Curveball

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The Magnus Effect

The curveball (English: ball that is thrown in an arc from the thrower to the batsman) describes a throw by the pitcher in the sports game baseball . Here the thrower tries to throw the ball through a certain movement of the hand and fingers so that it starts rotating . This twist ensures that the ball flies in an arc, which should make it more difficult for the batter to hit the ball.

Forms of the curveball

Either

  • the ball is thrown in the direction of the strike zone and it then breaks away from the straight trajectory or
  • the ball is thrown outside the straight line to the strike zone and then flies into the regular area driven by the spin.

Both versions make it difficult for the batsman to hit the ball. Before the throw, the pitcher and the catcher agree on which ball should be thrown by means of hidden hand signals. It is also important which batsman is at the stroke, because the balls that are usually thrown are those with which the opponent has experience problems.

Rotation of the thrown curveball

12-6 curveball

A particularly effective variant of the curveball is the 12-6 curveball . It is thrown with a topspin whose axis of rotation is perpendicular to the thrower (ie horizontally to the ground and at right angles to the direction of flight) so that the rotation is exactly vertical. This looks to the batsman as if the baseball is breaking out in a straight downward line that runs in an imaginary clock from "12 o'clock to 6 o'clock". A 12-6 curveball is difficult to hit because there is no horizontal movement, and even when in contact with the ball, the baseball bat's sweet spot is rarely hit.

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