Learn a Curveball
Over the course of history, the curveball has been a major part of many pitchers bag of pitches. While this is a greatly necessary pitch, it does require that you understand basic pitching mechanics to avoid injury and incorrect throwing of this pitch.
In order to grip a curveball correctly, youll need to put your index and ring finger on the opposite seam as your thumb. The end result is that your index finger and thumb have split the baseball in half. It is also important to place some light to medium pressure on your thumb and middle fingers. Your index finger with this grip should remain lightly rested on the baseball.
For pitchers that are just learning the curveball grip I tell them to slightly raise their index finger off the ball to ensure they dont apply pressure with it. This will allow the correct rotation to come off upon release of the pitch.
Now that you know the curveball grip, make sure you maintain solid fastball mechanics. One, you dont want to tip the batter so he will know you are throwing something other than a fastball by changing your mechanics. You also want to keep the same arm speed and arm angle with the curve. The only thing that changes is wrist and forearm angle. At release, avoid snapping your wrist. The ball rolls off your index finger while spinning the ball with your thumb and middle finger.
Young pitchers need to be monitored closely as to how many curveballs are thrown each game. Coaches and parents should make sure that their athletes throw no more than 15%-20% curveballs. If your young pitcher begins to have some early success with the curveball, he may tend to want to throw the pitch more. For the sake of his arm, prevent this from happening by regulating his curveball pitch count.