IronManRipken

I want to learn how to throw a knuckle ball and am looking for videos or tips on how to throw it. It would be pretty cool if I could master this pitch because I would be the only one who knows how to throw it among my team. Any knuckleballers out there who can pass on their wisdom or guys who can find videos for me?

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"Why is it that when you kill a man in battle its called heroic, yet if you kill a man in the heat of passion its called murder?" --Waynes World

Domenic

It's a tough pitch to throw - you're going to have to hone your own technique, as most everyone throws it differently.

I keep my four fingers tightly together on the top of the ball, digging my fingernails into its hide, balancing it on my thumb - I use the same throwing motion as any other pitch, but I try my best not to let my wrist snap, so as to prevent the ball from garnering any spin.

Here are a couple of references, for your perusal:
One
Two

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Kametsou

I can throw a so-so knuckle ball. My father, on the other hand, has a very good one. It took me a long time to get the pitch down, so it may be harder for you to throw the pitch correctly, since you're so young.

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Jack Elliott

Hi IronManRipken,

Glad to hear you want to learn the knuckleball. A number of good MLB pitchers were able to resurrect their career with it. Most recently, Tim Wakefield.

Here, is one way to throw it:

1. Bend your middle finger and index finger of your throwing arm and grab the ball. (You know when you are doing it right because your two knuckles should be resting on the baseball).
2. Your ring finger and thumb provide support to the pitch and should be placed on the sides. (In other words, the knuckles are on top of the baseball and ring finger is on the right side of the ball and the thumb is on the left side of the ball.
3. After you grip the ball, you will throw the ball with a fastball motion. The only difference is you are not focused on trying to throw this pitch very hard. Instead, you are looking for a lot of movement and so you will want to throw it with average arm strength and let the ball naturally.
4. As you practice this pitch, you may find that you have more movement and control by having your knuckles grip one of the seams or even extending one finger forward and using only one knuckle. It will take some experimentation on your part to find out what works best for you.

You can also, check out the book, "The Knucklebook" by Dave Clark to get other tips.

Best,
Jack Elliott
Baseball Training Tips

Kyle

I throw an amazing sidearm knuckleball. You don't neccissarily have to throw with your nails dug in...

Nick

I throw it in warm-ups just messing around, and it comes out pretty good.

Check this out if the other instructions do not work for you.

How to throw a Knuckleball.

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Kyle

Mine is quite discusting. I'll post you guys a video sometime.