THE SLIDER
The slider is an effecitive
pitch in three ways. First it is going at about the same speed as the fastball...a
bit slower but not a lot. Secondly, there is a slight break to the pitch
of about 4 to 8 inches. Third, it is not a difficult pitch to throw.
The grip of the ball is almost identical to your fastball. Notice that my
middle finger is on a seam as well as my thumb. The major difference in
throwing a slider is what you do right before you release. I tell my kids
that you must think you are throwing a fastball up until this point. Let
me explain...
An instant before you release the baseball you will snap your wrist on the
side and your pointer and middle fingers will come over the top of the ball,
This will give it just enough necessary spin to create the small break yet
keep the ball speed up. This sequence is shown in the last four figures
to the right.
In talking about when to throw the slider, we need to understand what it
does. As discusses above we now know that. So a pitcher will want to throw
a slider after a good fastball inside. He will throw a slider away. This
is done because the batter has just seen something straight and hard, and
now he is going to see something hard and breaking a bit. The slider can
also be used as a set up pitch on top of what we just described...an out
pitch.
We can think in the opposite way...a pitcher throws a hard slider away off
the plate that the batter swings at it and misses. Well what can he come
with next...a hard fastball in on the hands or on the corner. That pitch
will freeze up the batter or at best he may fist it into the infield if
his hands are quick enough.
The slider then can be a deadly pitch if used correctly. It is however very
easy to hit if you leave it out over the plate. That is because it is about
the same speed as a fastball therefore the hitter does not have to worry
about dumping his wieght on it like a curve or other offspeed pitch. You
don¹t want to throw sliders to hitters who go the other way. That is because
they will slap singles to the oppositve field consistently. Most of those
hitters are said to be contact hitters.
Now this is all good for the same side hitter as pitcher...ie LH hitter
and LH pitcher. So what good does the slider do if I am a LH pitcher and
the hitter is RH? In this case the slider slides into the batter and not
away from him. Good question...A slider in on the hands can be very effective
because the batter is usually not prepared for the little extra break at
the end. Therefore his swing is not going to be adjusted to that...more
often then not the batter will be jammed.
This pitch is a lot like the cut fastball which I have discusses also. Take
a look at that and see which best fits your needs.
Submitted by: Coach B
|
|
|
|
|
|
