Pitching style – Three quarters

The second type of pitching style I will talk about is the three quarters pitching style. Three quarters is the type of pitching in which the arm of the pitcher is between the waist level and the head. Three quarters are also frequently used by pitchers in Major league and other pro-league. The release point of three quarters is a bit lower than the overhand, but it still has its advantages. One of the advantage is that the three quarters allow difference in the angle of the pitch. Instead of a straight pitch from up to down like the overhand, the three quarters come in a diagonal angle that is hard to hit for the batters. After batting against a overhand, seeing the ball coming in a diagonal angle can cause confusion for the batter. Also three quarters allow you to use the full strike zone, meaning that you can use all up, down, left, and right. This is not the case for overhand pitchers.

Another advantage is that the three quarters allow both speed and change. When I mean “change” I mean the breaking balls that can be used with more efficiency with three quarters. The angle of the three quarters allow the pitchers to throw better angled breaking balls. For example, if a overhand pitcher throws a slider (a breaking ball that breaks sideways or downward with considerable speed) it can only go sideways with little angle in the pitch. It is also hard for them to use the left and right of the strike zone. However if a three quarters pitcher throws a slider the pitch has more break, or change that will make the batters swing.

Disadvantage of three quarters is that first, the tailing of fastball is weaker than overhand. By this I mean that the ball has less edge, or spin than the overhand pitch. To put it easily, three quarters fastball is weaker than overhand fastballs. Another weakness is that the pitch can be easily read. This means that the batters have more time to figure out what kind of ball the pitcher pitched, whether if it is a breaking ball or a fastball.

Some famous three quarters pitchers are Randy Johnson, Ryu-Hyun-Jin from Korea, Park Chan Ho, and others.

Pitching style – Overhand

If you watch a game of baseball, we can see that all of the pitchers have their unique form of pitching style. Some pitchers use their whole b0dy to throw the ball forward, or some pitchers use their tall height to nail it down to the catcher. All of these pitching styles can be divided into four kinds of style. Today, I will be writing about one of them. The overhand pitching style.

Extreme overhand pitcher Hideki Okajima

The overhand pitching style is the most common kind of pitching style that the pitchers use. As the wording can tell you, overhand pitching style is when the pitcher throws the ball at a release point highter than the head. The swing of the arm is perpendicular to the ground, and the swing goes over the head. This high point of release allows the pitchers to give a faster and higher delivery, which is part of the reason why so many pitchers pitch overhand.

The overhand pitching style’s advantage is that,like I said, it can make your ball faster. The projectory, the backspin that is put on the ball when pitched overhand, and the height of the release point all allows the pitchers to throw faster. It also has the advantage of allowing the pitcher to put their weight on to the ball, making the ball heavy and fast. The high release point also allows the pitchers to pitch good curves that will drop from a high point to the low ground.

The disadvantage of overhand pitching style is that it is easy for the shoulder to get damaged. The excess work that the shoulder must go through during the pitch causes stress and tiredness to build up. Extreme overhand pitchers are known to have a short careers. Another disadvantage is that since it is so common, the projectory of the ball is well known to the batters. This might lead to getting hitted on a massive scale.

Many famous pitcher who use this pitching style are Tim Linccecum, Nolan Ryan, Roy Halladay, CC Sabathia and others. These pitchers are known, or have known to have a fastball that overwhelms the batter.