How to Throw a Great Changeup Pitch for Kids

Several different pitches can be used as a changeup, including the palmball and split-fingered fastball. However, there are two primary types of changeups: the three-finger changeup and the circle changeup. Changeup pitches are thrown to fool batters into swinging too early, causing either a swing and miss, or a weakly hit ground ball off of the end of the bat.

Things You'll Need

  • Baseball
Show More

Instructions

  1. Three-Finger Changeup

    • 1

      Grip the ball with your index, middle and ring fingers spaced evenly across the top of the ball, with your pinkie and thumb underneath the ball on the leather. This is an easy grip that young pitchers can easily learn. Squeeze the ball lightly with all fingers, holding the ball at the bottom of the fingers. Pitchers with large hands can touch their pinkie and thumb under the ball to provide greater control.

    • 2

      Throw the pitch with the same arm speed as your fastball. Inexperienced pitchers slow down their motion or their arm decrease the speed of the pitch. Slowing down the delivery gives away the pitch to experienced batters. The changeup is a versatile pitch that can be thrown from any arm slot, so duplicate the same slot that you throw your fastball.

    • 3

      Lock your wrist in place as you release the ball. Because you are not snapping your wrist, and the ball must travel from the bottom of the fingers all the way to the tips, the ball will float out of your hand. An ideal changeup should be 10 to 15 mph slower than your fastball. Let the ball roll out of your hand. The arm speed will be the only power behind the pitch.

    Circle Changeup

    • 4

      Create a circle with your index finger and thumb, and place them along the side of the ball. Your middle, ring, and pinkie fingers should be spaced along the top of the ball as your fingers were in the three-fingered changeup. Squeeze the ball slightly with the fingers on top.

    • 5

      Throw the pitch the same as you throw the three-fingered changeup. Because you have weaker fingers on top, the circle change will naturally be even slower than a conventional changeup. Relax your index finger and thumb. Flexing these fingers could cause the ball to come out of the side of your hand, resulting in a wild pitch.

    • 6

      Drive off of the pitching rubber with your back leg. Because the circle-change is significantly slower than other pitches, your entire body must contribute to the speed of the throw. If you do not drive off of the mound, not only may the pitch float to the plate, giving the batter time to adjust his timing, but you may also tip off the pitch to the batter before the ball is even thrown.