Tips to Develop Your Knuckle Curve, Split Finger, Circle Change and Knuckle Balls

Most pitchers develop several main pitches and then throw variations of those pitches.

Here are some tips for throwing the knuckle curve, split finger, circle change and knuckle ball:

Knuckle Curve Ball
• Middle finger on seam
• Point of index finger on other seam
• Delivery pitch with wrist “cocked”
• Ball behavior: same as curve ball, but faster than the regular curve ball and slower than the slider

Split Finger
• Both fingers spread outside the seams
• “Snap” wrist upon release
• Ball behavior: slow tumbling action with the same arm speed as the fastball

Circle Change
• Middle finger inside seam
• Index finger and thumb “circle” on side of ball
• Same arm speed as the fastball
• At delivery, rotate the “circle” down
• Ball behavior: slowing sinking action with sideways rotators

Knuckle Ball
• Point of index finger and middle finger on leather, not seams
• Thumb and remaining fingers also on leather only
• Don’t want to touch seams
• Delivery: lead with your elbow; “push” the ball out of your hand; keep your wrist under the ball
• Ball behavior: no rotation, “jumps” around

As a pitcher, you should always warm up and develop good ball control and placement.

View videos showing these pitches.

Rawlings has a variety of 5-Tool training baseballs to help you improve your pitching. Look for model numbers 5THITATP, 5THITAATP and 5THITAAATP. To improve or take care of your arm, the 5-Tool Resistance Bands, Resistance Ball, and Resistance Ball Pro are perfect.

Visit RawlingsGear.com or contact a Rawlings Gear Customer Care representative at (866) 678-GEAR(4327) for information on tools to improve your pitching.