scatter-armed

[ skat-er-ahrmd ]

adjective

, Sports.

1. having poor control of the ball in a game in which throwing a ball is part of the play; tending to throw a ball outside its intended path:

   scatter-armed pitchers;

   a strong but scatter-armed quarterback.

Word History and Origins

Origin of scatter-armed¹

First recorded in 1980–85; scatter ( def ) + armed ¹( def )

Example Sentences

In the field he won nine Gold Glove awards, and was terrific on sharp ground balls and exculpating scatter-armed infielders like Steve Sax and Alvaro Espinosa from God-knows-how-many throwing errors.

From New York Times

His fielding was worse — fans behind first base would start ducking when balls bounced to him, afraid the scatter-armed shortstop would zing another throw into the seats.

From Washington Post

His fielding was worse - fans behind first base would start ducking when balls bounced to him, afraid the scatter-armed shortstop would zing another throw into the seats.

From Seattle Times

"No scatter-armed outfielder will ever hit the cutoff, no matter how much you tell him where to throw the ball."

From Time Magazine Archive