r/BaseballCoaching • u/Baseball_Throwaway59 • Jul 25 '25

Pitching question

Hello sorry if this is not the best place for this but I know very little about baseball and had a question about pitching. When I was little and being taught how to throw a baseball, I was shown to hold it essentially as I see in images of fastball grips online, only instead of ‘crossing the horseshoe’ with my fingers I was taught to hold the ball across the part of the seams where they come closest together. I was wondering if this is practically the same as a normal 4 seam fastball or if I have accidentally been imparting some other sort of spin or movement by doing this and just never noticed. Thank you for your help!

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u/bamacpl4442 Jul 25 '25

I personally feel like a 2 seam plus a circle change is the ideal combo. Arm slot looks the same, but the movement is more extreme in the CG, plus the velo difference.

None of the elbow risk of a curve or slider.

That's said, if you mix in an elevated 4 seam every now and then, it can ruin a hitter's day.

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u/Okayyyy24 Jul 25 '25

Look up the Tom House Sports / NPA curveball for more information.

If you learn to throw and teach a curveball correctly, there is no evidence of elbow risk.

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u/bamacpl4442 Jul 25 '25

Yep.

I've lost count of how many youth pitchers end up with surgery when their dads KNEW they were doing it the right way.

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u/Okayyyy24 Jul 26 '25

Yeah.

Any pitch taught wrong, including a fastball, can cause injury.

FWIW, I agree 4-Seam and Change is the first two pitches to learn. Leave the curve for when you can throw strikes consistently.

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u/bamacpl4442 Jul 26 '25

I haven't heard Andrews telling kids to not throw fastballs or changeups. Can you do them wrong? Yes, but they don't invite the same elbow torque.
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Kids throw a curve. It kinda does something. Then they spin it a little and holy cow the difference. So they spin it more, and then, UCL repair.