Welcome to Drill of the Week, a series on ACTIVEkids.com that explains individual and team drills for parents and coaches to help kids improve at the sports they love.
This week's drill is the Grip and Snap, a softball pitching drill brought to you by CoachUp.com.
In softball pitching, the more wrist snap you have, the more spin and velocity you will put on the ball. Spin and velocity are very important when learning movement pitches. But, in order to get the most out of your snap, you need to learn the appropriate grip.
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First, we'll explain how to grip the softball properly. You want to grip the ball with the first part of your fingers. Place your first (of three) knuckles on your fingers across the seam of the softball. You are essentially holding the edge of the ball, across the seam. Make sure to place your fingers on a seam that is across the "C" part of the softball. The seams make 4 "C" shapes in a softball and you can place your first knuckles on the seam of any of the "C"s with your thumb placed around the bottom of the softball. Placing you fingers across the "C" helps you get better rotation on the ball.
One you have the correct grip, cock your wrist back as far as possible, palm facing down. Pull your arm back and release the ball at the point when your hand is parallel to your back hip. When you release, roll the ball up your middle finger, as you let go.
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Tip: Put a rotation stripe around the ball with a marker or electrical tape. Your middle finger shoulder be lined up with the stripe. With the stripe, you can immediately see if pitched a straight rotation, by following the line.
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For a visual demonstration of the Grip and Snap watch the video below or click here.
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