Four-seam Fastball - Grip and Action

Grip and Action

The four seam fastball is a pitch designed purely for velocity and has little break, to challenge the hitter's reaction time instead of fooling him with a breaking pitch. The pitch is gripped with the index and middle fingers with the seams of the ball perpendicular to the fingers. The pitcher places the tips of his fingers on the top seam with the horseshoe facing outward, away from the pitcher's body. The thumb is placed directly underneath the ball resting on the smooth leather with the back of the thumb just touching the seam on the underside of the ball.

The ball is thrown with a straightforward motion. Upon the release, the ball will first leave the thumb, sliding off the fore and middle fingers at the top of the throwing motion, imparting backspin on the ball. The backspin on the ball, along with the action of the four seams all rotating into the direction of the throw, act to stabilize the ball's flight. The direction of spin on the ball causes it to travel upwards, while the force of gravity is pulling it downwards resulting in very level flight. The result is a very straight, level pitch with high velocity. The pitch comes very naturally to most pitchers (or anyone who throws a baseball), and is often one of the first pitches taught to young pitchers. This is because the pitch requires very little unnatural motion and the ball comes off the fingers very easily in the way the pitch was intended to be thrown. It is the most common pitch thrown by most pitchers, and almost all pitchers at any level can throw the four-seamer as part of their repertoire.