The slider is an effective pitch because while it's not as fast as a fastball, it's faster than a curveball, breaks laterally, and is relatively easy to throw without putting too much strain on the elbow or wrist. To throw a slider, grip the baseball with the standard grip for a four-seam fastball*. Now, WITHOUT MOVING YOUR THUMB, slide your top fingers across the ball towards your body until your index finger is across the seam. You should feel a bit of strain on your middle finger, almost as though the ball is trying to squirt out to the side. This is OK. To throw the slider, throw it exactly the same way you would throw a fastball. The resulting pitch should break down and to the left if you're a lefty, and down and to the right if you're a righty.


* If you are unsure how to grip a four-seam fastball, do the following: Look directly at the ball, and rotate it until the stitches form a "C" (Note: if you're a lefty, you want the "C" to be backwards.) Your middle and index fingers will go straight down the middle of the ball, with the tips of those fingers resting on the top stitch. Your thumb goes underneath the ball, with the tip of the thumb holding on to the nearest bottom seam. No other part of the hand should touch the ball. This is the four-seam fastball grip.

The slider is a pitch in baseball somewhere between a curveball and a fastball. The slider is much faster than a curveball, but does not break as much, while it is significantly slower than the fastball.

A good slider is one of the toughest pitches to hit, but it is also one of the hardest pitches on the elbow. The slider was developed in the 1950s and first came into widespread use in the 60s. Bob Feller was one of the first to master this difficult pitch. Ted Williams said he could have played five more years if not for the slider. Many people agree that Randy Johnson has the best slider in the game today.

Slider is a GUI control widget shaped like a real-world slide potentiometer - it allows user to set a value in a fixed range. Sliders are usually operated by dragging the control's knob using a mouse pointer. Common uses for a slider control include setting sound card volume levels and altering RGB color values in graphics programs.

Slid"er (?), a.

See Slidder.

[Obs.]

Chaucer.

 

© Webster 1913.


Slid"er, n.

1.

One who, or that which, slides; especially, a sliding part of an instrument or machine.

2. Zool.

The red-bellied terrapin (Pseudemys rugosa).

[Local, U. S. ]

Slider pump, a form of rotary pump.

 

© Webster 1913.

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