A big league pitcher talks about throwing submarine

Scott Sullivan, at right, throws sidearm. He's made a career of it, pitching most recently for the Reds (in 2002 and 2003) and the Kansas City Royals (in 2004).

"My arm isn't equipped to throw on top," Sullivan said once in a newspaper interview. "It's uncomfortable for me. Even when I play long toss, I throw everything from my sidearm slot."

Reds closer, Danny Graves, doesn't throw submarine-style. He's not a sidewinder or submariner. He throws overhand gas.

"Throwing sidearm is a lot harder than people think," Graves said. "I tried it when I was younger, but my arm didn't feel right. I could never find that proper arm slot. It didn't feel healthy for me. Some guys can do it. A lot of guys can't. That's why you don't see many of them." (Most major league teams don't draft side-arm guys either, which is why you don't see a lot of them.)

But Sullivan said that if you find the proper arm slot and can keep it there, your pitching arm probably will last. "The overhand and three-quarter motions are not the way the arm was built to throw," he said.

"If you look at the pitching motion in slow motion (of guys who throw overhand), it's the most unnatural motion you could possibly put your shoulder and elbow through," Sullivan said. "You look at a still photo of it, and their elbow's here and their wrist is straight back. It's a tremendous amount of torque on your shoulder and elbow. My arm isn't equipped to throw on top. It's uncomfortable for me. Even when I play long-toss, I throw everything from my sidearm slot."

What do you teach? How do you pitch? Do you throw sidearm? If Sullivan was a pitcher on your baseball team -- or your son -- how would you instruct him? (And if you're a coach, would you let him continue to throw from "down under" if, say, you had him as a pitcher on your Little League baseball team?

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