Change up advice

[Axe]

It's usually in the dirt, every now and then it might float in for a strike. Those rarely get swung at because the batters look mesmerized. My daughter doesn't pitch TB, just Rec and All-Stars.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I have my little girls take a laundry basket full of old softballs home with them. Their assignment is to throw each of the balls, using a change up, into the laundry basket. Start at a shorter distance until you are having some success and then, move back. Good luck. It will come, eventually.

A lot of pitchers want this stuff to work, the first time I show them. That rarely happens. They don't want to believe that it can take months of practice. (I tell them it is just like piano lessons.)

 

[starsnuffer]

Keep it low and outside on a RHB. Ideally you'll want to hit the corner for a strike, but it's better to miss low/outside for a ball then to put it over the middle.

Remember, with rec ball, you have a lot of kids just waiting for that "slow pitch" to hit. The pitcher needs to use their best/fastest stuff for the BOTTOM of the order here. The changeup will fool the kids who know how to hit, but make hitters out of the kids that have no idea what they're doing.

-W

 

[Axe]

In Rec games, we mostly save the change up for the aggressive swingers who are getting out in front on her fastball. Bad hitters get a steady diet of inside fastballs.

 

[ConorMacleod]

My 10 yo DD throws a circle change. Will she be able to throw that with the 12" ball come 12U? I hope so, because it is a devestating pitch. Her arm circle speed has to remain the same, otherwise it is easy to detect. Still not easy to hit though. In practice she will tell her 11 yo sister that the change up is coming, and her sister still has trouble hitting it. She takes an abbreviated stride, and an abbreviated follow through (pretty much like reaching out her hand to shake hands with someone). Her PC wants her to always try and place it over the outside corner, just on the other side of the plate. The pitch, when thrown correctly, is on a line like the fastball, but is slower and dies (drops) right at the plate due to the slower speed. Her PC wants it thrown 10-12 mph slower than her fastball. She has to be able to throw it for a strike, as you can't rely on every hitter swinging through it, or at it at all. I can only recall her circle change getting hit hard once, and that was a hanging change about belt high, middle of the plate, to a good hitter, hit for a double. Most girls look silly swinging way out in front of it, or hit it off the end of their bat for a very weak ground out. I absolutely love the circle change up. And in our area, at 10U, there aren't many girls throwing a change up.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Very nice post Conor. I want the CU thrown to almost every batter in rec ball. Do I ever get a coach to do that? No. Why? Well, someone might hit it.

That is what you have the other 8 players for. Two of my best pitchers were in LL 3 years. I couldn't get the parents on board that they should throw the CU. They are now 8th graders and still have problems with the CU. Learn it early and I think that it comes easier.

 

[mosftballdad]

My DD (first yr 14) throws the flip change and it is very effective against any hitter. She tries to keep it low and outside with the emphasis being low. It will drop as it reaches the plate so most batters swing over the top of it or hit an easy grounder. The key for her is the keep the arm speed the same and have an agressive "snap" flip as a finish. Her PC has her bent over more and over her front foot more (as opposed to being more upright) than most girls do which allows it to be a little lower. She will throw it 18-20 mph slower than her fastball and most girls can't hold up on it.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Why doesn't anyone want to throw the change on/off the inside corner? An inside change that misses over the plate goes just as far as an outside change that misses over the plate! Stop giving away half the plate and limiting your pitch sequence possibilities!

 

[Perfect Circle]

While that sounds good in theory unless you are specifically practicing hitting the changeup at 11 it just doesn't happen. Our strategy on the good hitters (typically the three or the four hitter) is to throw first pitch changeups. I have never had one of those hitters hit it for an extra base hit.

My uneducated theory is that if the change up wasn't coming in with a slight arch it would be easier to hit. Take a travel ball player and put her in a rec game and see how well she hits her first few at bats when the fastballs are slow and arching. It makes them look silly until (if) they adjust.

Just my humble observations.

Here you go, here is DD back in rec, when she was the CU lol. DD is pitching was a 3rd grade pitcher against a 5th grade Dual rec. TB pitcher batting...Hang in there its 4 min...and it looks like it stops but it don't.

 

[FrozenRope]

Why doesn't anyone want to throw the change on/off the inside corner? An inside change that misses over the plate goes just as far as an outside change that misses over the plate! Stop giving away half the plate and limiting your pitch sequence possibilities!

An inside change to a decent hitter is that screaming line drive that bounces six inches inside the left field foul line for an extra base hit. I've honeslty never heard of targeting a change to the inside half of the plate. It takes away the advantage of what the pitch is designed to do, which is get the hitter ahead of the ball. Slightly ahead of an outside pitch = swing and miss or off the end of the bat. Out in front of an inside pitch = dead pull down the line.