Only if I really like the batter.
change up locations.
- Thread starter humpty
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Boy, a change-up up the middle better look like a fastball in terms of the pitcher selling it with her motions. And, it better fall right off the table just before crossing the plate.
Yes, but not very often and not in the strike zone. Middle and below the knees/bounce one in the dirt to a really aggressive swinger (we have the catcher to handle it). I might have called it twice last year when we had an ump that was only giving us middle of the plate/thigh high and other team wasn't swinging at anything that wasn't there.
My DD hasn't got got good enough control with her CU to hit her spots all the time. We stress keep it low 1st and foremost. Her CU has a bit of tail and drop when she keeps it low in the zone, but is flat as a pancake when up in the zone.
I'm not as big a fan of outside change ups for one basic reason. We all know that inside balls are hit early and outside balls are hit deep into the plate. Meaning outside pitches give the hitter a fraction more time to adjust. If its a slow pitch that's outside, the batter will have the most amount of time to potentially readjust and connect square. For that reason we try to stay inside and low. This location will predominately produce weak ground balls to ss/3rd if it was hit fair.
- Jan 18, 2011
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I don't think you can make a generalization about where to place a change up other than the "L" or backwards "J". Each individual hitter will be pitched according to their perceived weakness. If they are a good inside ball hitter, I may not through that change up inside. Each batter should be assessed and pitched accordingly, IMHO.
- Feb 7, 2013
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While it's generally a good idea to keep the change-up low and either inside or outside, I have seen successful pitchers throw the c/u to all locations with success especially with less than two strikes. I know several coaches that teach their batters to layoff of c/u's unless they have two strikes (horrible advice by the way). In those cases, you can pretty much throw the change-up anywhere within the strike zone. The other factor is the change of speed difference. Keilani Ricketts has a 70mph drop/curve and a 40mph change-up. Very difficult for the batter to recognize the c/u soon enough to get a solid swing on the pitch and and will frequently be either way early on the swing or will freeze up and not swing. Your c/u needs to be at least 25% less than your fastest pitch to be most effective.
My own experience is that inside change-ups tend to be fouled off more often than outside change-ups that will produce more swing and misses or weak ground balls.
My own experience is that inside change-ups tend to be fouled off more often than outside change-ups that will produce more swing and misses or weak ground balls.
You know, I haven't given this inside change-up all that much merit. Given the explanations given here, I've been wrong! While some of the earlier posts really got me thinking, it wasn't until this post by Rocketech1 that I really got the light-bulb moment. We'll be using a lot more inside change-ups, particularly with the two rise-curve pitcher I have. I see the inside change up greatly complementing that outside rise-curve pitch, especially given the two only have a fastball-drop rather than a real drop-off-the-table drop.
JJsqueeze
Dad, Husband....legend
I don't think there is a bad location for the changeup if it is set up correctly. But I prefer the CU to be either early in the count and thrown inside to get a foul ball or in later counts down and away or down the middle and dropping hard to get a swinging strike. I even like a higher changeup dropping in for a called third strike for girls that are obviously laying off higher stuff. Any way you slice it, watching a changeup be effective is a gas to watch, nothing like watching a batter get completely fooled by a pitch that looks like such a cream puff.
