Benefits
What’s in it for you.
The International Knuckleball Academy is the first and only baseball academy devoted exclusively to making your knuckleball impossible to hit.
If you’ve ever fooled around with the knuckleball, you know how tough it is─and how great it can be when you throw it right. We’ll give you the expert training you need to make your knuck a professional-quality pitch every time you unleash it. With a nasty knuckleball in your arsenal, you can get to the next level of your career and beyond.
You don’t have to throw 90-plus miles per hour to consistently dominate the batter. You don’t even have to start out as a pitcher. Tim Wakefield was drafted as a power-hitting first baseman. Charlie Hough grew up dreaming of a career as a Major League third baseman.
After completing our two-week Development Program, you may qualify for a scholarship to our comprehensive Year-long training regimen. The IKA will go all-out to help you succeed. In addition to the intense four-week training camp that begins the year, you’ll benefit from online features, tutorials and demonstrations, interactive support, video evaluations, and additional one-on-one training.
You can be a real part of baseball. Reinvent yourself at the International Knuckleball Academy.
Hitting that thing is like trying to catch a butterfly with tweezers.
– Tim McCarver
Overview. The International Knuckleball Academy provides an integrated, holistic immersion in the art and science of the knuckleball that is designed to turn you into a pro. By the end of the program, your body will be able to [continued here]
The Year-long Program: the IKA’s training schedule and start dates. We give you a comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of knuckleball, including delivery, arm action, release, footwork, rhythm, proprioceptive development, knuckleballer-specific strength training and conditioning training, and mental approach. The IKA staff will assess you quantitatively to ensure that [continued here]
Technology. Key elements of an effective knuckleball are elusive and hard to see and can be even harder to understand. We use advanced and exclusive technology to communicate these elements objectively. Our training features The Contraption, an exclusively designed machine for [continued here]
A Philosophy of Mind. The mound is the loneliest place on earth. You’re out there on an island. Alone. It can feel overwhelming, as if the whole world were against you. Even the strongest pitcher may unravel, may fail to perform as well as he knows he can. This is why the International Knuckleball Academy focuses on [continued here]
Frequently asked questions. How long does the Academy run? What are the dates of upcoming training sessions? Where do students live and eat? How do I get to the IKA? Who developed the training regimen? Who are the instructors? What does a typical day look like? What are my chances of [continued here]
Knuckleball History. Who threw the first knuckleball? Although its origins are a bit hazy, baseball historians generally credit either Toad Ramsey of the Louisville Colonels or Eddie Cicotte of the Chicago White Sox for inventing the pitch somewhere around the turn of the twentieth century. Over the years, pitchers have used a wide range of grips, release points and other methods of minimizing or eliminating spin and thus causing the [continued here]
Program Director Chris Nowlin threw his first competitive pitch in a professional game at the age of 25, and for the last six seasons he has played professionally in the U.S. and abroad ─ without ever having played baseball in high school or college. He was able to do this because he [continued here]