Comments on How to Throw a Knuckleball

Hold the knuckleball with your 3 fingernails under the U on the baseball. Your thumb and pinky should be in the circles to the left and right, not on the nails. When you go into your pitching motion, flick your index, middle, and ring finger outward to your target.

Hold the knuckleball with your 3 fingernails under the U on the baseball. Your thumb and pinky should be in the circles to the left and right, not on the nails. When you go into your pitching motion, flick your index, middle, and ring finger outward to your target.

The historical knuckleball, which has been forgotten, can be thrown with two knuckles down (it will curve, sink, etc.). Three knuckles down (fast knuckle) and four knuckles down (floater, butterfly,lazy ball). If you learn it well and mix it in with the fastball, slider, screwball and change up, the batter will never know what's coming.

My fastball is 65 mph and my knuckleball is 55 mph. I hold my knuckleball like Tim Wakefield. Hold the ball with the upside down 'U', put your nails right below the seams. To know if you're holding it right; the first part of your knuckleball should be touching the seams. When you throw it, your arm is shaped like a catapult, and when you are finished your elbow should be pointing to home.

I use four fingers to grip the ball and my thumb to steady the ball. When I throw it, I use the same motion as my fastball and any other pitch. Don't try to push it, the movement of the ball won't be as dramatic. When the wind is blowing toward the mound, my knuckleball will drop or curve and the batters don't know what to do with it.

Even harder to recognize and hit than a slider, a knuckleball is a slow pitch. It travels at 60-65 mph, and breaks crazily as it nears the plate. The pitcher doesn't even know how it's going to break. The pitch isn't really a knuckleball. The pitcher grips the ball with the tips of two fingers. Instead of a snap, the wrist is pushed toward the batter. This pitch is easy on the arm, though difficult to learn. The knuckleball can drive even the best hitters crazy. A knuckler sometimes travels less than half the speed of a fast ball, but at times, it can be much harder to hit. The knuckleball is thrown by gripping the ball with your knuckles or fingernails. A good knuckleball, like the one thrown by Tim Wakefield of the Boston Red Sox, will travel slowly and only spin one or two times on its way to the plate. Because the ball isn't moving very fast, the air is able to pass over the stitches of the ball and cause the ball to move up and down or from side to side. A knuckleball thrown properly will move back and forth on its way to the plate which can often make a good hitter look very foolish when his swing is nowhere near the ball. A knuckleball (or knuckler for short) is a baseball pitch thrown so as to minimize the spin of the ball in flight. The lack of spin causes chaotic airflow over the stitched seams of the baseball and produces an erratic, unpredictable motion. This makes the pitch difficult for batters to hit, but also difficult for pitchers to control. The challenge also extends to the catcher who must make an attempt to catch the pitch, and the umpire who must determine whether it was a strike or a ball.

Hold the ball with index, ring, and middle fingers on the side of the seams. Hold your wrist stiff while you throw, to reduce spin. You can also throw with the outside part of your hand forward, to put different movement on it.

Try digging your fingernails into the middle of the laces on the the curved part of the seam. But always keep your pinkie off to the side. And it also helps if you throw it slightly side armed.

I'm a 21 year old NAIA pitcher at a top 15 ranked school. I'm also a knuckleball pitcher on a staff. First things first, if you are learning how to throw a knuckleball, start early, because it takes a couple years to throw effective every time you throw it. Second thing is, the reason why you are a knuckleball pitcher is because you might not be able to get it done like the rest of them; whether it be you throw in the 70's, or you don't have any off-speed - you need a different way of pitching. My era the last 2 seasons and this season combine is 3.12. I'm left handed and I throw 78-81 on the fastball and my KB is 60ish. If you have any pop on your fastball, it looks like it is 95 when they are sitting back on a dirty knuck-piece. The grip I use is the Wakefield grip, the top of the U, use your fingernails to apply pressure, then put your thumb directly under it, ring finger to stabilize and pinky completely off the ball. When released, try to keep your wrist stiff and flick your middle, pointer, and thumb so it creates a triangle of pressure. Most importantly, don't shotput it, just throw it normal behind your wrist.

Make sure to keep the ball low if you use this against a batter.