How to Throw a Fastball

Video Transcript

"Hello I'm John Riedling and today I'm going to talk with you about throwing a fastball. There's two different fastballs that we throw. There's a four-seam fastball where you throw against the seams. The four-seam fastball will give us greater accuracy and greater velocity. Then there's the two-seam fastball, also called a sinker. Now that we throw with the seams. What the two-seam fastball does will give you movement and that will take away the velocity. When you're throwing these fastballs, when you're holding them, you don't want to hold them tight and squeeze it. You want to treat the ball like an egg. You're going to have it real loose where you can take it out of your hand. In delivering your fastball, when you're throwing a fastball you want to keep your fingers positioned behind the ball, not to the side but right behind it. Now that will give it greater distance. Now if you get to the side, it's going to spin and it's going to be flat. So stay behind the ball. I'm John Riedling and that's how you throw a fastball."