To correctly throw a curveball, place your index finger on the opposite seam as your thumb. When finished, your thumb and index finger will have split the baseball in half. Next, place some medium pressure on your thumb and middle fingers only. The index finger should rest lightly on the baseball.

In order to grip a curveball correctly, youll need to put your index and ring finger on the opposite seam as your thumb. The end result is that your index finger and thumb have split the baseball in half. It is also important to place some light to medium pressure on your thumb and middle fingers. Your index finger with this grip should remain lightly rested on the baseball.

To get the right spin off the baseball, you may consider learning this pitch by taking your index finger off of the baseball to make sure that you do not apply too much pressure with it. Too much pressure by the index finger will cause you to have poor release with the baseball and not get the desired curve effect.

Now that you have a basic understanding of how to throw a curveball, its important that you do not throw this pitch too much until you have proper pitching mechanics intact. First, if you have poor pitching mechanics, youll end up tipping the batter off that you are throwing a curveball and not a fastball. Secondly, with a lack of understanding you may vary your arm speed with a curveball as opposed to a fastball. This is a big no no. The only thing that changes is your wrist and forearm angles. Do not snap your wrist upon release of a curveball, instead, let the ball roll off the index finger. The will work efficiently if the outer side of your hand is facing the hitting at release.

Coaches and parents should keep a close eye on how many curveballs are thrown per game. This is especially the case if a young pitcher has some early success with the pitch. As a general guideline, pitchers should throw curveballs no more than 15% to 20% of the time. Any more than this, athletes who are young may increase their risk of arm injury.