Tunnel Read Two pitches, one tunnel. Call it before they split.
Good pitchers make two pitches look the same out of the hand, then split them late: fastball and changeup, fastball and slider, riseball and dropball. The ball disappears at the tunnel point. Read the spin and speed and call the pitch.
- 2 minutes
- Adapts to you
- Free · no sign-up
Tunnel Read
Watch the pitch until it disappears at the tunnel point, then call which pitch it was.
What pitch tunneling is
A tunnel is the point where two different pitches still look the same. Past it, the hitter has already committed. Pitchers live there. Hitters beat it by reading what comes before the tunnel: spin and speed out of the hand.
Pair this with the Spin Read Test. The faster you see spin, the earlier you can tell the pitches apart.
Training guide
What it trains
Telling apart two pitches that look identical out of the hand and only split late, the way good pitchers tunnel them.
Who it’s for
High school and college hitters facing pitchers who mix pitches off the same arm slot and path.
How to get better
- Look for the earliest difference you can find, not the break at the end.
- Track your score at each speed level, then move up only when you’re steady.
- In the cage, have the feeder throw two pitches from the same spot and decide before the split.
- Build a plan for each count so you know which pitch to hunt before you see it.
Read more on the Backspin Blog
- Why Hitters Get Fooled by Changeups & Curveballs
- Why Great Hitters Predict, Not Just React
- Value of Time: How Hitters Decide Later
- How to Hit a Slider: Read It, Lay Off, Drive It
Next step: run the free Hitter Combine to find your #1 priority, or train this skill start to finish in the Hitting Processor course.
Questions
What is pitch tunneling?
Throwing two different pitches that travel on the same line out of the hand, so they look the same until it’s too late for the hitter to adjust.
How do hitters beat tunneling?
By reading the pitch earlier: the spin and the speed out of the hand. Spin recognition and early-read training help most.
Which pitches tunnel in fastpitch softball?
The riseball and dropball, and the fastball with the changeup or curveball.