Hitting Submarine and Sidearm Pitchers
The ball is coming from somewhere near the pitcher's shoelaces. Everything looks wrong. Your brain is screaming that this delivery is illegal (it is not). Here is how to adjust and hit the low-slot delivery.
Coach Gerald Bautista
Hitting Coach, Aberdeen IronBirds (MLB Draft League) | Former Professional Baseball Player | Son of an MLB Player
Gerald Bautista spent nine years competing in professional baseball, including time in the Cleveland Guardians organization and independent leagues. Today he serves as the Hitting Coach for the Aberdeen IronBirds of the MLB Draft League — developing the next generation of professional hitters at the highest level of pre-MLB competition. The son of a professional baseball player, Gerald brings a lineage of baseball knowledge alongside his own nine years of professional experience.
Credentials & Experience:
- ✓Hitting Coach, Aberdeen IronBirds (MLB Draft League)
- ✓9 years of professional baseball, including Cleveland Guardians organization
- ✓Son of a professional baseball player — lifelong baseball education
- ✓Specializes in swing mechanics, plate approach, and hitter development
Submarine and sidearm pitchers exist because they are difficult to hit. Their unconventional delivery creates an arm angle and release point that most hitters have never seen, which means the visual tracking system hitters have spent years developing against conventional over-the-top pitchers is suddenly irrelevant.
The challenge is primarily visual, not mechanical. The ball itself behaves according to the same physics as any other pitch. The difference is where it comes from. And that difference in release point changes everything about how your brain processes the pitch.
This article covers the specific visual, mechanical, and strategic adjustments that make submarine and sidearm pitchers hittable. The adjustments are simple. The discipline to implement them in real time is what separates hitters who adjust from hitters who just swing and hope.
Understanding the low-slot delivery advantage
When a conventional pitcher releases the ball from a three-quarter or overhand slot, the ball starts above the hitter's eye line and descends into the strike zone. Your brain is calibrated for this downhill plane because you have seen it thousands of times.
A submarine pitcher reverses this. The ball starts below the strike zone and rises into it. A sidearm pitcher sends the ball on a flatter, more horizontal plane. In both cases, the trajectory is fundamentally different from what your brain expects, which creates a processing delay.
That processing delay is the submarine pitcher's primary weapon. It is not that their pitches are better — in fact, submarine pitchers often throw slower than their conventional counterparts. It is that your brain takes longer to process the unfamiliar trajectory, which shortens your effective reaction time.
Three arm angles and their effects
Release point near shoulder height, arm roughly parallel to the ground. Creates horizontal movement and a flat approach angle. Ball appears to slide across the zone.
Release point between sidearm and submarine. Creates a combination of horizontal and rising movement. Common arm slot for relievers.
Release point below the waist, sometimes near the knee. Ball approaches on a rising trajectory. Creates the most visual disruption for hitters used to conventional deliveries.
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Visual adjustments: finding the new release point
The most important adjustment against submarine and sidearm pitchers is visual. You need to find the release point quickly and track the ball from there to the plate. Against conventional pitchers, your eyes naturally gravitate to a release window near the pitcher's head and shoulder. Against low-slot pitchers, that window drops dramatically.
Use the warm-up pitches
Watch every warm-up pitch from the on-deck circle. Your goal is not to time them yet — it is to calibrate your eyes to the release point. Where does the ball appear? How does it move? What is the arm speed? By the time you step in the box, your visual system should have at least a rough map of where to look.
Track the hand, not the body
Submarine pitchers' body mechanics can be visually distracting. Their torso may lean dramatically, their non-throwing arm may swing wide, and their overall motion looks nothing like what you are used to seeing. Ignore the body. Find the hand. Follow the hand to the release point. That is where the ball comes from. Everything else is noise.
Consider moving in the box
Against a right-handed submarine pitcher, a right-handed hitter can improve their sight line by moving to the front of the box and slightly closer to the plate. This gives more time to see the ball and a better angle to track the horizontal movement. The exact position depends on the specific pitcher, but small adjustments in box position can significantly improve your tracking ability.
Mechanical adjustments for the swing
Stay on top of the ball
Submarine pitchers' rising ball plane tempts hitters to uppercut. Resist this. A slight downward bat path keeps the barrel in the hitting zone longer and produces more consistent contact. Think "hit the top half of the ball" rather than trying to lift it.
Keep the front shoulder in
The horizontal movement from sidearm pitchers pulls hitters open. Same-side hitters are especially vulnerable because the ball appears to be coming from behind them, which triggers an early bail-out. Keeping the front shoulder pointed at the pitcher longer gives you more time to read the pitch and prevents the barrel from sweeping across the zone.
Go the other way
An opposite-field approach is highly effective against low-slot pitchers. Their arm-side movement runs away from same-side hitters, making the opposite field the natural hitting direction. Let the ball travel deeper, use the middle to opposite field, and you will find consistent contact even when the movement is significant.
Strategic approach for the full game
Against submarine pitchers, your team's approach should evolve throughout the game. The first time through the lineup is about gathering information. The second time through is about executing adjustments. By the third time through, you should be calibrated.
This is why submarine pitchers are less effective as starters and more effective as relievers. A starter gives you multiple looks. By the third time through, most lineups have adjusted. A reliever faces you once, maybe twice, which means you never fully calibrate.
If you know you are facing a submarine pitcher, use your BP time to have someone throw from a lower angle. Even if the speed and movement are not identical, the visual adjustment of tracking a ball from a low release point will prime your brain for game-time.
For pitchers: is the submarine delivery easier on your arm?
This is the most common question pitchers ask about the submarine delivery, and the honest answer is: it depends on how you get there.
The submarine delivery does reduce stress on the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) — the ligament torn in Tommy John surgery — because the arm stays below shoulder level and generates less valgus stress at the elbow. For pitchers who are naturally built to throw from a low slot, or who transition gradually, the delivery can be significantly easier on the arm than a conventional overhand delivery.
The risk comes from forcing the slot. Pitchers who drop their arm angle dramatically without adjusting hip and trunk mechanics shift stress to the shoulder and lower back instead. The arm health benefit only materializes when the whole kinetic chain adapts, not just the arm.
Best pitches from the submarine slot
Sinker / Two-seam fastball
The bread-and-butter pitch for submarine pitchers. The low arm slot naturally imparts heavy arm-side run and downward sink. Hitters who are late generate weak grounders. Locate it arm-side and down to maximize the movement profile.
Slider / Slurve
Thrown from the low slot, the slider generates sweeping horizontal break rather than the sharp downward tilt from overhand pitchers. It runs away from same-side hitters and serves as the primary put-away pitch for most submarine specialists.
Change-up
Speed differential is harder to generate from the submarine slot, but a firm circle change can still disrupt timing against opposite-side hitters who are already adjusting to the arm angle. Best used selectively rather than as a primary offering.
If you are considering the submarine delivery, work with a pitching coach who can assess whether your natural mechanics support a low slot. Some pitchers transition successfully. Others maintain a low three-quarter slot as a compromise that captures the visual disruption without fully committing to the submarine delivery.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it so hard to hit submarine pitchers?
The ball comes from a release point your brain is not calibrated for. Your visual tracking system needs to completely recalibrate, and this takes time — often more than one at-bat provides.
Do you need to change your stance?
Minor adjustments help. Move slightly up in the box for more time. Open your stance slightly to see the low release point better. Maintain balance while improving your sight line. Getting extra live reps in a batting cage between tournament appearances is one of the fastest ways to recalibrate — find batting cages near you on WhereToHit.
Which side of the plate is easier?
Opposite-side hitters have an advantage. A left-handed hitter against a right-handed submarine pitcher sees the ball coming across their field of vision, which is much easier to track than a same-side matchup.
Adjust to any pitching style
Mind & Muscle builds the visual tracking and pitch recognition skills that make you adaptable against any arm slot, delivery, or pitching style.
Download Free TodayFrequently asked questions
Watch video if available. Even a few clips help your brain start calibrating to the arm slot. During warm-ups, have a coach or teammate throw from a lower angle to simulate the visual.\n\nIn the game, be patient your first time up. Take pitches to calibrate. The information you gather in your first at-bat is more valuable than an aggressive approach against an arm slot you have never seen.
Same-side hitters struggle more because the ball appears to come from behind them, creating a very difficult tracking angle. Opposite-side hitters see the ball coming across their line of sight, which is much more natural.\n\nThis is why many submarine pitchers are used as specialists against same-side hitters, particularly in relief roles. If you are a same-side hitter, expect the matchup to be challenging and commit to your opposite-field approach.
Generally yes. The average submarine pitcher throws 5-10 mph slower than a comparable overhand pitcher because the arm slot generates less downward plane and leverage. This means you have slightly more time to react, which partially offsets the visual difficulty.\n\nThe challenge is that even though the pitch is slower, the unfamiliar trajectory makes it feel faster because your brain takes longer to process the flight path.
Most submarine pitchers feature a sinker or two-seam fastball that has heavy arm-side run and sink. Many also throw a slider or slurve that moves glove-side with sweeping horizontal break. The movement profiles are exaggerated compared to overhand deliveries because the low arm slot creates more horizontal force.\n\nThe sinker is their bread and butter. Expect it to run arm-side and sink. If you can identify and lay off the sinker that runs off the plate, you will get hittable pitches in the zone.
It can be, but only when done correctly. The submarine delivery reduces UCL stress because the arm stays below shoulder level, generating less valgus stress at the elbow. Pitchers who are natural low-slot throwers, or who transition gradually with proper coaching, often report less arm fatigue and fewer elbow issues.\n\nThe risk is forcing the slot. If you drop your arm angle without adjusting your hip and trunk mechanics, you shift stress to the shoulder and lower back instead. The arm health benefit requires the whole kinetic chain to adapt, not just the arm.
Start by working with a pitching coach to assess whether your body mechanics naturally support a low slot. Not every pitcher can or should throw submarine.\n\nIf you are a candidate, the transition usually happens gradually — lowering the arm slot over several months rather than dropping it all at once. Focus on hip drive and trunk tilt first, because those create the platform the arm slot needs. Arm speed and command typically dip initially and return as the new mechanics become natural.
