knuckleball

The knuckleball pitchers I've seen grip the ball with their nails and the very tips of their fingers and, yes, they push the ball so as to avoid imparting spin. This year, I coached a young pitcher who'd fallen in love with the knuckler and could actually throw a good one. The problem was that doing so wrecked his fastball, which he began to push, as well. It is very hard to maintain a decent knuckleball along with other pitches. I've been rereading Jim Bouton's book, Ball Four, and he talks about having to spend at least 15 minutes before each game throwing only knuckleballs, then throwing them again later in the bullpen before he came into the game in relief. For him, it was all or nothing. He went to the knuckler because his other pitches had become mediocre. But once he'd been throwing the knuckler, the other pitches became useless.