Pitching Grip Question - Small Hands

[Kan-Man]

My son is 8 and his hand is too small to grip a four seam fastball with just two fingers (he needs to use his ring finger as well) which I guess means he's throwing more of a change than a fastball.

I'm assuming there's nothing I can do about this until his hand grows, but wanted to ask in case there were other grips I should be teaching him.

[songtitle]

Is he gripping it properly?

Make sure his thumb is directly opposite his middle (2nd) finger, then squeeze. You hold/grip the ball with these 2 fingers (at home, have him flick his wrist and hold on). Then drop his other finger on the seam.

[Kan-Man]

Is he gripping it properly?

Make sure his thumb is directly opposite his index finger, then squeeze. You hold/grip the ball with these 2 fingers (at home, have him flick his wrist and hold on). Then drop his other finger on the seam.

I think he's gripping it properly, but I might not be explaining myself clearly.

As I understand it, your index finger and your middle finger form a "V" with your thumb underneath the ball. Because of the size of his hands, he needs to add his ring finger as well to hold onto the ball (as if he's holding up the number 3 with his fingers). He also can't leave any space between his hand and the ball because his fingers are too short.

Does that make any sense?

[Standballdad]

I think he's gripping it properly, but I might not be explaining myself clearly.

As I understand it, your index finger and your middle finger form a "V" with your thumb underneath the ball. Because of the size of his hands, he needs to add his ring finger as well to hold onto the ball (as if he's holding up the number 3 with his fingers). He also can't leave any space between his hand and the ball because his fingers are too short.

Does that make any sense?

Makes sense, I think it is what it is until he gets a little bigger. I would focus and properly releasing the ball and trying to get back spin on the ball.

[songtitle]

kan, sorry a correction. It's the middle finger and thumb. And it's not a V. These 2 should be directly opposite. This will make a big difference. Make sure he pushes his thumb toward his middle finger.

[AdamInNY]

My 9yo son used the 3 finger grip until about a month ago. He had no issues when his hand was finally large enough to switch to a 2 finger grip. I really didn't notice much of a velocity difference. I'm sure it's negligible at this age anyway.

[bbrages]

I see a lot of side spin on youth pitchers; I think it's grip related. Getting the thumb on the bottom of the ball seems impossible at this age. I would say that the majority of kids I see are throwing some kind of a cutter...

In my son's league, they use a slightly smaller baseball (8.5" circ) for age 8 and 9. Helps a little, I guess.

[tg643]

Where the thumb is positioned is important. It may alleviate the need to to use a three finger grip. If not, growth will eliminate the problem. Maybe LL and CR have it right that kids don't pitch until age nine.

[CircleChange11]

I think he's gripping it properly, but I might not be explaining myself clearly.

As I understand it, your index finger and your middle finger form a "V" with your thumb underneath the ball. Because of the size of his hands, he needs to add his ring finger as well to hold onto the ball (as if he's holding up the number 3 with his fingers). He also can't leave any space between his hand and the ball because his fingers are too short.

Does that make any sense?

It's perfectly normal.

Kids at that age also are not able to "tuck their thumb". So they may actually hold the ball with all finger extended ... equating to what might be described as "wrapping their fingers around the ball" or grabbing it "as an Eagle would".