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It's been awhile since the last newsletter and I apologize for the delay, but it looks like this is going to be the trend for the next year
or more. As the web site continues to grow it has become increasingly difficult to find the time each month to create the newsletter. Rather than having
to apologize each time I send out a newsletter, I'm going to change to distribution schedule to quarterly which should make it easier for me to deliver a
good newsletter on time. I hope this is just a short term solution and I'll be able to go back to a monthly newsletter in the future.
Until next time and Happy Father's Day to all you Dads.
Don Edlin
QCBaseball.com
"I am intense, no question about it. Every time I toe the rubber, it's no different for me than it was in the World Series. That might be somebody's only chance to see me pitch. They might have driven four hours to get there. I'm going to be out there if I can help it."
--- Roger Clemens
By Dave Hudgens (hitting.com)
Baserunning is one of the most overlooked areas in the game. Players religiously work on their hitting and defense but more often than not once they get on the bases this seems to be an area often neglected. It is the responsibility of the coach not only to teach the fundamentals of baserunning but to also make certain the player concentrates once he gets on base.
Unlike hitting and defense which are both subject to slumps, bad calls, and pressure situations, baserunning is unique in that it is an area in which a player can exercise total command. He has control over his jumps, his reads, the decisions that he makes, and how hard he runs.
Although you always want to have the mindset of being aggressive on the bases, you want this aggressiveness to be under control. You can relate this to hitting. As a hitter I have taught you to be selectively aggressive. As a baserunner, you want to be aggressive under control.
In hitting, you want to think, "swing" at every pitch until you recognize that it is not your pitch. In baserunning, you want to think, "take advantage of every mistake the fielders make and be ready to capitalize on it." You need to know when to be aggressive, when to force plays, and when to play it safe.
This requires the discipline of both players and coaches. The coach must always remind a player of the following:
There are two appropriate times for a coach to teach the whole team:
Each player should run as hard as he is capable of in every situation. By running hard you put yourself in the situation to take advantage of a defensive lapse or a mistake. Players should always be anticipating the defense making a mistake. You can take extra bases without pos-sessing great speed. Good baserunners take extra bases on the defense. The baserunner:
Each player must take pride in his game if he plans to improve as a baserunner. He should have the attitude that he is going to take advantage of every mistake the defense makes.
Many games can be won and lost in this overlooked area and you can add many games to your team's win column with intelligent baserunning.
It is the coach's responsibility to meet with his club before each game to go over the playing environment. These conditions will change during the course of the game. Coaches need to constantly be reminding players of the changing conditions.
Pre-Game and Dugout
Always watch your opponent take outfield & infield practice. Observe:
If an outfielder lays back on a ball in practice, he might do the same thing in the game. If he does lay back on the ball, take an extra base on him. This way you are letting the other team know that you will take advantage of every mistake they make, and every weakness they have.
When reading the throw from an outfielder, get in the habit of reading the first 30 feet of the throw to determine the height of the throw. Many times if the throw misses the cutoff man you can take an extra base. Every extra base you take is one base closer to scoring a run, and every time you take an extra base on a team because of their lack of intensity or a fundamental mis-take they will be demoralized.
When watching infield practice note certain habits of the infielders:
Coaches, make sure you have your team watch infield practice everyday. Your players should have a good idea of what you expect out of them, they should know when you like to hit and run, bunt, steal, etc. Meet with your club and let them know what you except concerning baserunning and how all of you need to work together in order to be successful.
Age Range: 10+
This year I'm coaching a 10-12 year old major team and early in the season I spent most of my time working with the kids on pitching mechanics. Everything was geared toward consistency, increased control, and developing a good fastball. As the season moves along and a pitcher shows he's comfortable with his motion and is pitching with control, I introduce the change-up as a second pitch.
Why a change-up?
Now we have a number of 11 and 12 year old pitchers in our league that throw a curveball and one that even has a pretty good knuckleball. I personally stay away from breaking pitches to protect the arms of my pitchers. There are many sides to the argument about the effects of certain pitches on a young arm. I'm not going to address those issues in this newsletter nor do I feel qualified to do so. Like many of you I have read different points of views on the subject and I tend to error on the side of caution. One thing I do believe is that there's a certain "cool" factor that breaking pitches have over a change-up and fastball that can effect the development of a pitcher. Once a pitcher starts throwing breaking pitches, it's natural for him to want to perfect that pitch. Of course perfecting a breaking pitch can be difficult and many young pitchers will sacrifice the development of arm strength and a good fastball over the fun of throwing breaking pitch after breaking pitch. A change-up has a couple advantages over a breaking pitch for a young pitcher. First, the cool factor isn't quite the same. You must work with your pitcher on developing the pitch; most will not work on it much on their own (until they realize they can get hitters out with it). If they aren't working on their change-up then they're working on their fastball, which is what I want. Second, it's relatively easy to learn and much easier to throw for a strike than a breaking ball.
Can't a change-up hurt a young arm?
Any pitch thrown with improper mechanics can cause arm problems with any player. With a change-up the main danger comes with a player trying to decelerate the arm to slow the ball down. A pitcher is told by a coach that in order to deceive the hitter he must keep the arm motion and arm speed the same as the fastball, yet throw the ball slower. Young pitchers who don't use their wrist well or don't grip the ball out on their finger tips find it difficult to slow the ball down without slowing down their arm speed. Now there are other methods to slow the ball down, such as locking the wrist, but these are often very difficult for a young pitcher to grasp and implement without changing their motion. A common mistake of a young pitcher in trying to keep the arm speed up is to start by trying to keep it the same as the fastball, then at the last instant, throw on the brakes and slow the ball down. This fast deceleration prior to releasing the ball is not natural and not good for the arm. When teaching a change-up it's important that the player realizes that the motion is the same as the fastball, the arm speed must be consistent throughout, and the follow through must be the same also.
Why do young pitchers have a difficult time learning this pitch?
I stated above that a change-up is fairly easy to learn yet a couple of years ago I wouldn't have said that. Many pitchers young and old struggle with learning this pitch. There are a few common reasons for this:
Simple Method for Teaching a Change-up
The method I use now was described in the book "Pitch Like a Pro" by Leo Mazzone - Pitching Coach for the Atlanta Braves. In
his book he describes learning to throw a change-up as "throw a fastball...and put a little extra on it. Now throw a fastball
and don't put the extra (velocity) on it." Combine that with a change in grip that doesn't allow the same velocity as the
fastball and you've got a change-up. Now that's something I can understand and can communicate to my players. The big
difference I've found with most young pitchers is that for control purposes they don't throw a fastball with something extra on
it or they lose control. It's important that they understand what their good fastball feels like. A pitcher that aims the ball
and throws at different speeds in order to just throw strikes isn't going to have that feel. That pitcher when you describe what
a change-up is will most like slow his arm speed down drastically and lob one in there. That's why I wait until the pitcher has
become consistent enough to throw a good fastball before we start working on the change. If he doesn't have the feel for the
fastball, he'll struggle trying to develop a change.
What I like most about teaching the change-up in this way is there is no mention of a change in the delivery other than the grip
on the ball and not trying to overthrow it. A pitcher doesn't have to concentrate on locking his wrist or some other change
midway through his delivery. He can get a grip on the ball and then use the same motion he uses with his fastball, concentrating
on good location and not overthrowing the ball.
The Grip
So how does a pitcher grip a change-up to keep the velocity down? There are many answers to this question and each pitcher should experiment with different grips to see what works for him. In general, pitchers will find that the farther back in the hand the ball is held, the slower it will go. In addition, the farther apart the fingers are spread the slower it will go. You want to take the pressure and force from behind the ball and move it to the sides of the baseball. Think of throwing a forkball as an example. I have never had hands big enough to throw a forkball, but when I try, it goes to the plate slow, no matter how hard I throw it. The key is to come up with a grip that doesn't allow you to throw hard, but still gives you enough feel to control it. Young pitchers have the added disadvantage of small hands that simply don't allow for a big change in grip. Below are a common fastball grip and then a number of other grips that can be used for a change-up.
| Fastball | Circle Change | Split Finger | Palm Ball |
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Notice that the split finger grip really isn't an option for a player with small hands. A circle change or palm ball may be a better grip for a young pitcher. It's important to note that for the palm ball to work the pitcher has to concentrate on keeping the pressure on the side of the ball with the thumb and little finger. One way for a pitcher to get the feel for this is to lift the other 3 fingers off the ball while learning to throw it. You can see an example below. There are a number of pitchers who throw their change-up in games with those fingers off the ball.
Delivery
The delivery of the pitch as described above should be the same as the fastball. For younger pitchers though the change of grip may not be enough to make the pitch effective. For a pitcher that can't slow the ball down enough by changing grip, you may need to have him slow down his arm speed slightly to be effective. It's important that he only slows his arm speed down enough to get the desired speed on the pitch. Older hitters will pick this up, but many young hitters will not be able to notice the difference and will still be fooled. Let the pitcher know that the goal is to continue to work on different grips as they get older in order to increase their arm speed. What you'll find is that a pitcher will become excited about improving this pitch if it's successful for him. I had a pitcher that just couldn't help smiling every time he got a big swing and a miss after throwing his change-up. He started the season as a 12 year old with 1 pitch. Now he has an effective change-up to go along with his fastball and he's a much more effective pitcher because of it.
Change-up Pitching Strategy
The first part of any strategy is the ability to control the pitch. If a pitcher can't locate the pitch, then it's only real value is in a situation where he knows the hitter can't adjust. The change-up is most effective when thrown out over the plate and down in the zone. Working a fastball down and up and then a change-up down can be very effective. Here are some situations when it does and doesn't make sense to throw a change-up:
There are exceptions of course, especially with younger hitters that don't often adjust their approach at the plate from pitch to pitch, but in general you want your pitcher to be aware of appropriate times to change speeds and when to stick with a good located fastball.
Many major league hitters can't hit a change-up even when they know its coming. Jamie Moyer is just one example of a pitcher who makes a living with a good change-up. Every young pitcher should want to throw a pitch that gets good hitters out and doesn't hurt his arm.
© QCBaseball.com, 2005. All rights reserved.
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