The fingers go between the head and ball

Changing the way a young man throws a baseball is probably the hardest thing to do when it comes to private instruction.  However, if there was one thing I could adjust with every young player’s throwing motion it would be to make sure his throwing fingers were on top of and/or between the ball and the head like these pictures show.

I purposely found photos of a pitcher, catcher, and position player to show that no matter where you play on a baseball field, keeping your fingers on top and/or between the ball and your head is a must.  When players don’t do this, it looks something like this when the ball goes back out of the glove.

 

When players are young and play on small fields (tee ball, coach pitch, etc) they can get away with this type of arm action because the distances are so short.  However, when they move to larger fields their careers will come to a grinding halt if they still throw like this.  The arm just will not be able to function this way for longer throws.

It’s one of those mechanics where if you do not address it right away it will be extremely difficult to adjust later.

Tomorrow’s post: A tip on catching the ball for beginners