How to Pitch in Softball

Video Transcript

"Hello everybody my name is Mark Schusterman, I am the head softball coach and athletic director at the Gulliver Schools in Miami, Florida. In this clip we are going to show you how to pitch in softball. First Sarah is going to show you some grips. The first grip is going to be a fast ball. See where her fingers are. The next grip we are going to show you is the changeup grip. You can see very much that that is the same grip as the fast ball, and you basically want everything your changeup, which we believe is the second pitch you should master after the fast ball. Everything is centered on the fast ball. The change up should be exactly the same as the fast ball, except at the end you are going to choke it a little bit, and you are going to make it come at a different speed. But your arm speed and everything you do is the deception of the changeup is what makes it so successful. Now the next grip we are going go show you is that after you have mastered those two is the rise ball. And in the rise ball you will get underneath, and that ball will jump as it crosses the plate. The last grip we are going to show you is the curveball. And this one will have the action breaking away from a right-handed batter, and into a left-handed batter since she is a right-handed pitcher. Now we are going to show you some pitching, and the first thing you are going to know is how Sarah gets her side turned to the batter, and she allows the ball to come through before the hip follows through. Here we go. And now we are going to show you a side view of Sarah's pitch of the fastball. And now let's break down what we just talked about. That she just showed you. Step one you see how she is to the side. Her body is now, she is perfectly to the side, to the catcher at home plate. Now follow through and release. You see how the ball traveled before the hip came through. This has been Mark Schusterman, thank you for watching."