Four-seam fastball
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A four-seam fastball, is a pitch in baseball and a variant of the straight fastball.
The four-seam fastball is a pitch that is used often by the pitcher to get ahead in the count or when he needs to throw a strike. The type of fastball is intended to have minimal lateral movement. There are two general ways to throw a four-seam fastball.
The first and most traditional way is to find the horseshoe seam area, or the area where the seams are the farthest apart. Keeping those seams parallel to the body, the pitcher place his index and middle fingers perpendicular to them with the pads on the farthest seam from him. The thumb will then rest underneath the ball about in the middle of the two fingers. With this grip, the thumb will generally have no seam to rest on.
The second way to throw a four-seam fastball is to take a baseball and find the area where the seams are closest together. Keeping those seams parallel to the body, the pitcher place his index and middle fingers on the baseball perpendicular to the seams. With this grip, the pitcher will feel more comfortable with those two fingers apart, as they will have more control because of smaller hands. The pads of those two fingers need to rest on the seam that is farthest away from the body, keeping equal pressure with those two fingers. The thumb will then rest underneath the ball about in the middle of the two fingers. This gives some pitchers a little better control physically, if not mentally. Critically, the thumb needs to rest somewhere on the side to middle of its pad. It's not necessary to push the baseball all the way back into the hand, which will decrease both control and velocity of the baseball.
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Four Seam Fastball Pitch
