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4-Seam Fastball Essay

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In the game of baseball, the goal of the pitcher is to render the ability of the batter to effectively hit the thrown ball as inept. In order to do this many Major League Baseball hitters employ the use of high velocities on the pitches that they throw. The hardest of these pitches is agreed upon as the 4-seam fastball. Many pitchers throw this pitch in the range of 90 to 95 miles per hour but as of recently many pitchers have been reaching the triple digit mark. Recently, as more research into the science, and specifically the physics of baseball pitching has been done, intellectuals in the sports science community have concluded that reaching 100 miles an hour on a pitch in baseball may be the highest it will ever reach. The limitations of …show more content…

By moving the way in which his fingers are placed on a ball, the pitcher can change the type of pitch that he is throwing. There are multitudes of different types of pitches that pitchers throw such as fastballs, pitches in which velocity is the main focus of the pitcher throwing it, and off-speed pitches, pitchers where the movement of the pitch is more important to the pitcher than the velocity of the pitch. In the category of fastballs the 4-seam fastball is generally regarded as the fastest pitch available in the arsenal of the pitcher. It is held with the index and middle fingers across the seam of the baseball and thrown with a downward motion to maximize velocity. Along with these different types of pitches there are also different ways in which to throw them. Some pitchers throw the ball in a “submarine” style, or a style in which the pitchers releases the ball with their arm close to the ground, almost underhanded in motion. This throwing motion typically leads to decreased velocity as compared with an overhanded throwing motion, but more movement on the pitches and a higher rate of deception. To maximize velocity most pitchers throw almost completely overhand or in a “3/4” arm slot in which the arm is slightly skewed from the head and outstretched from the

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