How to Fast Pitch for Girls

Successfully fast pitching a softball takes a combination of technique and practice. Girls with a natural talent for pitching hard increase their speed and accuracy by consistently following the three basic steps of a proper delivery: grip and stance, take-off and delivery. Those with a knack for understanding the delivery technique can diversify their repertoire, throwing off-speed pitches and pitches that rise, drop and curve. First, however, girls must learn the most basic pitch, the fastball. While delivering a pitch becomes a natural movement, it might well feel awkward for beginners. To prevent bad habits, a pitcher must learn the technique of throwing a fastball and practice it religiously.

Instructions

    • 1

      Grip the ball in front of your face with the fingers of your glove. With the seams, make a horseshoe with the legs to the right or the left; the trough of the shoe is to the right or left side of your hand depending on whether you want your thumb touching the seams. That is a personal choice; experiment with it. You can also imagine the seams as a C. Place your pitching hand over the ball with your four fingers on one leg of the horseshoe. The other leg of the shoe runs across the palm of your hand. You can change the grip -- and will for other pitches -- but this grip gives you the most seam surface area for a fastball.

    • 2

      Cover the ball with your mitt to prevent yourself from giving the pitch away to the batter. Hold the ball at your side, arm straight or slightly bent, with your palm facing home plate. Do not tilt your palm towards your body nor away from it. Your palm should be parallel with your shoulders, your shoulders facing the plate.

    • 3

      Step on the rubber with both feet, then drive off the rubber to begin delivery of your pitch. Bend your legs slightly. This puts your legs in a power position. Keep the toe of your pitching foot on the rubber and lift your opposing leg and drive it forward with a lunging step. The power comes from the leg on your pitching-side hand. Drive forward off the rubber and straighten both your legs.

    • 4

      Pull the ball back behind you as your explode off the rubber. Extend your arm behind you, parallel to the ground. At this point, your palm is facing the ground, still not towards your body, nor away from it. As you explode off the rubber and your offside foot begins to come down, swing your arm forward and rotate it in a full circle. Your arm will go in front of you, above your head, back behind you and down to your waist. As the ball comes past your waist, release it. As you release the ball, arch the small of your back. This slight flex in your back adds power to your pitch. Just after you release the ball, your offside foot should touch the ground.