Change-up Help

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Jul 31, 2019
495
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Here is a simple way to teach a change-up. I have thought it a lot and girls catch on quickly. Most good college changes I see are more or less this...even though some believe they are throwing a flip. Picked up the advice by reading how Cory Kluber throws his off-speed curve. Cory DOES NOT CHANGE GRIPS or PRESSURE POINTS. He says he simply pictures racing his fingers to the front of the ball before he releases it.

So here is what I teach:

1. Explain the reason the change-up works is because the fingers that provide speed (pointer and middle) are not behind the ball when you release it. They are beside it.

2. Throw the pitch just like a fastball (Internal Rotation of course) but once you hit brush start to race your fingers around the side to the front of the ball (like Cory).

3. At the bottom just at release your hand will be like a horseshoe facing down.

4. Finish as if your fingers are racing to the front of the ball.

5> Presto! consistent, understandable and a 8 - 12 mph difference.

Note video - This is NOT a flip but might appear so at full speed from a distance.


The video is showing as private. How do I open it?
 
Oct 16, 2020
12
3
Every pitcher is different, what works for one doesn’t always work for another. My 12U DD, started out with the flip change then learned the open hand change and finally the knuckle change. I loved the flip change but noticed she wasn’t as consistent and didn’t have as good of control as the other two. Her pitching coach’s advice was to throw all of them until she found the one that worked best for her. Of course, most of the experimenting was in Little League Rec. SB and Pool Play during Travel games. First to go was the open hand. I really loved the flip, but DD didn’t. After a year or so and many, many backyard practices and conversations, she convinced me she wanted to focus on the knuckle change. Now seeing how much control she has and how well it’s been working, she made the right decision.

One suggestion, if you were to stay with the flip change is to, besides control and accuracy, work on getting the right speed. I’ve seen 2nd Yr 12U girls adjust to the flip if the speed is too slow compared to the fastball. They would reload during the pitch and smack the ball. For my DD around 10 MPH difference, give or take, has worked for her.
 
Sep 29, 2008
1,401
63
Northeast Ohio
I PERSONALLY would highly discourage the flip change. Think of what has to actually happen if you successfully flip the ball. Highly unlikely to do that successfully and if you do the ball is usually way too slow. I watched a college D2 athlete flipping if up there inconsistently over the summer. Almost no one was fooled because adjustment time was so great and when she hit the zone...a lot of times - CRUSH. As I said - Personal opinion but I hate to see young players spend time on it. It's usually just a free ride on the struggle bus. Most bucket dads and moms and weekend coaches would assume this Taran Alvelo pitch is a flip when viewed at regular speed because of her finish...but it is not.

 
Last edited:
Nov 30, 2018
359
43
Marikina, Philippines
16u lefty struggling to develop a consistent change up. Has a good curve and drop but struggling to find any consistency with a change. Currently throwing a flip.

Any advice

Before giving up on the flip, try to add extension. Extend the arm, and straightening the elbow directly at the target, thumb pointed down, pinky up. Try it for a week. If it doesn't help, then perhaps go elsewhere.
This comes back to the "spot-spin" in ice-skating. The arms and legs pull in and speed increases. The elbow bend in the flip does the same thing. The forearm accelerates as the ball is being released. The bend creates a smaller and faster circle at which time the release has to become consistant. So it takes 35 years 🤔 to get the timing down. So take as much of the elbow bend and speed out as is possible. For a RH pitcher the "thumb down" means the back of the hand will face toward 1B.


There are a multitude of change-up options. The problem is the pitching coach knows one way. "My way."
 
Last edited:
Mar 28, 2014
1,081
113
My observation has always been when she is struggling with the pitch it is usually due to her slowing her motion. I always felt that throwing a fastball then a change in that order over and over helped to keep her motion fast. When she would throw 5 or 6 change ups in a row her motion would tend to slow and this caused issues.
This times 1000 ^^^^^^^^^^^^

Do not practice the change up by throwing it back to back to back to back..........

Fastball, change, drop, change, rise, change.

That is how to practice a change up.
 
Last edited:
Feb 3, 2010
5,752
113
Pac NW
Some ideas to try:
-Splash the catcher with a cup of water.
-Draw an eye at the narrows and throw it at the target.
-Brush the thumb.

Look for a spiral spin.

AD44B38B-288B-4627-A2AF-D7C2A855FB35.jpeg

If the above doesn’t work, brush the web (black mark) or the eye on the leg.

If that doesn’t result in a spiral spin, have her throw a few flip changes. Many kids swear they throw an flip, but get the perfect spiral of the horseshoe. If so, explain that in this case, what we think we’re doing isn’t really what’s happening, but the thought gives us the result.

If she actually ends up with a back spinning flip, ask her to try a sideways flip where she flips up the outside of the ball.
 
Jul 31, 2019
495
43
Before giving up on the flip, try to add extension. Extend the arm, and straightening the elbow directly at the target, thumb pointed down, pinky up. Try it for a week. If it doesn't help, then perhaps go elsewhere.
This comes back to the "spot-spin" in ice-skating. The arms and legs pull in and speed increases. The elbow bend in the flip does the same thing. The forearm accelerates as the ball is being released. The bend creates a smaller and faster circle at which time the release has to become consistant. So it takes 35 years 🤔 to get the timing down. So take as much of the elbow bend and speed out as is possible. For a RH pitcher the "thumb down" means the back of the hand will face toward 1B.


There are a multitude of change-up options. The problem is the pitching coach knows one way. "My way."
I always tell my students; "there are 100's of ways to throw a change-up, the only one I like is the one that works"
 
Jul 31, 2019
495
43
Building off of that, a similar idea is to force the hand to get ahead of the elbow at release. In other words, when the elbow leads on the way down, you get the whip into release. If the hand leads, you effectively kill the whip. Then, you can experiment with releasing the ball out the pinky side of the hand or just adding a little spin by pulling across the top of the ball.
Similar thought, I've had success with having pitchers maintain a bend in the elbow through release and not straightening the arm (ball/hand is in front of the elbow)
 

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