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My boys attended a couple of @KnuckleballNatn camps with #PhilNiekro. I scribbled down notes. Here are ten bits of wisdom he passed along to the aspiring knuckleballers...
1. If you’re going to throw the knuckleball, you must commit to the pitch. You can’t say, “I have a fastball and curve, and I mix in the knuckleball.” The knuckleball must be your primary pitch. It’s the occasional fastball or curve that you mix in.
2. You should be throwing 85 - 90% knuckleballs in a game. Niekro said he once threw 108 pitches and 106 were knuckleballs.
3. A knuckleballer must be his own coach. You will rarely meet anyone who knows anything about throwing the knuckleball. But you will often meet coaches who will try to tell you how to do it.
4. Every single time you throw a knuckleball -- in a game, warming up, or playing catch in the yard -- do so with the single-minded focus of putting it in the strike zone.
5. No knuckleballer in history has been good enough to paint corners. Throw every knuckleball down the middle of the plate. If your manager or catcher tells you to throw one inside or outside, nod agreeably -- then aim for the middle of the plate.
6. You can’t kill the spin at 60 feet if you can’t kill it at 30 feet. Start every knuckleball throwing session at 20 feet. Only once you’re killing the spin at that distance do you work your way up to 60 feet, six inches.
7. If your knuckleball is spinning, throw it slower.
8. Change speeds often. You must have a slow and (relatively) fast knuck.
9. No matter where the pitch goes (in the dirt, over the backstop, whatever) act like that was exactly where you intended. Every batter believes a knuckleballer is up to some trick. Use that to your advantage. Make every batter think you are.
10. Don’t worry whether your manager likes or understands the knuckleball. If you get batters out, you will pitch.
