No Need to Paint the Corners with a Changeup

[Ken Krause]

Recently my friend and fellow pitching coach Linda Lensch, head coach of the NJ Ruthless 16U-Lensch team and owner of Greased Lightning Fastpitch High Performance Instruction LLC attended an online presentation by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). The topic was new technology that is changing the game. Linda was kind enough to share the […]

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[Towny9]

This is pretty much what I tell baseball and softball pitchers with the change-up. You’re pretty much good if you throw it at the right time and just don’t leave it up.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

Recently my friend and fellow pitching coach Linda Lensch, head coach of the NJ Ruthless 16U-Lensch team and owner of Greased Lightning Fastpitch High Performance Instruction LLC attended an online presentation by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). The topic was new technology that is changing the game. Linda was kind enough to share the […]

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Sources? I mean if you're going to post something like that at least cite the data.

 

[Hillhouse]

One specific piece that I disagreed with in the article was in regard to when the change up is thrown.

For me, the change was thrown when you KNEW with all your heart and soul that this pitch is when the batter would swing. It's very much a cat and mouse game. How do you know when they'll swing? Well that's the mystery. And never forget, good hitters can bait the change up by showing over-aggression, pulling the ball with a long foul ball, or swinging wildly at a pitch (usually just the first pitch of the at bat), etc. I don't feel it's a pitch thrown when trying to induce a swing, I think it's when the inducement has already been established.

That said, I don't totally disagree with the premise. When a batter is fooled by the pitch, it usually doesn't matter too too much about it's location. But I'm a firm believer in throwing the change low in the zone. In fact, I encourage my students to purposely throw it for a ball. Bounce it to the catcher. If the hitter is going to swing, they will swing without much matter of where the ball is thrown. However, the higher it is, the easier it is to keep the hitter to keep the hands back, recoil and punch it over the 2nd baseman's head.

 

[Ken Krause]

Sources? I mean if you're going to post something like that at least cite the data.

The source is in there. It was from a presentation by Troy Cameron using stats from 5 D1 schools in 2021. The data was tracked using YakkerTech technology. This is all in the second paragraph of the article.

 

[The Man In Blue]

The source is in there. It was from a presentation by Troy Cameron using stats from 5 D1 schools in 2021. The data was tracked using YakkerTech technology. This is all in the second paragraph of the article.

*biting my tongue on a political joke/statement*



I think all of the data you present goes back to a basic point that has been made many times: learn to throw a strike first. Then learn to throw pitches. Then you can try to get fancy. Fancy doesn't matter if you can't hit the zone in the first place.