Change ups
 
I have spent a lot of time talking about pitching, training and coaching.  But as one of my most accomplished pitchers reminded me of, I don’t have any articles about one of the most important pitches a pitcher can have in his arsenal. I will list a few tips on how and why the change up should be the pitch you focus on before spring and summer seasons start.  

My number one reason for perfecting the change up is simple but often overlooked. …. How do hitters practice hitting a change up?  Have you ever thought about that?  Ask yourself how many thousands of balls you have hit off a tee, batting machine or coach.  Have you ever seen a pitching machine throwing change ups? No! You can set it up to match Nolan Ryan’s fast ball or Verlander’s curveball, maybe even Mariano Rivera’s cutter (good luck anyway at hitting that), but there is no way to mimic a change up. How about your travel ball or high school coaches attempt to throw his during batting practice?  I am guessing that it is less than effective.  So, what is my point?  The change up seems to be the one pitch hitters can’t practice hitting until they are in a live game.  This is why I put a lot of emphasis on making it one of your top pitches in your repertoire.  

​Second reason is a change up sets up your fastball.  What I mean here is, with a good change up, hitters have to respect it, which gives you an edge in regards to perceived velocity on your fastball.  Perceived velocity has to do with the reaction time a hitter has to decide what pitch is coming.  If you give him doubt he will be late on your fastball, no matter what the speed.  A hitter with doubt makes your 85 mph look like 88 mph (perceived velocity). This is a big advantage to a pitcher who may not have the blazing heat of a Strasburg.

​So how do you throw one?  It takes lots of practice for one; think of if your father told you every time you picked up a ball when you were little he told you to hold it like a change up.  I bet you would have a pretty good one by now.  Joking aside, my point isn’t your Dad messed your chances of having a Trevor Hoffman change up, but I would want you to think about playing catch more with a change up grip.  This will give you much needed reps.  Another important tip for a good change up is to have a grip that works for you, not necessarily one that works for your pitching coach.  You have to be flexible and try different grips.  Third and the most obvious, is to throw it like your fastball.  Think of it like this, if I am throwing a pitch that is 10 mph slower than my fastball to a guy like Albert Pujols I better make sure he thinks it’s a really hard fastball, because the thought of throwing a pitch to him 10 mph slower and standing about 50 feet away from him doesn’t sound like a good idea.

Check back in for Part two, I will go over in more detail grips and tricks for throwing effective change ups.

Treat your catcher right!

 I want to talk a little about how important having a catcher is to any baseball/softball team.  I’m not talking about what he does in the game.  I’m going to write about the days in between games.  When choosing to be a catcher reveals the true character and dedication it takes to play this position.  Also, I will give you a few important points for pitchers and coach’s to never forget to do when overseeing your pitcher’s bullpens.

 The scorecard might label the pitcher with the number 1 and the catcher number 2, but anyone who has pitched knows you are only as good as your catcher.  This relationship can make or break  a pitcher or coach’s season.   What really gets overlooked though is the amount of underappreciated work that goes on for a catcher to consider himself ready to handle the day to day grind of being a catcher.  Countless hours catching bullpens, blocking balls, rehearsing footwork and throws to all bases and studying his pitchers.  Doing so many throws to second that they could probably do it with their eyes closed.  Most catchers end up staying after practice just to fit in all the extra work it takes to be unnoticed during a game.  Which, is exactly what most catchers will tell you, they want no credit for calling a great game. Like a hero saving someone and telling reporters “I just was doing what I was supposed to do.”  And while most of the team was taking soft toss and hitting in the cages, your catcher was taking a beating in the bullpen because some pitcher wanted to work on his 0-2 slider in the dirt.  Ever look at a catcher’s forearms and you might think twice letting your son go to his next catchers lesson.  So I want to give all you pitchers and coaches a few tips to remember during your next practice.

 PITCHERS

COACHES

Dave Coggin
Owner of Performance Fitness for Athletes

Good luck

Parents, coaches and players……slowwwwww down! If you plan right you will have plenty of time to be ready for the 60.6 mounds and the 90 foot bases and the 395 feet center field wall. High School baseball will not be here right around the corner if you are sitting in 7th and 8th grade, trust me.

I see this all the time in baseball, travel ball coaches and parents worried that the distance will be too big if they don’t start preparing for it early. And on the surface this doesn’t sound like too crazy of an idea. It can be rationalized in different ways by different people. But, there are way too many negatives that I will mention. In an effort not be too lengthy with how much I disagree with this, I will simply list reason why you should take your time before heading to that 60/90 foot tourney.

• Have you ever seen a 7th and 8th grader playing on a major league distance field? Outfielders should be called back up infielders, they have to play so close to the infielder because rarely will anyone hit it deep enough to play at regular distances. First time I saw a 60/90 foot game I watched a ball thrown by the pitcher that had an arc on it, the hitter waited and waited and waited and then hit the ball down the third base line. Third baseman fielded it and threw a 12 hopper to first, which the first baseman picked up the ball with his bare hand. All of this and the batter was thrown out by a step. How’s that for a bang bang play. I turned to the parent next to me and said “this is supposed to get them ready for high school.
• Tying into the first one, but I will separate it anyway. If you think that playing or practicing on a larger field gets you better, I tell you, go watch a college softball game or a good high school softball team play. The speed and accuracy of a softball game is truly only appreciated if you see It in person. I firmly believe the longer you can play on a smaller field the more fundamentally sound you have to play. As kids get stronger and faster, the pressure to make good pitches or clean fielding becomes more important. Again, if planed right you will have plenty of time to get on the larger field.
• Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Of course there are always going to be the exception to the rule as it goes to maturity and size. We all know that kid who is taller,stronger and faster than everyone else. But, this can be a curse. Coaches often rely on them to pick up the slack for everyone else. Often times weaker pitchers get knocked out of games earlier, so coach usually calls on the stud of the team. When this happens, that player never says no (who does) and it is often too late before they complain about pain and get injured. One example happened recently that completely blows my mind. A well respected coach took an 8 th grader and because he is the strongest kid on the team, despite his age, had him throw four times in four games at 60 foot distance, that’s 2 innings in game 1, 2 innings in game 2, the next day 2 more innings in game 3 (despite him telling a teammate he was not feeling right), he still pitched 3 more innings in the final game. This is crazy on so many levels. Think of it this way, MLB pitchers are mature strong specialized athletes and they have to take two days off minimum if they throw only 3 innings. This kid has bones and tendons and muscles that haven’t even fused, and he is being put under more stress than a big leaguer.
• More games, more standing around. Let’s face it baseball can be incredibly boring, why? Because if you’re not the pitcher and catcher, there is a lot of standing around waiting for 2 or 3 balls to come to you. The worst thing you can do is try and get on more teams to play more games. Watch a MLB spring training game and you will see the starters get a couple at bats, then head to the back fields and take hours of ground balls or swings in the cage. As you can see the value is in individual or team practicing.
• Injuries, injuries, injuries! Don’t think so, just ask around your team and see who has lost time do to some kind of shoulder/back/elbow pain. I bet it is more than half. Distance causes fatigue, fatigue causes bad mechanics this causes injuries. When you pitch at longer distances, fatigue happens fast and mechanics fail. This is when injuries happen. The tricky thing is, most of the time you won’t feel the pain until it is too late, baseball injuries are repetitive injuries and pain comes well after you stopped pitching a ton of innings. THAT IS FACT!
• Timing! High school season doesn’t start for a year, sometimes more! Look at a picture from a year ago at your son and you probably barely recognize him. Training and practicing should be a higher priority than games, as mentioned before. Cuts don’t happen till October, and if you started playing 60/90 during the summer before you enter high school you will have plenty of time to get adjusted. And for those of you that hear the pressure of High School coaches hosting summer camps to have freshman make the team, I say go tryout for football and save your $$$ because that’s the only reason for those camps.

I hope this helps, I am sure I left out some other things on my mind, but I can always add another number

• Long toss for at least 8 minutes before your start.  Extend out to a distance at least past the cut out of second base area or shortstop area depending on what foul line you are throwing from.
• Make sure, no matter what pitch you are gripping that your middle finger and thumb dissect the equator of the ball.  Meaning if you draw a line from middle finger to thumb there would be half the ball above and half the ball below.  This gives you the best control of the ball and will make it easier to hit your spots and throw effectively.
• If your hands are very dry and you are having trouble griping the ball, try wiping the sweat from the back of your neck, it’s usually a good spot to find moisture.  If you can’t sweat, than try rubbing shaving cream on your hands.  A little shaving cream in dry conditions can provide a tacky feeling and better grip.

• If you have a great move to first, never use it the first time a runner gets on base.  Or never use your best move on the slowest runner.  Set base runners up with a “B” move, then when they have extended their lead you can use your “A” move to pick them off.
• This goes along with “9” if you are using your “B” move, don’t step behind the rubber and throw over, any good base runner or coach knows that wasn’t your best pickoff move.  The idea of a “B” move is to fool the runner and coach into thinking that it is the best you got.  Think fast feet and hard throw, but just make all the moves bigger and more exaggerated.  After you have them believing that was all you got, you simply make your moves smaller and crisp. But do not forget, never put more importance on the baserunner than the hitter, remember hitters have the bat in their hands they are way more dangerous.  If you pay more attention to the runner you are going to serve up a “cookie” to the hitter and now you are in way bigger trouble.

• No jacket on a cold day?  Wrap a towel around your arm or elbow to stay warm.
• If you are not starting that day, and may be used out of the bullpen, then have a sense of when you might be used.  Anticipate how the game is evolving, stay ready by paying attention to what hitters are struggling with and keep loose.  Stretching and moving around is a good idea, especially when you start to see your starter struggling or his pitch count is getting higher.  Don’t wait for the coach to say get loose.
• Watch what hitters are having trouble with; this could be done during the game or even during pre game batting practice.
• Make base runners stop!  Base runners like to have a little momentum when they are going to steal a base.  Ricky Henderson made this famous.
• When you get to a field take a walk around the mound and get a feel for it.  Check the background, slope, and the area around the mound, high choppers behind or around the mound may be tricky if you don’t know how steep the mound is behind it.  Take a couple practice throws without the baseball, this allows you to visualize your pitches.

• When having trouble with your change up, try “tracking it” with your eyes.  This means, really stay with the flight of the pitch, from release to catcher’s glove.  This will keep you on your pitch making it hard to pull off or spin off.
• Hitters standing off the plate may look like they can’t hit the outside pitch, but often hitter will do this because they have trouble hitting the inside pitch and want to dive into the outside pitch.  It holds true for hitters right on the plate, in this case they are enticing you to throw inside, but these hitters will likely open up and hit those inside pitches.  Pay attention to what hitters are doing when they swing.
• Let coaches and catchers know what pitches feel good to you every inning.  Sometimes your best pitch from game to game or even inning to inning changes.  Coaches and catchers can’t read your mind, so let them know if a certain pitch feels better.
• Use a small glove for better control; heavy gloves tend to make it difficult to repeat your front side motion, which will throw off your release point as well.

• Set goal before you pitch, this will give you something to work towards and keep you focused.  Example; First pitch strikes. Ground ball outs.  Number of pitches per inning.  Putting a “0” on the score board after your team has scored.
• Not sure if this works, but I had a coach tell me to put the rosin bag on top of the mound so it was in the view of the hitter, he said it might create a small distraction that the hitter is not used to seeing.  Some umpires will catch this and ask you to move it to the back of the mound.  Any advantage is worth trying!
• Never think that your pregame bullpen will dictate how you will perform in the game.  Some of the best games you will have sometimes start with some of the worst bullpens.  Trust me!

“Weight training is incredible important to the advancement of any athlete, but I sometimes run into people who still have a perception that weight training will cause baseball players to get too tight and increase risk for injuries.  this is so far from the truth, never has their been any research done stating that weight training causes harm to young athletes. On the other hand there are countless studies showing the positive effects of weight training.  In a controlled environment such as PFA we take all the steps insuring that are athletes are doing the proper exercises and techniques.  But don’t take my word for it, take a look at the link from Eric Cressey.  Eric is the top baseball mind around, and is a strength/condition coach who works with some of the best baseball players in the world.  His work is sought after by MLB players and trainers throughout professional baseball and speaks all around the country at fitness seminars.”

Originally featured at www.ericcressey.com

Dave Coggin