can also ask her to try pushing the thumb down the front side of the ball at release.

With the three finger grip, play around with a pulling the ring finger over the top (roll over) and trying to push the thumb down the front side. A snapping feeling between the thumb and fingers can add a little more drop.

A striped ball is a great tool because she can easily see what's working. Let her know when you see one that breaks harder than others and ask her to describe what she did. Ultimately she may find something that works for her on her own. Those spins are the best because they own them and enjoy throwing them better than ones they are taught.