Backhand flip change up

[mosftballdad]

This is the only change up my DD knows. She loves the pitch when it works as "it makes them look stupid" (she gets that from her mother...lol). She will be 13 soon and the trouble she has is on the arm position at release. She will typically come through with a straighter arm rather than a slightly bent arm. Her PC works with her and has isolated that portion of the mechanic but it is inconsistent when pitching full speed. Has anyone come across a drill that will help her on this issue? Once she gets this to be natural she will have a nice set up or strike pitch to go with her other movement pitches and fastball.

 

[joeman39]

I have to ask... she is 12 and soon to be 13... how many movement pitches does she have? Do you have a video of her throwing the flip?

 

[starsnuffer]

Sometimes, if you tell them to imagine the ball like a yo-yo, and that there is a string attached from the ball to their middle finger. Tell them they need to "pull the string" to get the ball to come back and slow down like a yo-yo. This works 9 out of 10 times. This is usually the changeup I teach to new or rec students and they pick it up pretty quick.

-W

 

[JAD]

My DD has always had trouble throwing a true backhand flip, so we developed a modified change up where she throws it out of the side of her hand instead of as a straight backhand. It really cut down on the number of wild pitches she threw over the catchers head by holding onto the ball too long. A true backhand will take more speed off the pitch, but DD can still throw the sidehand changeup 8-10MPH slower than her fastball, so it is effective and she does not have the problem of slowing down her motion like she did with the backhand change. The sidehand flip also has a natural right to left movement like a drop/curve, so there is less chance DD will hang it in the middle of the plate.

 

[mosftballdad]

She throws a good screwball, a curveball (when she gets under it) and a rise ball. She has used a yo-yo in the past as a training tool but I didn't see much of a difference. Her main problem is getting a little bend in her arm when she comes through. She tends to keep a straight arm which causes her to release high and sail it over the catcher's head.

I love this pitch for her. Her coached clocked her a couple of weeks ago using the revfire(?) ball that measures speed and spin. Her fastball was 52 and her cu was 32. Unfortunately I do not have a video of her throwing it.