Skip to content
Pitch Atlas

Breaking

Screwball

The curve’s mirror — breaking the other way, in on the same-handed hitter.

MovementReputable analysisLast checked June 7, 2026Open question: none on file

The screwball is the curve run in reverse: it breaks arm-side, in toward a same-handed hitter, off spin turned the opposite direction. Together the curve and the screw let a windmill pitcher move the ball both ways across the plate off one delivery.

Grip, spin, movement

The grip

A grip and wrist turn that spin the ball the opposite way from the curve, driving an arm-side break.

Reputable analysisWikipedia — Fastpitch softball (windmill delivery, pitch arsenal, distances)
The spin

Reverse sidespin from the curve — the axis flipped to break arm-side.

Reputable analysisScience News Explores — How to make a pitched ball curve to your will (sidespin Magnus break is real; the standalone gyro is essentially a myth)
The movement

Breaks in on a same-handed hitter, the opposite direction from the curve.

Reputable analysisWikipedia — Fastpitch softball (windmill delivery, pitch arsenal, distances)

The physics

The screwball is the curve’s physics run in reverse: the same real sidespin Magnus break, the axis flipped so the ball moves arm-side — in toward a same-handed hitter — instead of glove-side. Like the curve, and unlike the rise, the movement is honest. It is the spin doing exactly what the spin should.

Reputable analysisScience News Explores — How to make a pitched ball curve to your will (sidespin Magnus break is real; the standalone gyro is essentially a myth)

The job

Role in an arsenal

Jams same-handed hitters and completes the two-way horizontal attack.

Every line above is one click from its source. Still to come for the circle: the full grip geometry and a 12″ seam, the way the baseball wing files a pitch.