The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1890-12-06

The Natural and Acquired Methods
ssshort-Arm Throwing Considered
the Eest.

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First. as regards throwing. Every one
has what may bo called natural way
OF throwing the ball. but this so-called
natural way usually means per-
verified method acquired through care
lcssness. or attempts 10 throw too hard
before the arm is sufficiently accustomed
To the work. As "A result of this. there
are few boys or college men who may
not learn great deal Ia the matter Of
throwing by careful attention for few
weeks 90 one or two points. The first
man 10 whom attention should he called
is the man who takes a hop. skip. and
Jump before he lets the ball go. No
man can run fast enough 10 beat
thrown ball and, consequently. il takes
longer 10 carry the ball part way aud
throw it the rest, than II does 10 throw
IL all the way. Therefore. the
first thing for the man who has ac-
quired this trick TO do. is TO stand still
when he gets tho ball, and then throw
il. The opposite fault TO this. Is that
oflcaning away when throwing A man
gets a sharp groundcr aud throws the
ball before he has recovered his
balance. and the force of his throw Is
thereby greatly diminished. While
this is not nearly so common rs the
other fault, il is quite as difficult TO cor
rect The happy medium between the
two is the man who receives the ball
and, quickly strengthening himself
drives il while leaning forward; aud. rs
il leaves the hand. takes his single step
in theAl Erection of his throw.
So much for the feet and body, now
for the arm. hand and wrist.
The best aud most accurate throw
ers are those who continually practice
what is called 'short-armn throw.
To get an idea Of the first steps toward
the acquisition of this method, let the
player take the ball in his hand. and
bringing it back just level with his ear
planting both feet firmly. attempt 10
throw the ball without using the legs
or body. AT first the throw is awkward
aud feeble, but constant practice speed
lily results In moderate speed and
peculiar accuracy. After steady
practice at this until quite a pace is ac-
quircd. the man may be allowed 90 use
his legs and body 10 increase the speed.
still. however. sticking to the straight,
forward motion of the hand, wrist. and
the arm. The secret of the throw is,
OF course, keeping the hand i'm line
with the arm and not swinging IL ont
10 the side and away from the head.
where much of the accuracy and some
OF the quckness is lost. Certain
catchers have brought this style of
throw 10 such pitch Of perfection as
90 get the ball away toward second al
most on the instant ii strikes the hands.
They aid the throwing by slight twist
OF the body.
The quickness OF this method of
throwing is. of course. due To- the fact
that there is no delay caused by draw
ing back the arm past the head or by
turning the body around, which lose so
much valuable time. Its accuracy is
due TO the fact that il is easier TO aim
nj an object with the hand in front OF
the eyes than when il is out beyond
the shoulder. One can easily ascer-
tain this by comparing the ease Of
pointing the index linger at any object
when the hand is in front OF the face,
with the difficulty OF dong so when the
arm is extended out sideways from the
BODY. Still further. in the almost
round-arm throwing, which many play
ers use, the hand describes an are,
and the ball must be let 90 at the
proper poDt in the swing the throw is
certain TO be wild. In the other method.
that OF straight-arm throwing any
variation is far more likely TO be a
variation in height only aud in that re-
spect the variation may be greater
without serious error. A straight
arm throw sends ball much easier tO
handle than the side-arm style. The
latter is likely TO curve. bound irrcgu-
larry. aud be- more inconvenent for the
basemau. In tho field throwing should
be on line. as much rs possible, aud
there are few distances to be covered
there that require any up and over
throwing. IL getting a ball in from a
deep out-ield the distance Is some
times SO great that none but profess
ionals or exceptionally strong throw
ers can drive the ball in except 10y Civ
ing il quite an upward direction; even
then however. one should be careful
10 keep the ball fairly well down. as it
is far better 10 have il reach the catcher
on the bound than To 30 sailing over
his head. Keep il down II card
inal rule when fielding at the home
plate for the field. Ii a low bali be
thrown. IL Is easier for the catcher to
touch the runner. who in a tight place
will invariably slide ms close TO the
ground as possible. A high throw
gives the catcher almost no chance to
recover aud put the ball on the man,
whereas low throw brings his hands
In the most advantageous position for
touching the runner. The same Is. of
course true in the case of the catcher's
throws TO the second or the other bases.