Throwing a Shuuto

Hey fellow pitcher! I throw the shuuto quite consistently in my baseball games. (I'm left handed, but I'm going describe it to you from a right handed perspective.)

You have the option to throw this pitch at high speeds to act like a reverse slider or at slow speeds to act as an absolutely awesome reverse curve. Now the way you grip the ball is to put your index finger in between the seams of the two seam like a one finger two seam. Then you put your middle finger halfway down the side of the ball. Throw over the top or maybe three-quarters motion, depending on what gets more tail for you. Make sure the pitch comes off the right side of your index finger to maximize your break, it makes it more effective, I think. Move your index finger more to the left seam of the two seam to get a softer but bigger break (I call the softer, bigger breaking slow one the "slow shuuto").

Use the fast shuuto for situations where you really need a ground ball (like a double play to end the game). A combination that I use on left handed hitters that you could copy to righties is fastball outside, then slow shuuto low and inside, then slow curve ball to a great spot on the outside corner. I love the looks on the batters' faces when they get three pitches breaking in three directions, especially when they swing at the curve that they think is going to be the shuuto, but is a big looping curve ball to the outside corner. Priceless (lol).

Good luck with this awesome pitch!

P.S. Another three break combo is splitter, then fast shuuto low inside, then slider outside to righties for you and lefties for me. Also you can use the slow shuuto as a brush off pitch that falls in for a strike to lefties. But it better be a high strike top corner because if it breaks too much it'll be a great strike but a 460 foot bomb! Lol.

I've always described the "shuuto" (derived from the old American pitch "inshoot") as a hard screwball/tailing 2-seam fastball.

The slow version of the above user seems more like a screwball.

Oh well, I never pitched, so what do I know?

Yea, I posted the comment above, and I suppose you're right, because I use it as a hard sinking screwball more often than not. Or just a big a** reverse curve; lol. But, yea, overall I think it's the most effective pitch I've got.

I realize that this is an old thread, but I just need to add this.

Hi I'm an American pitcher and I've been desperate trying to find this pitch, seeing how well it worked for many Japanese pitchers. I was just wondering, how do you throw it and what finger pressure do you mainly use on the ball?