Baseball Pitches - Change Up

Most younger pitchers rely solely on their fastball to get hitters out, but even at younger ages, the hitters will eventually time it and begin launching rockets into the outfield.

The hitters, whether they realize it or not, are using anticipation to trigger their swing. They know it’s going to be a fastball so they start their swing earlier.

The Great Equalizer for keeping a hitter honest & guessing is for the pitcher to learn to throw an off speed pitch. Everything about a properly thrown Off speed pitch is identical to a fastball, from the delivery to the spin on the baseball.

BUT …the speed is considerably slower which will have the hitter way out in front of the pitch and off balance. Once you show them you throw an Off Speed pitch and they have nearly cork screwed themselves into the ground swinging and missing it, you’ll stop them from being able to anticipate a fastball.

As an added bonus, this slight hesitation on their part makes your fastball seem even faster than it really is.--Baseball Pitches

Viewing the baseball from the side, you’ll see the thumb and forefinger touching tips forming a circle … thus the name.

If that’s not comfortable, or your hands are too small, the same effect can be created by holding the thumb and forefinger in a circle position on top of the ball.-- Baseball Pitches

The Middle, Ring and Pinky fingers grip the baseball on the top. Depending on how you hold the ball’s seams will control the movement of the ball.

Remember, your arm action and speed is identical to your fastball delivery. Any variation of arm speed is a Red Flag to the hitter an off speed pitch is coming. Once you become comfortable with the grip you can experiment on producing more movement on the pitch.

By varying pressure or by turning and holding the ball ¾ either way, you can make the ball to sink down away from a hitter, making hitting the pitch just that more difficult.--- Baseball Pitches

I always taught my pitchers the changeup along with the fastball, regardless of age, as the pitch does not produce any ill affects on the arm. For the most part the fastball was thrown with better control than their off speed pitches, but like I told my pitchers…

”You don’t have to throw it for a strike.” The fact they see it is enough to get their mind to churning.

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