Throws like a girl

Something that is used as an insult by boys, and even occasionally by immature boys over 18. It suggests that the male of the species has an ability to throw a ball, or some other object, in a style that is superior to the female, and that this is somehow a natural thing for the normal male, but requires a lot of practice and learning for the female.

Of course, there seems to be little attention paid to the possibility that parents and other children tend to push boys into physical play and sports a lot more then they do girls, and that they work with the boys to teach them how to do this. A likely possibility, given that many fathers like the idea of their son becoming a famous athlete, especially in the popular sports like baseball, basketball, or football. (One must wonder what the father feels when their son becomes famous for figure skating, considering they tend to equate manliness with their career, and that of their son, quite often)

_{The Nodeshell Rescue Team, fighting against some stereotypes, and for others...}

I recently learned why my wife throws like a girl.
She was never taught to throw.
Boys don't innately know how to throw a curve ball either. They learn, they are taught, or they never do.

This disturbed me a great deal. I have a four year old daughter, and I don't want her to be limited by the things that I haven't taught her.

Many girls don't learn because they are afraid they will be made fun of while they are practicing. Some simply are never taught. I must confess that before that day some weeks ago I had never considered that my daughter didn't know how to throw a ball, And it never occured to me that no one ever paused to teach my wife to throw.

Girls, if you can't throw a ball, explain to someone that you were never taught. It's just like driving a stick, you need to be shown before you can do it the right way.

Boys, if you can't throw a ball... Learn to type.

I used to be able to throw a ball with either arm ... a passable fastball with my right arm, and a reasonably accurate sidearm with my left. However, last year I tore the hell out of my left rotator cuff while playing Ultimate. It didn't heal right, and I can't move my left arm in the same ways.

So now when I throw left, say when tossing a tennis ball, I don't use much shoulder power. I hold my forearm vertically, then snap forward at the elbow and flick with the wrist. The result is a short, arching, slow toss¹. Conversely, from the right side my power comes from hip and shoulder, with the elbow and wrist employed for guidance and control, not power.

The way I now throw from the left is akin to the way an untutored person might toss a ball, and in fact is the classic "throws like a girl" delivery. Almost any guy my age would so categorize my delivery instantly ... we learned the phrase on the playground and in gym. Maybe this phrase will die out as the public school curriculum changes to give both genders the same sports training.

By the way, last year I taught a female colleague to throw a baseball, and she can now throw home from second as well as, or better than, I can.

^{1. North American sense.}

Someone who "throws like a girl" probably just has bad footwork.

As Lord Brawl noted previously in this node, in the act of throwing an object, one generates power from the shoulder, abdominal and leg muscles; one uses the elbow and the wrist for accuracy.

This is all understandably counter-intuitive for a novice; throwing seems like something one does with the arm, but if you don't use the rest of your body, your throw will have little distance.

In a proper throwing motion, one should step forward with the opposite foot just after cocking the arm. While doing this, the thrower should twist his/her torso a bit toward the throwing arm. Then, in the process of throwing the object, the person will naturally transfer his/her weight to the forward (opposite) foot during the forward throwing motion and twist his/her body from right to left (for a right-hander) during the follow-through. All this will add power.

Unfortunately, many people who haven't been taught how to throw properly try copying their peers and end up stepping forward with the incorrect foot — i.e., the right foot for a right-handed person. This will definitely make you throw poorly and will look like a total dork as well. I'd guess this is the real genesis of the "throws like a girl" insult.