What is a Slider?
The Pitch
If you ask yourself, What is a Slider? Most eye opening description of the Slider: is a sharp breaking pitch, when thrown correctly, explodes devastatingly, down and away from a hitter. The Slider looks like a fastball, until the batter goes to swing…..and the ball disappears out of the strike zone. That's quite Dominant! A pitcher that has developed a good Slider which he can throw consistently, will know that even before they release the pitch, it has the ability to make even the best hitters swing and miss.
The Slider is thrown with fastball arm speed. Finger pressure, the grip and the hand angle on the release give the Slider it’s devastating break.
What is a Slider?
Why is it Easier than Throwing a Curveball?
Because the Slider is thrown like a fastball, it eliminates the mindset that you have to place the pitch. With a curveball, a pitcher can tend to be too fine in trying to locate the pitch. Or even worse, having to find the right arm speed. When a pitcher spends too much energy worrying about how to throw a certain pitch, the results do not work in the pitcher’s favor.
The Slider is an easier pitch to throw because it is thrown with fastball arm speed and the fastball mindset until the end. The best way to teach a pitcher how to throw a Slider is to think:
Fastball, Fastball, Fastball, SLIDER!
This mindset helps you stay behind the baseball longer and prevents you from slowing down your arm or twisting your elbow and/or wrist. When you execute the correct steps leading up to the release of the Slider, the break you want on the pitch is consistently more Dominant.
What is a Slider?
Who has had Success from this DOMINANT Pitch?
The list is endless. Cy Young Award Winners, Lights Out Closers, World Champions, Hall of Famers. Need we say more? Check out our Slider SpotLight here to see some of the the Best Sliders of All Time.
What is a Slider?
What Can it Do For Your Pitching Career?
When you are able to execute a Slider consistently, it automatically puts you ahead of a large percentage of your peers. When you add a Dominant Slider to your pitching arsenal, it makes your fastball much better.
Why is that?
Because the hitter will go from sitting on your fastball to having to respect your fastball. It adds to the guessing game for the hitter.
The Slider has Resurrected and even SkyRocketed many pitching careers. This Dominant pitch is a weapon that can and will embarrass hitters.
The more you are able to make hitters swing and miss with your Slider, creates the bigger numbers you can put up from season to season, which means the more heads you can turn from Dominant Pitching Performances, will bring your pitching career to new heights. Imagine your pitching abilities taking you to the levels of baseball that separate the pitchers from the pretenders.
Mastering a Dominant Slider can be all the Difference that can Earn You:
- A College Scholarship
- A Professional Contract
- Or Even Impact a Signing Bonus
THAT'S HUGE!!!
What is a Slider?
Why Should You Throw Slider?
All ball players want to be remembered for something...regardless of where their career takes them. Whether it is being solely responsible for winning a game in high school or making it to the Major Leagues, we all clammer for legendary status.
Now to be blunt, baseball only has a small window in our lives of how long we will be able to play this great game. If you live to be 80, and start playing at age 5 like most people, and play competitively to the age of 25, that’s 60 years of your life, NOT playing baseball!!!! So don't let any opportunity go to waste and be grateful every chance you get to wear the uniform.
How long you can stay in baseball depends on a lot of factors. Talent, durability, exposure, work ethic, etc. Some of these factors are simply what we are blessed with. Others, however, we can control.
One of them that we can control is our aptitude as a ball player. This is knowing what we have to do to advance. What we need to bring to the table everyday, and what dynamic aspects will make us better than our competition. Many talented players lose interest at too young of an age because of lack of this aptitude, whether is it their fault or not, it is sad to see.
What is a Slider?
How Can it 'Enhance' Your Status?
The Slider has proven time and time again to have the ability to Resurrect and/or SkyRocket many pitching careers. For the simple reason that this pitch is not taught by most pitching coaches. Because of this lack of coaching, many pitchers don’t find out soon enough that the Slider is better suited for their physical and mental make up, and frankly, it is just that Damn Good of a Pitch.
Too many pitchers fumble around and are consummately frustrated as they try to figure out how to throw the delicate curveball. That frustration multiplies rapidly as they feel lost and have no clue how to improve their situation, and perform at their peak potential.
Mastering a Dominant Slider has the ability to separate you from your peers. Because when this Dominant Pitch is thrown the right way, it is flat out, Unhittable!!! The amazing thing about the Slider, is how quickly things turn around for them, when they are taught how to throw this Dominant pitch, Correctly.
All ball players want to be remembered for something. Everyone wants to climb the baseball ladder as high as they can go and enjoy the benefits at each level. The truly dedicated players will never allow themselves to be cheated. With a Weapon like the Slider in your pitching arsenal, you have a powerful tool to aid in climbing to the levels you always knew that you are capable of reaching....and maybe more....
What do you want your Baseball Legacy to be?
Don't Ever leave yourself wondering what could have been....
Keep Dominating!!!
Brad Kirsch
Brad Kirsch is the Owner/Creator of Slider Domination. He is a former professional pitcher who blogs about all things Pitching.
Brad has also authored the AudioBook,
7 Reasons Why YOU Should Throw a Slider.
If you haven’t done so already, you can Download the AudioBook Here
