The Change up can be one of the easiest
pitches to learn and throw. And it can also be
one of the most frustrating to learn. Frustration
comes when you are trying for accuracy or change
up speed without first relying on the mechanics
that automaticly perform the task for you. I have
found that, in pitching, the only pitch you have
to really work at is the rise. The drop and
the change are automatic results of correct form.
The way you think about the end result is important.
If you are after accuracy, and other perfection’s
you are going to be frustrated.
If you understand how to accomplish your goal,
and that when learning the change you are not going
to be good with your accuracy, AND that accuracy
is not the bottom line result at first, its a
long term goal. If
you can accept this fact, you are going to do just
fine.
Focusing on the lower arm, what are some of the
mechanics that makes the ball go fast.
You want the motion to look as aggressive and
as similar to your regular motion as possible,
so that pretty much cancels out #1 (slowing down
the arm). And it cancels out anything that will
appear different like in #2 (Making the arm stiff
so there is no whipping action). Bending
over or facing the batter at the release isn't
the best place to be to accommodate the natural
action of the arm. Nor is that posture similar
to your faster pitches. That leaves us with
#5.
There are many ways to do this, and the easiest
way I have found to teach most pitchers is to
turn the hand (not the arm or shoulder) so the
fingers are on the side of, or in front of the
ball. Then release the ball (finger tips first)
and let the whipping action of the arm accelerate
the hand away from the ball.
Problems come from
trying to flip the ball to the catcher. To do this
you have to hang on to the ball allowing the acceleration
of the hand, caused by the whipping action,
makes the ball go to fast. Granted some girls
have turned this flipping into an art form, and
do it very well, with an up in the front rotation
on the change that is slow, and defies gravity
with the rise spin. However most girls that try
to flip the ball, trying to pull the string on
it, rather than trying to accelerate the hand
away from the ball, fall short of the mark.
We start off teaching the change up with a series
of drills. Start off with a slow motion arm
circle so the pitcher can focus on what the hand
is doing.
Drill #1, start by having the catcher sitting
on the floor, with the pitcher standing with
their stride foot even with the catcher. The
pitcher has her arm go around at slow motion
speed and release the ball, letting it just drop
out of the hand. The catcher picks up the ball
and hands it back to the catcher. The pitcher
is getting used to the way the hand opens at
release.
The pitcher will try
to drop the ball into the glove of the catcher. This
would be incorrect. Have them just let the ball
go and drop out of the hand.. Don't give them a target.
Drill #2, move the pitcher about 3-5 feet away
from the catcher. Have them go with a little
faster circle and practice releasing the ball
and and focus on the release of the ball, and
not accuracy. Very important.
Trying to hit the target will have them hanging
on to the ball too long and not letting it go.
Consequently the hand will not accelerate away
from the ball.
Drill #3, move the pitcher 10 feet away and have
the arm go around in the circle a little faster.
Have them alternate with a drop, then
a change. This way they will get used to throwing
the change with the same motion as their faster
pitch.
You can find more
about grips on my site as well as more grips
for the change.
Some kids get frustrated because it is difficult
to go against their natural tendencies to go for the
gusto. It's hard (especially with the fingers on the
side or in front of the ball) to let go with wild
abandon. Their natural tendencies are to throw strikes.
When they do this they usually hang on to the ball
too long, release it out front too much, and canceling
the look and or speed of the change. Once they get
used to the idea of the ball may be slowing the point
of falling short (half way there) of the target, they
will be on their way toward success.
or they try too hard turning the shoulder instead
of just the hand. Turning the shoulder facilitates
the out of the back side of the hand change (one of
the one Lisa throws), however is not necessary for
the hand shake or suitcase or whatever you want to
call it change. (Need some consistent terminology
here and every where. Do you agree?).
Do you believe change ups, by nature, must be "imperfect"
or inaccurate?
No, however there is (maybe) going to be some failure
and sometimes when it is hard to be perfect, we quit.
Or the coach doesn't call it and we don't get good
at it. Or the parent doesn't call it enough at practice.
You need to work on the things the pitcher is not
good at, instead of constantly throwing the pitch
she can already throw well.
I personally like change-up to be a strike. Know your
hitters and have the infield signal the outfield to
move (run) to the batters weaker hitting output after
the ball is pitched. I was taught to throw the change
low, however the only hard hit balls off of the change
were low in the strike zone. Probably because I threw
a rise, a change high in the zone froze the batters,
and if they swung, they couldn't get their arms extended
like on the low one. If they were good high I threw
it lower and outside.
Do you find the wrist and finger portion of the
whipping action to be unimportant?
If I have which some may consider a stand out flaw
in my teaching it is the wrist snap. I teach a floppy
loose action of the arm and wrist, helping them
with the whipping action (the transfer of the elbow
from the leading side of the circle, to the trailing
side (just before or during the release)). Consequently
most of my girls learn the wrist snap (I use the
term pushing with the fingers) after they already
have a decent change. I don't recognize the wrist
snap, or driving with the fingers, to be a part
of the whipping action. The whipping action is a
natural action of the arm if you let it run it's
course around in the circle. And driving the ball
out at the release with the sequential exertion
of force by the fingers/wrist/forearm/biceps/shoulder,
is an intentional application of leverage.
In the flip change the instructor tried to get
her to "envision" was "flicking the catcher's mask
off with your fingers".
As you may be able to tell, I am not high on the flip
change. However I like the way your instructor explains
it. He is telling her to do what I would want, getting
the fingers away from the ball, and I am left just
not liking the terminology.
but the release point was a real struggle and the
ball was frequently left high in the zone
Ray, forget about the release point. Yes, there is
a release point, and every pitcher has one, but I
find it of little help when trying to focus on where
it is.
Spend the time developing coordination in the motion
so the motion becomes consistent. (Forget about where
the ball is going. Even if they have to close their
eyes).
When the motion becomes consistent, the ball will
consistently go high, low, inside, or outside. Having
the ball go to the same area CONSISTENTLY is
good because now we can adjust for accuracy.
The ball should be going either high of low if the
arm circle is true, and vertical. The arm out away
from the body will cause it to go inside with very
poor arm action. If the pitcher jerks at the release
it will probably go high, maybe outside.
If the ball is high over the plate, move the thumb
closer to the index finger. This will be a weaker
grip and cause the ball to drop out of the hand sooner
if every thing else remains the same. Weaker grip
low, strong grip high. Worry about too much tension
with the strong grip.
What are your thoughts on trading accuracy for
movement? Are you willing to trade precision for movement?
I insist on accuracy on every pitch. Not always easy
to do, but I still insist on perfection. And like
you mentioned accuracy may be a foot off of the plate.
Mechanics are everything in successful pitching. Mastering
the little things with isolation drills leads to success
in the whole. Doing it fundamentally with the correct
mechanics however, is the rub. There-in lies the debatable
issue. Who is right?
Quite a dilemma.
Just another point of view. You are spot on if you believe that the application of deliberate spin when throwing a change is better. And I would guess that most instructors would agree 100%. There are different grips that will make the change drop curve both ways, and hang. I can only vouch for myself, however I think we were only suggesting that having the correct spin is an advanced skill, and the first priority is to get the ball to go slow with a motion that is aggressive and similar to the other pitches. And yes the rotation always tells you what you are doing with any pitch. But in this case, in the learning stages, it is not important to have spin to realize success on the mound.
Some people believe that longer the ball is in the hand, the slower the pitch will be. That depends. There are more than one way to release a change up. In my opinion, the best change up is when the hand is accelerated away from the ball with the natural whipping action of the arm. When the pitcher hangs on to the ball, and has a good action of the arm, in this case the whipping action pulls the ball through the release quicker, resulting in a faster change.
I don't teach a flip change and there in lie my prejudices. Now I will admit that most of my girls have been brainwashed by me into throwing the peel or lift drop, so the flip change is a different look. As opposed to the look of the turn over drop compared to the flip change.
P. S. Pushing the ball with the thumb with a back hand change will give down in the front rotation. There are easier ways to do it however.