My son's high school coach won't let him throw his knuckleball. Why are some coaches opposed to this pitch?

Perhaps he leaves his KB up, and the coach is telling him not to use it.

Not sure why else he wouldn't let him use it, it's a pretty nifty pitch

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Originally posted by Newcomer:
My son's high school coach won't let him throw his knuckleball. Why are some coaches opposed to this pitch?

Some people think it's a cheap, gimmicky, trick pitch. That it's "unmanly". I don't care as long as it works.

If a guy had a mediocre fastball and a mediocre knuckleball, I would have him focus on his fastball.

However, it's kind of dumb to not let a guy throw a KBall if it's effective.

There are also lots of myths going around that you have to focus on the KBall to throw it well. The truth is that back in the day many pros would have a KBall as their 3rd or 4th pitch.

From my personal experiences in this area the knuckle ball is more like a last ditch effort to stick around in any league as a pitcher, especially those who tend to lack in the velocity department.

Most Coaches feel that if you throw a knuckle you aren't a pitcher, because you really don't need control of the pitch. You simply throw it in the general direction of the zone and hope that it stays away from the fat part of the bat.

I know a fair amount of Scouts who won't let Pitcher's throw it when they are at a Scout Day because they actually want to see what they can do in terms of Fastball, Change-up and Breaking Balls.

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My son's high school coach won't let him throw his knuckleball. Why are some coaches opposed to this pitch?

Ill bet 99% of kids cant consistently get it in the strike zone.

I played with a kid in high school with an excellent arm that was converted from catcher to pitcher because of his bad knee. His fastball was in the high 80's and he also threw an excellent knuckleball. He threw it hard with a ton of movement, but little to no spin, and he was very consistent in the zone with it. He used it to keep hitters off balance. It worked very well. Occasionally I would catch him in the bullpen and I could barely handle catching it. If the pitcher can actually throw it effectively it is just like anything else, another trick in the bag.

IMO....If a pitcher cannot make it knuckle virtually everytime then it's tough to let him throw it......

And in my experience you will rarely find anyone who can make it knuckle (not spin, at all, or very very very very very very little) most every time......oh, and throw it for strikes....another hurdle to clear.....

"Good Knuckle Ball" is all relative.....

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Originally posted by deemax:

quote:

My son's high school coach won't let him throw his knuckleball. Why are some coaches opposed to this pitch?

Ill bet 99% of kids cant consistently get it in the strike zone.

I would say that if hitters would not swing at Tim Wakefield's Knuckleball, it wouldn't be in the zone much of the time either.

quote:

Originally posted by Newcomer:
My son's high school coach won't let him throw his knuckleball. Why are some coaches opposed to this pitch?

I've NEVER seen a guy in pro ball use a knuckle ball as a secondary pitch.

Anyone watching wakefield pitch tonight?

Remember!!!
You have to have a catcher that can handle the Knuckleball.
Catchers have a much bigger mitt for knuckleballer's.
It's a hard pitch to catch if thrown properly.
EH