The Changeup

Pitchers, the Change up should be a major part of your arsenal! The Changeup must be thrown more often if you want to advance to the next level!

Hitters work almost exclusively on hitting the fastball. When have you ever seen a hitter work on hitting a Changeup? They're in the cage hitting fastballs! Hitters are taught from an early age to look fastball. They go up to the plate looking for a fastball. Believe me, hitters do not want anything to do with a Changeup! Good Changeups are hard for the hitter to detect

The art of pitching is messing with the hitter's timeing. There's no better pitch than a well located Changeup out of the same arm slot and with the same arm speed as your fastball with an 8 - 10 mph differential. You'll usually get the hitter out on his front foot, he'll roll his wrists over and hit a weak ground ball or often merely swing and miss!

Many young pitchers take a fancey to the curve ball at the expense and neglect of developing the Changeup. There's nothing wrong with throwing a curve ball (at the proper age), but is usually results in the Changeup taking a back seat.

The Changeup is more deceptive than the curve ball because it's rotation is similar to the fastball's while the curve ball has downward spin and more easily recognized by experienced hitters and again, hitters look for fast balls and good hitters lay off curve balls untill they get two strikes. Throw the Changeup early in the game. By showing a hitter your Change early in the game, you plant a seed in the hitter's mind and it gives him something else to think about. It's also good to double up on your Changeup, this shows the hitter that you'll throw it any time and you'll even double up on it.

One of the most ideal times to throw the Changeup is on a 3-2 count. Your curve ball will not set up your fastball as well as the Changeup will. A well thrown Changeup is typically more effective than a curve ball or slider because it's more difficult to detect and it's better suited to set up your fastball.

A correctly thrown Changeup is so deceptive to the hitter that if you maintain fastball mechanics, body language and arm action, a hitter will be fooled by an infinite number of straight Changeups!

Remember, the hitter's mind is strongly wired to react to fastballs. If you truly want to dramatically improve your pitching performance, plan on throwing the Changeup more often! Until you come to terms with this concept, you may never realize how good you can be!

By Alan Jaeger