The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1923-06-20
SOME ESSENTIALS OF
SUCCESSFUL PITCHER
Must Have Strength, Endurance
and a Good Arm.
CBy CARL LuNDGREN, Baseba

CBy CARL LUNDGREN, Baseball
Coach, University of Illinois.)
The pitcher should have more ply.
steal ability than the average ball play
err. That Is. he must have strength,
endurance and a good arm. His work
requires from an hour and a half to
two hours of hard going, while If he
lets down for a second the opposing
batters will soon find him an easy vic
tim. Probably the most essential re
quirement of a pitcher is control, then
ONE speed, curve, change of pace.
By control we lean the ability to
pitch the ball at the spot that is de.
sired at the time desired. After de-
Gliding where the ball should be
pitched, 1t does not necessarily mean
the ability of the pitcher to get the
ball over the plate, but rather the abil-
ity to pitch to a batter's weakness or
away from the place where the batter
hits the ball hard.
The pitcher may not have a good
curve ball or a good fast ball, but there
are very few who cannot get control
by hard work and practice. In warm
ing up never throw the ball in a hap
hazard fashion, but each time with a
definite Idea Of where you want the
ball to go.
The position of the pitcher in the
box is very important. He should
stand comfortably, with his body re-
Taxed, and take plenty of time in sizing
up the situation.
There are many different forms of
winding up In starting the delivery.
Whatever the style there should be no
useless swinging of the arms that will
serve to tire the pitcher out. In be-
ginning the delivery start the body and
arm forward together, bringing the arm
with the ball as far as the shoulder,
after which it is brought forward with
a hard snap and push. The elbow
should be bent only very slightly when
coming over the shoulder.
The body should follow well through
as the ball is being pitched, and the
fielding position adopted at once. This
enables the pitcher to start quickly for
q hit ball which may come into his
territory.
One very common mistake that pitch
ers make is that they use their arm
and not their body with the arm, in
pitching. Absolute coordination be-
tween the body and arm is necessary
if the greatest amount of effectiveness
is to be reached.
Tn itabinn q fact ho1I rrrip tho ho1J
with the first two fingers across the
narrow part of the seam. This will
give you a firm grip. Be careful not
to crowd the ball too far down into the
palm of the hand, but rather well out
toward the end of the fingers. Then
the fingers with a hard snap of the
wrist and fingers at the end of the
arm motion.
The curve ball is thrown with ex-
actly the same arm motion as the fast
ball, the only difference being in the
wrist and finish of the arm motion at
the end. The ball may be held with
the first two fingers, the long finger
being along the seam of the ball or
both fingers across the seam of the
ball. The first part of the arm motion
is started the same as for the fast
ball, but the finish differs in that a
hard drive down across the breast is
made with his arnl, giving the wrist a
quick snap that cause the ball to re-
yolye. The axis of rotation Of the ball
should be perpendicular with the di-
rection you want the ball to curve. Do
not allow the ball to leave your hand
too high over your shoulder, but rather
drive down hard across the breast. To
curve well, a curve ball should break
from the waist down.