The Backdoor Curve

The Backdoor Curve

This is the pitch that allowed me to become a starting pitcher at Marshall University.  Since my fastball rarely hit 60 mph, I had to develop a "go to" pitch that I could get hitters out. I worked on my curveball and got to where I could throw it anywhere I wanted. Then, I started throwing it at the right handed hitter, as they would bail out on the pitch, it would curve and catch the inside corner of the plate. I would throw the same pitch to a left handed batter.  They would give up on it because it looked like it was outside the strike zone, then it would curve and sneak in the "backdoor" on them for a called strike on the outside corner of the plate!! The pitch got me into the starting lineup.  This year I pitched 129 innings and had 129 strikeouts with most of them coming from the backdoor curve!!! It is a great pitch to have in your arsenal.