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Life Lessons Life Lesson #58: The Tumbler Using the knuckleball as a curveball substitute As youth coaches, you will undoubtedly run into aggressive parents that seemingly want to win at all costs. In certain situations, these parents that push and push may really have competitive issues, while others simply “may not know any better.” For whatever the reason may be, one of the common areas where I encounter the pushy-parent is in the realm of curveballs. We have a rule at Lifeletics: No curveballs before the age of 13. I’ve been pretty firm in sticking to that rule, even as the game has pushed younger and younger on the whole. There are always exceptions, but typically this rule assists with three goals:
In an effort to keep youngsters both competitive and healthy, we’ve tweaked the traditional knuckleball to provide a curveball substitute: “The Tumbler.” The Tumbler is a knuckleball, thrown with topspin, that achieves the same movement and results of a youth curveball. Because the ball exits the hand with topspin, The Tumbler moves to home plate on a top-to-bottom trajectory. And because the palm is kept facing home plate through delivery, the risk of tweaking the wrist and placing unwanted stress on the arm is kept at a minimum. The Tumbler can combine with a fastball and change-up to provide an effective three pitch arsenal for a young pitcher. Teaching a Traditional Knuckleball To teach The Tumbler, an athlete must first be taught how to throw a knuckleball and then simply add topspin. A proper knuckleball is actually not gripped using any knuckles. Instead, the fingernails of the index and middle fingers dig into the baseball. The rest of the fingers are in a position similar to that for the fastball: the thumb rests on a seam below the baseball, and the ring finger and pinkie curl along the side of the ball. However, the ring finger and pinkie naturally move up, closer to the middle of the ball, because the middle and index fingers are curled and gripping the baseball with their nails. The nails of the index and middle finger, dug into the leather of the baseball or into one of the wide seams, are used to throw the ball with little or no spin. The wrist is kept stiff through release, and the fingers quickly extend to push the ball forward. The knuckleball uses less arm speed than used for the fastball, but the actual speed of the ball varies from pitcher to pitcher. Note: Most young athletes have an easy time digging their nails directly into the seam. Although many big-league knuckleball pitchers place their fingernails directly on the baseball’s leather skin, avoiding the seam altogether, this grip requires larger hands. The key to throwing a good traditional knuckleball is the lack of rotation, and pitchers must be able to make adjustments by looking at the way the ball is spinning to eliminate rotation. The most difficult action to learn is the degree of force with which the fingers extend as the ball is released. Some pitchers aggressively flick their fingers forward, while others only slightly push the ball out of the hand. This is a very subtle motion that needs to be learned through repetition. Teaching the Tumbler In an effort to create the desired downward action of a curveball substitute, athletes are taught to throw a knuckleball with an emphasis on intentionally creating topspin. By pushing out more aggressively with the index and middle fingers at release, the ball exits with topspin and naturally tumbles from top to bottom toward the plate. Meet the Tumbler! Depending on how far the arm is away from the head at release, the Tumbler may also have some movement across the strike zone. A delivery directly over the top would have much less side-to-side movement as compared to a three-quarters deliver. Any pitch with topspin and downward movement can present a significant challenge to a young hitter. Because the ball crosses the strike zone on a downward flight path, a batter must time the swing perfectly to make solid contact. An athlete out in front of the Tumbler will swing below the baseball (pop-up), while a late swing may result with the bat hitting the top of the baseball (ground ball). This is why curveballs are so effective and the same can be true for a tumbler. A properly thrown Tumbler then fulfills two goals:
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