I wish you’d mention that this is not the traditional forkball, the one that was popularized prior to Roger Craig’s splitter. Your forkball is thrown with no spin. The traditional forkball has top spin. The traditional forkball requires larger hands than your version and was thrown with a very similar grip but the ball came out with top spin. Created by halving the ball at center mass (or slightly lower) and flipping the ball forward letting the ball tumble forward as the friction from the split fingers hold onto the bottom half of the baseball very slightly at release.
I played HS baseball and just a little bit of college ball and the fork was my go-to pitch. Just like this video described, it was my strike out pitch and when it was working it was nasty. I was a soft throwing left hander, and used this pitch to set up my fastball. It was slightly slower than a curve ball that I threw. Most of the time I could get by with the fork ball and fast ball.
I was a hard throwing righty and regret not throwing the forkball more. It would tumble 12-6 or even come out with no spin like a knuckleball. I threw it same arm speed as my fastball and found it easy to control. I should have relied on it more.
Splitters don't cause tommy John anymore than any other pitches, just like screwballs doing cause arm strain. Everyone is already having tommy John anyway despite throwing fewer pitches and better training. It comes down to throwing a baseball just isn't natural
Through high school and college I threw a splitter and forkball, only I didn't realize they had different names for the grips, I just called them both a splitter and used them interchangeably throughout games depending on which grip was working
The splitter has the highest whiff rate in baseball out of pitches thrown more than 1.5% of the time. And it only accounts for on 2% of major league pitches thrown.
Hey John I have a question about throwing with different arm angles,I've been a over the top pitcher my entire life(17yo)and recently I've turned into a sidearm pitcher.In games I've decided to throw from both angles,over the top and submarine.I can throw 4 pitches from both angles.so my question is what would be the best course of action should I keep throwing from both angles when I'm pitching or just from one.ive had great success with both angles especially put together but I seem to loose my groove(accuracy) a lot quicker and I get tired a lot faster.one last thing I'm a starting pitcher typically so should I become more of a reliever because of my endurance?Would greatly appreciate if you answer my question
When I was a kid we used to play with tennis balls. You could get some nasty movement even without being very good. The nastiest pitch I threw was a sidearm forkball that I could flip my wrist differently on. If you brought the pointer over the top it would break away from a righty. If you raked both fingers from a deep enough arm angle you could get it going up and away, but the nastiest was when you let it roll out backwards because you could get it to act like a really nasty screwball. It almost looked like a left handers curveball at that point. /Problem with backyard games is you never had an ump and batters just wouldn't swing if the pitch didn't look hittable. My friend had a good backyard knuckleball. I learned to just not swing when I saw his knuckles sticking up when he released it.
Speaking from experience since I can throw both they are useful at different times For me at least the splitter is more of a fast change up with sharp downward movement it is accurate and I can shoot the corner On the other hand my forkball is about 15mph slower than my fastball and is more of a pitch I use in an 0-2 or 1-2 count as I can’t really hit the corners that often
What kind of pitch do I throw my catcher said it was slow but when he catches it it feels like it has more force to it like it's pushing his glove but it's slow also what kind of pitch is this i grip it like a four seam fastball it moves like a two seamer am I doing something wrong
From what I learned, he forkball needs you to snap your wrist down hard and kind of push your elbow out a little prior to release while it's not as important for a splitter. A splitter
Hey coach madden, I was just released to throw bullpens from my second ACL surgery and after my first bullpen I topped at 86. I was wondering what you suggest for me to do to gain velocity and how to strengthen my legs. Also what can I do to fully use my legs, I am not pushing off when pitching but I’m using all arm. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
Clark Kent Go straight to drmikemarshall.com and email him. You can pile up everything that every other pitching coach knows as high as it goes on its best day and all of that will be worth precisely 1/16 of what you will learn from Dr. Marshall on your first day. Watch the Jeff Sparks video on YT and look very closely at Jeff’s numbers at baseball reference. There is essentially a 100% injury rate with conventional mechanics.
Personally I’ve never really had one over the other, I’ve used both but I’ve grown fond of the forkball, It feels better when you throw and I throw more strikes with the forkball
Hey can you teach me how to a slider like Randy Johnson or Chris Sale? I knew your arm slot is a little lower, so I knew it wasn't going to be that hard to teach. Please reply...I'm going into 14U, and I'm not going to be able to survive with a 12-6 and a fastball.
Caleb The Goat Clausen in case you haven't gotten any response I want to share a trick with you. If you throw side arm already then all you need to do is find a grip that allows you to side spin the ball. Usually it'll happen naturally with your curve grip. Might have to do small tweaks but the arm slot and release make a big difference. Before too many injuries I wanted to go professional. I'm a lefty and I grew up watching Randy throw in Arizona. He was my favorite pitcher. Good luck and I'll help the best I can. Take care.
Do you feel like these pitches are kind of going away? Don't see too many people in MLB that excel at these pitches, maybe I'm mistaken. Similar to how there are very few knuckleballers out there. Too bad really. Would love a video on how to fix front leg collapsing during pitching, my son is really struggling with this right now. I've seen a couple of your videos that talk about Up The Mound throws to combat this. Do you have any other suggestions to work on at home (where we don't have a mound)? Thanks for the excellent content.
Forkball / splitter I developed but never gained command . When it is on though it's a great pitch. With the right velocity and arm motion looking like fastball unhittable.
Splitter vs Split Change? Its the same pitch? Also I heard it's bad for the elbow...Ohtani is having a lot of issues with his elbow because of this pitch
Me llamo frenllel zarraga es lanzamiento lo domino a la perfección . es letal. Eh dado hasta 11 ponche en 6 inng. Es un lanzamiento super . diria q mejor q cualquier otro lanzamiento
This guy got cut from our pony league team when he was 14. He played one year of NAIA ju-co and road the pine. He’s in no way an authority on pitching a baseball. I’m not sure this guy is qualified to refill the water cooler.
I wish you’d mention that this is not the traditional forkball, the one that was popularized prior to Roger Craig’s splitter. Your forkball is thrown with no spin. The traditional forkball has top spin.
The traditional forkball requires larger hands than your version and was thrown with a very similar grip but the ball came out with top spin. Created by halving the ball at center mass (or slightly lower) and flipping the ball forward letting the ball tumble forward as the friction from the split fingers hold onto the bottom half of the baseball very slightly at release.
I played HS baseball and just a little bit of college ball and the fork was my go-to pitch. Just like this video described, it was my strike out pitch and when it was working it was nasty. I was a soft throwing left hander, and used this pitch to set up my fastball. It was slightly slower than a curve ball that I threw. Most of the time I could get by with the fork ball and fast ball.
I was a hard throwing righty and regret not throwing the forkball more. It would tumble 12-6 or even come out with no spin like a knuckleball. I threw it same arm speed as my fastball and found it easy to control. I should have relied on it more.
Literally never knew this about the lace.
nothing short of amazing! thanks! Ive always wondered wtf was throwing and why it looked like a knuckleball
Hey Coach John, how come i notice more Japanese pitchers throwing the Splitter more than Americans???
Idalci Xavier Strain on muscles. Can lead too Tommy John.
@@nathanielmcdonald17 lol
in japan, splitters are super popular just as a curveball/changeup is in the usa
The ball has more tack making spin a lot easier to generate
Splitters don't cause tommy John anymore than any other pitches, just like screwballs doing cause arm strain. Everyone is already having tommy John anyway despite throwing fewer pitches and better training. It comes down to throwing a baseball just isn't natural
Through high school and college I threw a splitter and forkball, only I didn't realize they had different names for the grips, I just called them both a splitter and used them interchangeably throughout games depending on which grip was working
Loved striking kids out with the forkball and hearing them walk back to the dugout telling their teammates, "He's throwing knuckleballs!" Lol
Wonderful video. Looking forward to checking out other videos. Thanks from Texas.
The splitter has the highest whiff rate in baseball out of pitches thrown more than 1.5% of the time. And it only accounts for on 2% of major league pitches thrown.
Hey Coach Madden!
I really wanted to kbow how to improve and enhance my baseball mentality
Rico Rivera Book
The Mental Game of Baseball
Hey John I have a question about throwing with different arm angles,I've been a over the top pitcher my entire life(17yo)and recently I've turned into a sidearm pitcher.In games I've decided to throw from both angles,over the top and submarine.I can throw 4 pitches from both angles.so my question is what would be the best course of action should I keep throwing from both angles when I'm pitching or just from one.ive had great success with both angles especially put together but I seem to loose my groove(accuracy) a lot quicker and I get tired a lot faster.one last thing I'm a starting pitcher typically so should I become more of a reliever because of my endurance?Would greatly appreciate if you answer my question
Good luck not injuring your arm w that sidearm
My forkball a lot of times would rise. I loved this technique! Little leaguer with a screwball and forkball. Oh yeah!
When I was a kid we used to play with tennis balls. You could get some nasty movement even without being very good. The nastiest pitch I threw was a sidearm forkball that I could flip my wrist differently on. If you brought the pointer over the top it would break away from a righty. If you raked both fingers from a deep enough arm angle you could get it going up and away, but the nastiest was when you let it roll out backwards because you could get it to act like a really nasty screwball. It almost looked like a left handers curveball at that point.
/Problem with backyard games is you never had an ump and batters just wouldn't swing if the pitch didn't look hittable. My friend had a good backyard knuckleball. I learned to just not swing when I saw his knuckles sticking up when he released it.
Speaking from experience since I can throw both they are useful at different times
For me at least the splitter is more of a fast change up with sharp downward movement it is accurate and I can shoot the corner
On the other hand my forkball is about 15mph slower than my fastball and is more of a pitch I use in an 0-2 or 1-2 count as I can’t really hit the corners that often
Thanks You for share.
From Monclova coahuila México
I throw my splitter liked a forkball but my fingers are on the laces. My coaches thought it was a cutter
What kind of pitch do I throw my catcher said it was slow but when he catches it it feels like it has more force to it like it's pushing his glove but it's slow also what kind of pitch is this i grip it like a four seam fastball it moves like a two seamer am I doing something wrong
You probably figured this out by now?
My forkball is knuckling, but it’s not dropping much. Is there anyway to get more drop on it?
Cade Strickland keep it below the belt
From what I learned, he forkball needs you to snap your wrist down hard and kind of push your elbow out a little prior to release while it's not as important for a splitter. A splitter
Hey Coach Madden, I was curious what your thoughts are on top velocity and their approach when it comes to pitching and pitching mechanics?
Baseball4Life drmikemarshall.com
Hey coach madden, I was just released to throw bullpens from my second ACL surgery and after my first bullpen I topped at 86. I was wondering what you suggest for me to do to gain velocity and how to strengthen my legs. Also what can I do to fully use my legs, I am not pushing off when pitching but I’m using all arm. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
Clark Kent drmikemarshall.com
I Am I just recently had my third acl surgery. Does this have stuff I can do while I’m recovering? And thanks!!
Clark Kent Go straight to drmikemarshall.com and email him. You can pile up everything that every other pitching coach knows as high as it goes on its best day and all of that will be worth precisely 1/16 of what you will learn from Dr. Marshall on your first day.
Watch the Jeff Sparks video on YT and look very closely at Jeff’s numbers at baseball reference.
There is essentially a 100% injury rate with conventional mechanics.
Clark Kent The YT channel is
Dr. Mike Marshall
I Am thanks bro I appreciate this!
Personally I’ve never really had one over the other, I’ve used both but I’ve grown fond of the forkball, It feels better when you throw and I throw more strikes with the forkball
so good and informative
Another great video!
Hey can you teach me how to a slider like Randy Johnson or Chris Sale? I knew your arm slot is a little lower, so I knew it wasn't going to be that hard to teach. Please reply...I'm going into 14U, and I'm not going to be able to survive with a 12-6 and a fastball.
Caleb The Goat Clausen in case you haven't gotten any response I want to share a trick with you. If you throw side arm already then all you need to do is find a grip that allows you to side spin the ball. Usually it'll happen naturally with your curve grip. Might have to do small tweaks but the arm slot and release make a big difference. Before too many injuries I wanted to go professional. I'm a lefty and I grew up watching Randy throw in Arizona. He was my favorite pitcher. Good luck and I'll help the best I can. Take care.
Is the forkball safe? I’m 14 and trying to learn a few pitches, my goal is:
4-Seam
Circle-Change
Forkball
Yes
I have those pitches in my repertoire too, Once you get a little older I definitely recommend learning slider too
I loved throwing a forkball with the same arm speed as my fastball. Then I could control it and it would tumble 12 to 6. Awesome pitch.
Do you feel like these pitches are kind of going away? Don't see too many people in MLB that excel at these pitches, maybe I'm mistaken. Similar to how there are very few knuckleballers out there. Too bad really.
Would love a video on how to fix front leg collapsing during pitching, my son is really struggling with this right now. I've seen a couple of your videos that talk about Up The Mound throws to combat this. Do you have any other suggestions to work on at home (where we don't have a mound)?
Thanks for the excellent content.
Tons of pitchers throw splitters you just never pay attention, the forkball on the other hand is dying
Great vid👍🏻
I was taught to throw a fork like a curve meaning top spin with the grip you showed.
I think that was the traditional way of throwing a fork. Nowadays, forks don't have top spin in it.
Forkball / splitter I developed but never gained command . When it is on though it's a great pitch. With the right velocity and arm motion looking like fastball unhittable.
it's control not command
The grips of all the pitches
When I pitch the Forkball it will be the fast Knuckleball because the ball is not whirl
Splitter vs Split Change? Its the same pitch? Also I heard it's bad for the elbow...Ohtani is having a lot of issues with his elbow because of this pitch
Ricky H in a split change the split is between the middle and ring finger
Me llamo frenllel zarraga es lanzamiento lo domino a la perfección . es letal. Eh dado hasta 11 ponche en 6 inng. Es un lanzamiento super . diria q mejor q cualquier otro lanzamiento
Chuck Finley had a wicked Forkball.
Just found out I’ve been throwing a fork ball thinking it was a splitter for the last year and a half
A good forkball looks so filthy. Like Coello's
Can u do slider vs cutter
Christian G They are both supination pitches. Not good.
drmikemarshall.com
Ok I’ll work on it
nice baseball grip
Really they're apples and bananas, at least for intended effect. Splitter is a changeup, the forkball is another way of throwing a knuckleball.
Can kids throw a forkball
🥈
John Smoltz had the world's nastiest splitter 90 mph.
I don’t understand difference between forkball and curveball
My fingers won’t stretch that far unfortunately
he said splitter for fork n fork for splitter
For me the forkball is easier than a split finger for me idk why lol
Guys I threw the best splitter in the world I made a video and how to throw it no joke look at it
This guy got cut from our pony league team when he was 14. He played one year of NAIA ju-co and road the pine. He’s in no way an authority on pitching a baseball. I’m not sure this guy is qualified to refill the water cooler.
5 years in the Mets organization lol
@@jackargie1092 he may have coached a little league team called the Mets. That would be about it.
@@frozenrope2822 dude idk what you’re on about he played 5 years in the Mets organization you can look it up
@@jackargie1092 😂
89th. Lol.
No real info... Just an add