The change-up could be a pitcher’s best friend for the entirety of their career. It’s arguably the easiest secondary pitch to learn and execute. This is because the pitcher relies on the grip and natural arm action to execute, instead of cutting or spinning the ball purposely for movement. Maybe you’ve heard someone say, “Trust the grip! Throw it like your fastball!” Well, that’s the truth. Your arm naturally pronates when you throw the ball. When that happens the thumb side of your hand turns downward as you are releasing the ball, usually right after release. Here is an example of my change-up.
I call it a two seam change-up because in my grip, I have my middle finger and ring finger crossing the two seams. You might feel more comfortable holding a circle- change, or a straight-change, or even a split-change. Your hand size and finger length is unique to you, and your change-up grip should be comfortable in your hand.
Here are some examples of different change-up grips.
An adjustment you need to make from a fastball grip to a change-up grip is taking your pointer finger and middle finger and sliding them to the inside part of the ball. Having these fingers off the ball (the ones that are usually used to throw a fastball) will immediately take velocity off the ball because those fingers aren’t able to apply direct force behind the ball when you throw it. That is where the name change-up comes from. It is the change in speed from your fastball. There are some rare occasions when guys throw their change-ups at similar speeds to their fastballs. If this is the case for you, you should tinker with different grips and try to maximize movement or decrease the spin on your ball.
The depth in your hand also affects velocity and spin on the ball. Usually, pitchers will have the ball resting against the base of the finger pads, where their fingers connect to their hand. You don’t have to do this! Remember your hand is unique to you, find a grip that is comfortable for you.
Now, the more you split your fingers around the ball, like a split-change or a vulcan-change, the easier it is to take spin off the ball. I won’t go into spin too much here, but there are plenty of different YouTube videos on Magnus effect of baseball flight. When you have time, go have some fun learning on the internet about the physics of a baseball.
Spin on the ball is always going to affect how the ball will move as it travels in the air. The biggest impact you’ll have on movement of your own change-up will be your arm slot. Over the top arm action will have more downward movement, 3/4 arm slot will have downward and sideways movement, and side arm will have more sideways movement. What kind of arm action do you have?
So how do you practice throwing your change-up? Obviously... you go play catch with it. After your arm is warmed up, spend some time while playing catch throwing your change-up to your throwing partner. Practice getting comfortable with your grip and throwing the ball where you want to. Move your fingers off the side of the ball more, split your middle and ring fingers, put the ball deep in your hand, hold the ball really loosely, relax your wrist when you throw, tighten your grip, change the seam orientation (two seam, four seam, one seam)...experiment and get feedback from your throwing partner. Have someone with a slo-motion feature on their phone or camera stand right behind you and record the ball coming out of your hand. Watch and see which finger touches the ball last and how the ball is spinning. Usually the middle finger is the culprit but some guys get different results.
Playing catch with your pitches will help with “feel,” your fingertips send feedback to your brain about release point, feel of the ball in your hand, trajectory of the ball... all very important things when you are playing in a game and having to focus on different things while competing. Comfort with the grip will transition the pitch to the mound a lot faster than just experimenting in a bullpen session solely. Even when not throwing, hold a baseball and move it around in your hand to different grips without looking at it. This reinforces the connection you have with the feel of the ball, something important when you’re standing on the mound competing to be your best.
Lastly, when executing your change-up, target the bottom of the zone or below. This will help you deceive the hitter because of the ball’s trajectory coming towards the plate. It will look like a fastball longer but the velocity difference will change the timing for the hitter. Depending on your movement, it will force the hitter to try to adjust their body and ultimately cause them to swing out of a weaker position.
Hopefully this summary was helpful! Now go add a change-up and make some hitters look foolish out there... Added bonus: when hitters know you have a good change-up, they have to respect it. This takes some attention off your fastball. Check out one of the greatest closers of all time, Trevor Hoffman.
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