Teaching the "Circle Change"

• Hammerin'Hank

  Many major league pitchers that throw the circle changeup get their ball to drop when it reaches the plate. Does anyone know if the grip is a two-seam or four-seam grip? Or is it gripped at another location on the ball?
• darbypitcher22

  

  You can grip a circle change many ways. Most people will teach the four seam grip to it because its easy to go from throwing a four seam FB to a circle change grip in the glove to throw it. I threw two and four seam changes during the course of my career and it was effective in both ways as long as I stayed behind the ball, no need to turn the wrist over/cut it off, any of that crap. Don't choke the hell out of it either. The circle change should be held in the pads of your finger tips, not buried back in one's palm. If you throw a 2 seam circle you can probably gain movement by pressuring with your fingers a little bit but i'll admit with the change up that is VERY difficult for young pitchers to master. Just stay behind the ball with a stiff wrist, you should try to reach out and place the ball in your catcher's glove and you will be fine.
• Fred Flintstone

  I've had a lot of success teaching a modified circle change. You can get quite a bit of movement with changing the finger pressure of your middle or ring fingers. Basically the circle is formed by overlapping the index finger over the first knuckle of the thumb and placing the middle and ring fingers on the seams.
  
  I've attached a few pictures to try to explain it better.
  
  
  
  
• darbypitcher22

  

  ^^^^
  
  I've seen this too but found for HS aged kids its difficult to control, some of them still have small hands
• Fred Flintstone

  darbypitcher22 wrote: ^^^^
  
  I've seen this too but found for HS aged kids its difficult to control, some of them still have small hands

  I've taught it from 13 or 14 on up and never had an issue after they become accustomed to the grip. When they are learning it, I make them warm up with it. They have to reach in the glove and grab it and throw it. It takes a couple of days and then they begin to play with finger pressure and make it move on their own. I have had players throw it from nearly every arm angle/slot with success.
• darbypitcher22

  

  That's great.
• catchr22

  Darby--I agree about the hands. In addition, I have modified the "circle" to a "claw" grip to achieve the desired results!!!
• darbypitcher22

  

  ^^^^
  
  I've done the same thing
• joebaseball

  

  For the younger kids or ones with smaller hands I've shown them a football change up. Thumb underneath and four fingers on top and throw it like a football.
• dont_belong

  

  I've always taught the circle change with a two seam grip, probably because that's how I learned it.
• dubnine

  When i first learned it, i used a 4 seam grip, most likely because it was the easiest to adjust to from the 4 seam fastball as darby said previously. However, as my high school career progressed, i used a two seam fastball more, and by my senior year of high school, threw my circle change along the two seam grip, as i still do as a sophomore in college. I get more movement that way.
  
  So many variables such as hand size, finger pressure, ability to control wrist, etc. that you just have to let the kid play with it and see what works IMO.
• darbypitcher22

  

  ^^^^
  
  I went from a four seam circle to a 2 seam "claw" grip as its been called and back to a four seam. Its all about how comfortable you feel with it.
• Dthane

  All pretty good advice. I have thrown a whole bunch of changeups, don't consider myself a master at it, and at 48 only wish I had a good fastball to compliment it. Not sure this adds anything, but if it helps someone out, then my years of accumulation was worth typing.
  
  From the Pedro files-use your thumb for control. As a lefty, I can make mine start at the belt, descend (I know-lack of velocity), and tail just off the plate. The batter must have some serious patience to lay off long enough to dump that one into right field. Otherwise, it is usually a swing and miss. Second, although it is a two seam, you might try just off the two seams. It will still fastball spin, but it takes a little more off of it.
  
  Naturally, you don't want to take too much off of it to allow for adjustment, but if you are still too close in V to your fastball, no seam may help. Whatever grip, you might try having the kids throw from the ground up. In other words, start by having them bounce them on the plate and work their way up from there. My son, who has a pretty decent arm, and I have a word for the change up that starts high and ends up at the top half of the strike zone. We call it "bye-bye". You notice MLB catchers with their mitts almost on the ground for targeting purposes. They have a pretty good idea as to what happens if they error high vs low. And it is certainly ok to bounce it vs broadway. It will take some time to get the feel of this pitch, the location (although if low it doesn't have to be exact), and to disguise it to look like the fastball. It is a fun pitch to practice.
• Hammerin'Hank

  Hey, I've seen that bye-bye pitch. Those balls can travel a long, long way.
• darbypitcher22

  

  ^^^^
  
  Lol I've seen em too