Best way to set up a change up

[Mike]

Our #1 pitcher (first year 12-u) is above average speed with pretty good control and has a really good change. 2 tournies ago we threw it early and often against good hitting with good results. Last weekend it seemed everytime we threw it they drilled it so we shyed away from it a bit. What is your preferred way to set it up. If RH batters are fouling to the right side on fastballs a change is probably a bad idea right?

gearing towards getting the pitcher and catcher to call some games but Im still novice myself.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[ctfastpitch]

Our #1 pitcher (first year 12-u) is above average speed with pretty good control and has a really good change. 2 tournies ago we threw it early and often against good hitting with good results. Last weekend it seemed everytime we threw it they drilled it so we shyed away from it a bit. What is your preferred way to set it up. If RH batters are fouling to the right side on fastballs a change is probably a bad idea right?

gearing towards getting the pitcher and catcher to call some games but Im still novice myself.

Thanks,
Mike

Obviously if the other team is having a hard time catching up to her FB, then don't help them out by slowing it down for them (unless the speed differential is really big). The CU works best against better hitters because it throws their timing off. That is probably why it was more effective in the previous tournament.

A few things to keep in mind when you do use it:

• Make sure you and/or your pitcher is not giving it away. Better teams will either pick up the sign, or recognize a difference in her delivery, and be waiting on it.
• Don't become predictable with it. Don't wait till it's 0-2 or 1-2 to call it. Show it to them early, even if it is a waste pitch, to get them thinking about it. (you can use it to set up the FB)
• If she can throw it for a strike, and has enough confidence to throw it on a 3-ball count, that's a great weapon.
• Any time it looks like they are timing her FB (3 or 4 consecutive foul balls), its a good time to mix it in
• Don't be afraid to call it on consecutive pitches. Most batters, after they see it, won't expect to see it on the next pitch

All of this assumes that she hides it well.

 

[Mike]

Obviously if the other team is having a hard time catching up to her FB, then don't help them out by slowing it down for them

learned that one the hard way..... a couple of times, my bad.

We have thrown it 2 to 3 times in a row on occasion followed by a fastball. She has alot of confidence in it.

She does have a slight tell that hitters are not picking up on yet. I don't want to change anything now, I would rather wait until after season so as not to mess her up.

Thanks for the advice

 

[Jojo]

Since her speed is good, I would just use it sparingly the first time or two through the line up, as a waste or to a good hitter. Just to let them know she has it.

Using it "early and often" allows the hitters to wait for the change and use that pitch to put into play, especially if there is a slight tip off.

Then in the later innings you can use it a little more. Just be totally unpredictable about it.

 

[sluggers]

Last weekend it seemed everytime we threw it they drilled it so we shyed away from it a bit.

She is probably giving the pitch away. Look very closely at how she prepares for the pitch as compared to a fastball. Is she taking less time "fiddling around in her mitt" on a fastball as opposed to a changeup?

As far as using it in a game:

A pitcher has to throw the pitch early in the game. However, she doesn't have to throw it so it is hittable.

As to "shying away from the pitch"--Are you going to stop throwing a fastball because the other team hits it? Good teams will hit every pitch a pitcher can throw.

 

[cshilt]

She does have a slight tell that hitters are not picking up on yet. I don't want to change anything now, I would rather wait until after season so as not to mess her up.

Don't underestimate the hitters, their coaches, or your pitcher. The hitters and their coaches may very well be picking up on her tell and using that against her. I have told the players in my dugout when I find a tell. Also, your pitcher has to make adjustments all the time. Eliminating a tell may be a very simple thing for her to do. If not she can always go back to doing it her old way and work on it in the off-season.

 

[jofus13]

My DD has become pretty good at picking up on changeups, by watching the pitcher setting her grip, etc. Obviously some are worse than others about this, but it happens a lot. Plus, some pitchers throw "bad" changeups, that is, their arm slows down, or whatever, letting the batter know what is coming. Just a couple things to keep an eye on. Even if she fixes her grip in her glove, but takes a little longer on changeups than any other pitch, this can tip coaches/batters.

It amazes me how many coaches call changeups when a girl was just late on a fastball. I even have my wife noticing how often it happens now, she's heard me comment on it so many times.

Conversely, IMHO, if a girl is ahead on a fastball, especially if she hits it hard and pulls it foul, she should know that if the pitcher has any changeup at all, she may very well see it on the next pitch. We were working on making my DD's swing quicker last summer, so she was ahead of a lot of stuff, and saw a lot of changeups. Sadly, even though she knew they were coming (I even told her one time, "you know what's coming", the other coach looked at me, called it anyway, and she still missed it), she didn't hit as many of them hard as I would like.

My favorite time to call a changeup is when a batter fouls a pitch straight back. That means that they are right on your pitch, timing wise, and it seems not as many expect it then as if they just hit one into the third base dugout.

 

[Mike]

As to "shying away from the pitch"--Are you going to stop throwing a fastball because the other team hits it? Good teams will hit every pitch a pitcher can throw.

True

Don't underestimate the hitters, their coaches, or your pitcher. The hitters and their coaches may very well be picking up on her tell and using that against her.

Ya, I guess they are not going to come tell me they picked up on it. LOL. 1 tell is a little slower arm which she is getting better at. #2 is she cups the ball and you can see it when she comes forward. We are a first year upper level B, and there were mostly A teams last weekend. We will start working on tell #2 now a little at a time and hit it hard in the off season.

 

[Jojo]

We were working on making my DD's swing quicker last summer, so she was ahead of a lot of stuff, and saw a lot of changeups. Sadly, even though she knew they were coming (I even told her one time, "you know what's coming", the other coach looked at me, called it anyway, and she still missed it), she didn't hit as many of them hard as I would like.

We used to belong to a pretty good elite team (18u) that always made it into the final 4 in tournies. We had a team rule, no late games on Sunday nights before a Monday school day.
Whenever it became apparent we would end up playing late, we would put in our #3 pitcher and begin to shout out the pitches. We would have quite a bit of fun heckling the other coaches whenever we would call out change-up and the hitters would still miss it, especially when we would call it 2-3 times in a row.
You'd be surprised how many games we still won calling the pitches out loud. We would turn our bracket spot over to them anyway after the game.

 

[halskinner]

Are you certain the other team is not picking up on the signals and giving audible signals to their hitters, in code??? Like yelling 'Cmon Suzie" when her name is Sally??