Change-up

[Hillhouse]

Years back, a pitcher for then defending nationals champion team
Cal State Fullerton named Shelly Mygrid threw an out-standing no spin knuckle ball that would joggle back and forth to the plate.
She was from New Zealand.

Debbie Mygrind.

 

[radness]

Debbie Mygrind.

Good catch!
My goodness lets spell her full name correctly too...
( well it was 35 yrs ago )

Debbie Mygind
Heres a nice article on how slow slow is....

NCAA Softball : Mygind Helps Fullerton to 5-0 Victory

Debbie Mygind, Cal State Fullerton's pitcher, has a changeup that is so slow it seems as if it will never make it to home plate.

www.latimes.com

Seeing it from in the box was like no other pitcher new what a change up was. However really she threw a knuckleball that literally wavered and joggled back and forth left to right, never spinning!
Is it going here, is it going there???
Amazing pitcher!

 

[Vertigo]

My dd used throw a very effective change where she had 3 knuckles on the ball - it worked very well for her up through 18U. She threw it like she threw her drop curve. Since she’ll be playing college ball in 2 years, through advice on here and from her PC, she’s moved away from it. However, it was not due to lack of effectiveness, nor being picked up by batters.

 

[Hillhouse]

Good catch!
My goodness lets spell her full name correctly too...
( well it was 35 yrs ago )

Debbie Mygind
Heres a nice article on how slow slow is....

NCAA Softball : Mygind Helps Fullerton to 5-0 Victory

Debbie Mygind, Cal State Fullerton's pitcher, has a changeup that is so slow it seems as if it will never make it to home plate.

www.latimes.com

Seeing it from in the box was like no other pitcher new what a change up was. However really she threw a knuckleball that literally wavered and joggled back and forth left to right, never spinning!
Is it going here, is it going there???
Amazing pitcher!

RAD, Debbie went on to be the director of pitching for Softball New Zealand. While NZ hasn't made a splash in the women's game since winning the World Championship in 1982, the NZ men are usually one of the tops in the world. Anyway, Debbie and I were part of the same organization during several of my seasons down under. Nice lady.

Bill

 

[Fluid Fastpitch]

I, for one, am only a little ashamed to admit that I've stepped out of the 60mph cage and straight into the slowpitch cage and totally whiffed at the first ball before. It wasn't the spin that made me whiff it.... Try it, lol. An effectively used change up, (if it's a true change up) doesn't matter the spin, imo. Just wouldn't use it back to back pitches. Keep the hitter off balance.

 

[Lozza]

Years back, a pitcher for then defending nationals champion team
Cal State Fullerton

*Edit name Debbie Mygind

Threw an out-standing no spin knuckle ball that would joggle back and forth to the plate.
She was from New Zealand.

isnt that strange. Friend was just telling me about her the other day!

 

[riseball]

We have a 14u pitcher that throws a very good 2 knuckle and 3 knuckle change-up, but the issue that I see that may hurt in the future is that it sometimes doesn't spin.

Thinking that elite hitters may be able to recognize the no spin and determine what the pitch is.

Question Is this something needs to work on to create a little spin or an I over thinking?

If you are building for today a knuckle anything change up is just fine. If you are building for the future it is a waste of time. This nonsense is pretty rare in good college ball.

 

[ArmWhip]

The knuckle grip is often too easy for the hitters to detect. We have seen a couple in travel and once I point it out to my hitters it doesn't work well. If she comes out of the glove it shouldn't be a problem. If you stand behind the backstop and look for it can you see the knuckle grip?

 

[radness]

Remember a pitcher caught for in womans open.
She threw everything slow.
Infact she threw
Slow
Slower
& Slowest

What a hoot aggravating
batters!!
Rilly tight spin too!

The mis-hits had gnarly spin! Took added concentration for the defense and two hands to the ball every play.

One batter bunted. The squirely trail from the ball we joked looked like someone signed their name in the dirt.

Pitching is an art form.
Designed by different abilities!
Glad there are a variety of talent!

 

[robertc3]

In my experience, the knuckle grip is the problem, not the spin or lack there of. The hitters pick up the knuckles in the backswing and know it is coming. The spin and speed are being read at the same time and it is hard to say which will get picked up more quickly. The ball is already in flight and at high levels with high 50s and above velocity the hitter is into their stride sequence before they could read either one. But, if they pick up the knuckles during the backswing or start of the arm circle they will have plenty of time to adjust and hit the change. The nice thing about a handshake/flip/rollover change is that they can get a bit of drop or tail on it to go with the change of speed.