How to Increase the Spin on Your Pitches

Spin is what makes a pitch move. Backspin helps a four-seam fastball resist gravity, topspin makes a curveball drop, and sidespin makes pitches run or sweep. Here's what actually affects spin, how to read it and how to measure it. (We've corrected a few points from the original version of this post about release height, which doesn't change spin the way we said it did.)

Spin rate vs useful spin

• Spin rate is how fast the ball rotates, in revolutions per minute (rpm).
• Spin axis is the direction it spins, which decides which way the ball moves.
• Spin efficiency is how much of that spin actually creates movement. A spinning bullet (like a football spiral) can have high rpm and little movement.

So more spin isn't automatically better. It needs to be the right kind of spin for the pitch.

What raises spin

Velocity

Spin rate tends to rise with arm speed and velocity. That's why analysts sometimes look at spin per mph. Anything that helps you throw harder usually helps spin too.

Grip

• Four-seam fastball: index and middle fingers across the seams, thumb underneath. This grip makes efficient backspin easier.
• Fingertip pressure: many pitchers get more spin by holding the ball more in the fingertips than deep in the hand, with pressure through the pads of the fingers.
• Experiment: small changes in finger placement can change spin and axis. Test them one at a time.

Release

Stay behind the ball and let it roll off your fingertips at release. For fastballs, think about the fingers staying behind the ball so it spins true. For breaking balls, the hand and fingers get to the side or front of the ball. A consistent release point helps the spin stay the same pitch to pitch.

Follow-through

A full, relaxed follow-through doesn't add spin after the ball is gone, but it's part of a delivery that lets your arm move fast and decelerate safely, and arm speed does help spin.

Reading spin with your eyes

Hard, but possible with practice:

• Watch the seams. A four-seamer's seams blur into lines; a slider can show a red "dot."
• Watch the movement. Backspin holds the ball up, topspin drops it, sidespin moves it side to side.
• Use slow-motion video. A phone's slow-mo mode can show spin direction clearly.

Hitters can practice by tracking pitches in bullpens, and catchers by noticing how pitches break.

Measuring spin

A normal radar gun only measures speed. For spin rate you need:

• A spin-rate radar gun. Stalker's Pro series is the handheld option. See the Stalker Pro IIs and its successor, the Pro 3s.
• Ball trackers like TrackMan or Rapsodo, common at colleges and training facilities.
• Statcast in MLB, which tracks spin on every pitch.

A radar gun still helps a lot: since spin rises with velocity, tracking speed alongside spin tells you if a change is helping.

For the history of the most famous spin pitch, read the origin of the curveball.

Want spin rate in a handheld? See our Stalker Pro IIs and Pro 3s page →